What are organizations looking for in corporate partnership sales talent?

by James Jordan, Director, Marketing Partnerships

What are organizations looking for in corporate partnership sales talent?

This is a question posed to me daily by candidates spanning a broad spectrum of sectors and rank of seniority. Be it a current sports partnership executive wanting to know what a specific organization is looking for, or an executive working in a sports-adjacent sector with no traditional partnership sales experience wanting to understand how to land their first partnership sales role in sports, I am regularly asked the same fundamental question in a variety of forms.

Of course, there are many factors that inform the nuance of my response. There is no one-size-fits-all answer that is applicable to every organization in every circumstance across all roles, however, there are many common attributes that we consistently hear from our clients to be of high-value and desirable in sales talent (beyond simply “closes lots of deals!”).

In attempt to answer the question presented in the title of this post, I thought I would aggregate some of these common attributes and offer some of my own thoughts. A strong mix of competency and experience across these areas are what we find in the most successful sports partnership executives:

Consultative & Strategic Sales Approach
There is a reason why the word sponsorship is a little taboo within the corporate partnership space. Today’s relationships between property/talent and brand are truly partnerships when executed at the highest levels. As a result, it is important that partnership sellers can approach the marketplace with this mindset. I often offer the following summaries when articulating what it means to be a consultative and strategic seller in my view.

1. Offer a business solution:
   It is the role of a partnership seller to identify the challenges that a brand is facing and the aspirational goals that a brand has, then to create a strong and sound business solution via an integrated asset mix to help solve for those challenges and to help reach those aspirational goals. For some brands it may be brand awareness, for others it may be community integration, and for others it may be to create and distribute content… be a consultant, learn from the brand, be creative and thoughtful in asset mix and deal structure, then propose a clear and succinct business solution back to the brand.

2. Shotgun vs Sniper Rifle:
   The approach of a sophisticated sponsorship seller is more akin to the focus accuracy of a sniper rifle than it is of a shotgun. Where a shotgun approach may be to call every company located in a specific market, a sniper approach would then layer many filters, such as: brand fit, category exclusivities, investment thresholds, synergies between property and brand, organizational needs, etc. A partnership seller is not only selling assets to a brand, but they are also aligning the property that they represent with the brand they are selling the partnership package to. The appropriate levels of intentionality and strategic critique must be applied as a result.

3. Cross-functional collaboration: Robust sponsorship packages today have the potential to touch all corners of an organization. As a result of this, cross-functional collaboration is paramount throughout the sales process and beyond. The seller must ensure that what is being pitched and sold can be executed and delivered to the levels promised (at minimum – ideally above and beyond). To do so, there must be internal approval and buy-in from a multitude of stakeholders. The ability to work cross-functionally to create a targeted yet diverse asset mix that the organization is behind, not just the partnerships team, is crucial. I will borrow a phrase from an industry friend here that is very fitting, “Often you will find that the internal sale is tougher than the external sale”. Partnership sellers that are reading along may laugh at this phrase as I am sure it rings true for many. Partnerships that are built and executed in a vacuum without the appropriate transparency and collaboration internally are rarely successful, and sellers that operate in this manner are rarely loved and respected.  

Relationship Management
The ability to effectively manage relationships as a partnership seller is critical, both externally and internally. From an external perspective, as the partnership seller you are the commercial face of the organization navigating the sales process on behalf of the property. The relationships that you can build and nurture with the brand and agency are critical in successfully navigating the sales process to a close (and beyond). Internal relationships are equally important. The integrated nature of the assets packaged in modern partnerships means that many internal departments will touch the relationship (e.g., marketing, community, social, ticketing and suites, etc.). As a result, it is vital that the partnership seller ensures there is clear alignment, communication, and expectations as it relates to what is being sold and to my earlier point, what is to be expected from an execution and production perspective. The greatest partnerships can fall apart if there is internal misalignment and what the partner thought they were set to receive is not what is ultimately delivered.

Productive Generator (Revenue)
I have put revenue in parenthesis as not all partnership roles are solely focused on revenue, however the reality is that within the sports space most are. While the levels at which organizations prioritize revenue generation differ, in addition to the revenue expectations they have of their sellers, the bottom line is that there needs to be clear confidence that an individual can drive revenue. This of course being relative to the organization and the level of the position. For candidates that have never been in a traditional sales seat, it is important to understand this and be able to tailor your resume and elevator pitch to address this directly and demonstrate the value that you do bring.  

Storyteller
I once worked for a gentleman that described partnership sales as being “part art, and part science”. There are a lot of sellers that are successful with the science piece. Assets that are tangible such as a hospitality suite, or assets that can be easily measured such as social campaign metrics, are in the science bucket. These are easy for brands to project ROI against when evaluating partnership opportunities. There are far less sellers that are successful with the art piece. The art piece is justifying the value tied to the assets that aren’t so easy for a brand to project ROI against. For example, what the team/property means to a city and a community, the uplift in brand validity realized due to utilizing property IP, etc. A great partnership seller can be effective in both capacities and have the emotional IQ to understand how to best tailor their approach conversation to conversation.  

Industry Network
Depending upon the role, there is often a desire for individuals that have strong expansive networks across brands and agencies. The ability for someone to enter an organization and quickly engage their network of key relationships is highly valuable. This is where some non-traditional candidates can shine as they can often be exposed to working with the same brands that spend (or have the potential to spend) in sports. By way of example, if an individual has had success selling media partnerships for a large reputable media platform to big brands, those key client relationships could transition well. For more junior roles this is less of a priority.

By no means is this an exhaustive list of what organizations are looking for in corporate partnership sales talent, however, this in my opinion is the core. For those that are already in partnership sales roles and looking to continue to advance their careers, pay close attention to these elements and ensure you are working to be the best you can in each area. For those that are looking to break into a partnership sales seat, either from inside the industry or outside, look at these areas of focus and identify where you may have gaps in experience or on the flip side where you likely over-index and should highlight.

This post was focused specifically on what organizations are looking for in partnership sales talent, we have not touched at all on desirable traits across leadership positions. More to come here in a future post!

To close, as noted early on there is nuance to each individual and each role. If I can be of resource to help lend thoughts and guidance, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and we can find time to chat!

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ABOUT TURNKEYZRG

Founded in 1996, TurnkeyZRG is a highly specialized talent recruitment/executive search firm filling C-level, senior-level and mid-management level positions throughout sports, entertainment, music and media. Over the past 25 years, TurnkeyZRG has filled more than 1,400 positions throughout sports, entertainment and media. TurnkeyZRG helps teams, leagues, stadiums, arenas, theaters, college athletic departments, events, sponsors, agencies, media companies, private equity companies and other clients identify, recruit and hire the very best management talent. Turnkey now benefits from ZRG’s global footprint, full array of industry practice groups, data-driven, analytical search tools, and technology investment in changing the way executive search/talent recruiting is done. TurnkeyZRG becomes a tech-enabled disrupter of the prior executive search model.