MLS National Sales Center Graduates Inaugural Class

Bryant Pfeiffer MLS Vice President, Club Services and creator of the MLS National Sales Center.

MLS team logos and jerseys line the walls, banners hang from the ceiling and cubicles are decked out with team scarves and soccer balls. There’s a buzz about the room and it’s not just the noise of the ten young men and women that are talking on phones, taking notes and furiously punching data into computers. One of them has just made a sale. He jumps up, grabs a rope and yanks it a few times clanging a bell loudly. Talking excitedly about their last calls two others are standing and talking over an electric guitar riff coming from a boom box.

Welcome to the Major League Soccer’s National Sales Center located in Blaine, Minnesota at the National Sports Center. The Sales Center is the newest business venture of MLS. A concept whose idea came from an MLS executive who you may not have heard of but who’s been making his impact on the league over the last three years.

Bryant Pfeiffer is MLS Team Liaison, Vice President, Club Services and the man who came up with the idea of the Sales Center. He spent 14 years in pro sports ticket sales with the NBA. Pfeiffer took the lead spot of Team Liaison when recruited by MLS’s Paul Mott who launched the program after working in a similar NBA program called TMBO (Team Marketing and Business Operations). Pfeiffer came up with the concept of the Sales Center and says he was assisted by Mott but also credits MLS Commissioner Don Garber and President Mark Abbot for having the creativity and vision to move forward with the project which is fully funded by the league.

Pfeiffer, who played soccer through high school, recalls playing in youth tournaments against the likes of Manny Lagos and Tony Sanneh. As a former athlete and competitor, he says he can identify with the students in the class. “A lot of these young people come from soccer or some sort of sports backgrounds and they’re competitive,” says Pfeiffer. “So we try to make this as fun as we can by hosting contests and creating a great environment. If you’re making phone calls all day it can get grueling at times.”

Thus the banners, jerseys, bell, and radio as well as the stuffed shark and heavyweight wrestling belt. “Whoever gets most sales can claim the shark for the week and the belt goes to who’s made the most calls,” says Pfeiffer. “We want the energy, the buzz, the zaniness and we want people laughing. While it could be distracting while you’re in a heated conversation I’d rather it be more of a zoo mentality than a morgue. People feed off the energy.”

Pfeiffer travels extensively from team to team in MLS. He lives in the Twin Cities and that’s the primary reason the center is located in Blaine, Minnesota even though the area doesn’t have an MLS team. He says he feels it was important for him to have a strong influence on the program when not traveling. The central time zone was also a factor since students are making calls from coast to coast. Pfeiffer also struck up a unique partnership with the National Sport Center. The NSC helped them with office space and dorms.  Students have access to the NSC cafeteria. The NSC Stars of Division-2 play and practice right outside the windows of their office space and the front office of the Stars is in the adjacent building. Pfeiffer says that’s another reason he likes having the Sales Center at the NSC: “It’s a great opportunity for these young men and women to get exposure to a professional soccer club.”

The MLS team liaison said research showed there were a few ticket sales training courses around but nothing in the US had the intensity of the new MLS Sales Center’s 45-day course. In addition, there are no soccer specific sales training programs.

Students are taken through a curriculum created by Pfeiffer and run by new director Brett Zalaski who worked with the NBA at the league office in New York. Zalaski spent his most recent years working with sales veteran Mark Washo at the WPS team Washington Freedom. Both Zalaski and Pfeiffer teach students with coursework, lectures and guests. The students actually sell tickets for MLS teams, usually working on a specific team promotion.

“Each week we work with a different team,” said Pfeiffer. “Several weeks ago we were working with the Houston Dynamo selling the All-Star game. The week after that we were working with FC Dallas on a 2-game package with Thierry Henry’s visit as one of those games. This past week we were working with Chivas and Galaxy for the Super Clasico. On Monday of each week the vice president of sales from that team calls and provides formal training to the group for the promotion. They usually send gear out from the team and create some incentives for students. The result of those sales so far have exceeded our expectations.”

Megan Warren practices her new sales skills for FC Dallas

The program is free to participants and they can stay in the NSCs dorms, which every student in the first class did. Pfeiffer believes students bond while training and living together in a college-like environment and that may be another positive aspect of the Sales Center: “What we think is going to be an outside impact of this is students will go out and get hired by teams and because of the comradery they will stay connected. Someone who is now working with FC Dallas will call his classmate who’s now working for the Wizards.” Pfeiffer says he believes those connections will be great for the student and for each team as they share their sales experiences.

