TU students partnering with Cavaliers
By Jill Gosche, jgosche@advertiser-tribune.comArticle Photos
Tiffin University students are getting a real-life lesson in marketing.
Members of the university's Sports Management Club are working with the Cleveland Cavaliers to sell discounted tickets to upcoming basketball games.
Paul Bee, group events specialist for the team, said he focuses on bringing clubs, groups and organizations to games. Students will seek out clubs and organizations on campus that could benefit from discounted tickets, he said during his campus visit Wednesday.
"Basically, you guys will become Cavaliers sales representatives," he said. "You will do my job."
Bee said this marks the first year the team has expanded the program past two schools.
"Every student could benefit from this, and it's proven," he said. "We know that it works, and we're just trying to expand the opportunity to more people."
Bee said he will keep track of students' ticket sales. At the end of the program, the student with the highest revenue total will receive an interview with the Cavaliers, he said.
"If you want to use the interview as practice, feel free to do that," he said.
Bee encouraged students to get to know people to whom they are trying to sell tickets, find out about the size and scope of the organizations they target and find out how they communicate information to their membership. Students can reach members by distributing fliers, e-mailing them or posting them on the groups' intranet, he said.
Bee said students want to use tools at their disposal, and the project is not graded.
"You want to think big," he said. "You don't want to take the easy way out."
Bee said rejection is not personal. People are not saying "no" to salespeople - only to their products, he said.
"Rejection is everyday life in sales," he said.
Bonnie Tiell, chairwoman of the school's marketing and sport management program and one of the club's advisers, said she always is interested in developing relationships that can develop the sport management program.
"Hopefully we can continue to bring in quality speakers such as Paul to strengthen the sport management program at the undergraduate and graduate level," she said.
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