Organization: Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches | PGA TOUR, Championship Management

Position Title: Director, Sales

Reports to: Executive Director, Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches

Location: Palm Beach, FL

Search Contact: Prodigy Search

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BACKGROUND

The Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches is one of the PGA Tour’s premier events and is hosted at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. PGA National Golf Club has been the event’s permanent host since 2007. The club itself consists of five elegant 18-hole courses, but the Cognizant Classic is played on the distinctive Champion Course every year. The course was redesigned in 2014 and is now famous for “The Bear Trap,” a challenging three-hole stretch designed by the Golden Bear himself, Jack Nicklaus.

The event is Palm Beach County’s premier professional sporting event and is played early in the Tour’s calendar, most recently held on February 26 – March 3 of this year. The Cognizant Classic distributes a $9,000,000 purse but is most known for its charitable contributions to organizations positively impacting the youth of South Florida – with the main beneficiaries being the Children’s Healthcare Charity and the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. The PGA Tour Championship Management Division has assumed control of the event moving forward.

SUMMARY

The Director of Sales is responsible for designing and implementing an effective sales strategy to identify new business opportunities and grow existing client partnerships. This individual will build relationships and work closely with the tournament host committee, host club members, and an outsourced sales agency in order to advance hospitality and sponsorship sales.

The position is responsible for managing tournament sales efforts, and for meeting and exceeding individual sales goals, by generating revenue through hospitality package and sponsorship sales locally, regionally, nationally, and abroad.

RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES

• Develop annual Sales budget that aligns with long-term revenue objectives, meets or exceeds margin parameters and contributes to elevating the stature of the PGA Tour globally
• Achieve or exceed annual event revenue budget which includes renewal and upsell of existing partners and closing new business partnerships
• Prospect, generate leads, develop relationships, understand customer needs, present solutions, negotiate, and close new business
• Develop and execute annual hospitality and sponsorship sales plan – including, but not limited to, execution of evergreen partner communication plan and related sales and service tactics with existing partners and new prospects
• Manage all inventory tracking and pricing reviews and regularly update all stakeholders of the status and any changes
• Leverage existing individual network, tournament host committees, club members, title/event/club vendors, community service groups, current clients, and other lead generators
• Develop a robust pipeline with probability of closing to ensure volume necessary to attain individual and tournament revenue goals
• Lead partnership relationships from pitch/proposal through execution phases – for individual sales goal and sales team
• Lead sales staff to meet or exceed their respective revenue goals which includes to implement, manage, and enforce accountability of staff sales activity and goals in CRM, lead weekly sales meetings to ensure achievement and professional development
• Develop and implement strategies to drive sales, which may include the research, review and maintenance of ongoing competitive market analysis including financial and demographic factors
• Utilize CRM tools to track, measure, and analyze sales activity
• Employ sales protocol that encompasses multi-year and multi-tournament strategies
• Work collaboratively with client services, operations, finance and ticketing department to ensure fulfillment
• Work closely with Sales leadership on sales protocol and processes
• Provide Executive Director weekly evaluation of progress against set annual goals
• Attend various community and charitable functions as a representative of the tournament
• Special Projects or other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in related area required, a degree in Marketing or Business is preferred
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive sales and event marketing management experience, ideally in sports, event management, media or hospitality required; Golf tournament sales experience is preferred
• Thorough sales knowledge which includes prospecting tactics, research, presentation development, and event activation, negotiating and closing sales
• Must be proficient with Microsoft Office software packages to include Word, Excel and PowerPoint; Salesforce CRM experience is a plus
• Confident, pro-active, and enthusiastic style that assimilates well within a team

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Founded in 2007, Prodigy Search, located in the New York City suburb of Freehold, NJ, boasts over 80 years of experience in the sports and entertainment business. As a renowned nationwide leader in senior-level executive search, Prodigy Search has honed its business principles and expertise, establishing itself as one of the largest boutique recruiting agencies in North America. Simply, Prodigy Search is Where the Best Brands Come for the Best Talent.

No phone calls please. For any additional questions, please email info@prodigysearch.net.

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