Pfeiffer has brought other innovative ideas into the sales center. He’s hired local comedian John Sweeney to work with the students. Sweeney is owner of a long standing improvisational comedy club in Minneapolis called the Brave New Workshop. He and other comedians work with students on skills that will help in sales.

“There’s a huge overlap in the core principles of improv comedy and sales,” Pfeiffer explained. “Students start their day with a 5 to 10 minute custom video emailed to them with the subject title of sales through the eyes of an improviser. Each one is tied to the theme of the Sales Center’s curriculum for the week.”

Comedians aren’t the only guests featured in the 10-week session. MLS executives, sales and marketing people and even players have made presentations to the group, usually via a conference call.

“The vibe here is excellent,” said Billal Samy, a student who just completed the class. “Every week we’re in contact with prominent figures throughout the league. Not only does he (Pfeiffer) introduce us to them, we are also given access to them by email and phone.”

Samy is a classic example of one of those students who Pfeiffer explained comes from a competitive sports background. He played D1 soccer for University of San Francisco before sustaining an injury. “I grew up playing soccer and my father was a member of the Afghanistan National Team in the 70′s when the country was considered a more moderate country,” Samy chuckles. “Because of my father’s citizenship in Afghanistan my brother and I were invited for a trial. I’ve let go of the competitive edge of soccer. I always said that if I’m not going to be playing, I’d definitely want to be involved in the business aspect of the sport. I’ve been pounding on the door of MLS for the last couple of years and I feel by being here I’m finally in.”

Zeeshan Hussain was already “in” but only as an intern where he worked at the MLS League Office in New York for six months before coming to the Sale Center. Hussain graduated with an accounting degree at Central Connecticut State University before interning for MLS where he worked supporting the business development team in sponsorships.

“After the experience at the league office my main goal was to pursue a job with a team in MLS in a sales role,” said Hussain. “I felt this program would be good to sharpen my skills as well as prove that I have what it takes to be an asset to one of the 18 teams in the league. With ticket sales you are associated with revenue. In fact 70% of the team’s revenue is derived from ticket sales.”

Pfeiffer says the youthfulness of the league-wide sales force was soon apparent to him after taking the MLS job. He states that 85% of that force had only three years or less of sales experience and while every vice president of sales in the league knows the importance of training, there’s so much pressure to perform that training often falls low on the priority list. “In many cases it might take up to a year of sales before the lightbulb finally goes on,” said Pfeiffer. “Our research showed that the revenue generated per year for a 4th or 5th year sales person compared to a 1st year was dramatic.”

How dramatic? Pfeiffer says representatives with more then three years’ experience generate five times the ticket revenue of first year hires. So MLS executives decided the process of experience needed to be accelerated. The Sales Center is the result of that concept. “A farm system if you will,” said Pfeiffer. “Not only does it create a talent pool that’s ready to go after graduation, it also assists teams by saving time and upping their percentage in recruiting sales staff.” Pfeiffer said the hiring process took most teams at least 25 days and now they will have a database of capable candidates.

Hussain says sales is where he wants to be at the current time but could see himself moving into other positions someday. Pfeiffer says he believes sales is one of the most overlooked areas for advancement into other team and league positions and points to several MLS executives who have done exactly that. He says ticket sales executives work with every department of an MLS team and the knowledge gained from that can be invaluable.

According to Pfeiffer, in the future the program will look more to sports management programs across the US for top level candidates to enter their sales training center. The other group of people they will network with are soccer coaches. He believes that former students and players who love soccer and have a passion to grow the game will supply more than enough quality candidates for the school.

Pfeiffer believes the long term effect of the sales center on MLS will make a substantial impact. “Where we will measure the success of this program is a year from now when we look at the sales records of the ten students who graduated from the first course and then got hired by MLS teams,” said Pfeiffer. “We will see how they compare to new hires from local pipelines. Our hopes and expectations are that people coming out of this program will be leapfrogging their peers.”

The MLS Sales Center if off to a great start. The first class graduated last Friday, August 21 and every student was hired by an MLS team. But there’s no time to rest for Pfeiffer or Zalaski. Ten new candidates kick off the Sales Center’s second class on Tuesday, August 24.

From left to right and the club they will be joining: James Krajsa (KC), Melanie Seiser (CLB), Jeff Turner (FCD), Megan Warren (HOU), Billal Samy (SJ), Brett Zalaski (Director), Josh Givens (HOU), Scott Hawkins (DC), David Berchem (CHI), Ryan Gurley (KC), Zeeshan Hussain (FCD).