International Sports Management Reviews

Thanks for taking the time to review. Trying to integrate sales managers and senior account execs into different situations for learning is always a plus, but constraints exist within teams that prevent it from being as often as it sounds like you would have liked. We are always striving to do more though and will continue to do so. We wish you the best in your next steps and career and thanks for your thoughtful review.

Thanks for the review – we appreciate you taking the time to provide some insight to the culture as well. While some executives indeed view client hosting events as a “luxury” item, the vast majority understand that nurturing client relationships is of paramount importance and thus we have evolved with our customer’s expectations to deliver thoughtful and inspiring customer entertainment vehicles. Regarding longevity, we hire people that we want to promote. Our employee tenure has grown steadily higher since the pandemic began, as have employee earnings. Regarding PTO, this policy varies by office, but in Chicago PTO may be accessed at the six month mark and the amount doubles in year two. This is in addition to paid holidays off that total around two weeks per year. As for remote work, due to the ongoing training associated with the sales roles, it often takes at least six months, or longer, for staff to become self-sufficient and able to successfully work in a remote capacity on occasion. The reality is, the collaboration and excitement generated within the office cannot be replicated in a home work environment and thus it is not conducive from a sales perspective on a frequent basis. Lastly regarding calls, there is a quality component first, with quantity second. The more quality calls that can be made, the better, but it is within a graduated framework that is adjusted based on teams and length of tenure. Our goals are to create and bring aboard both new and residual business opportunities and the phone is our main medium. We definitely wish you luck in finding a position that is a better fit for you and thank you again for the time to share.

Thank you for this review, as just about everything listed within this posting is accurate! The pay structure being based primarily on commissions is clearly explained and detailed throughout the entirety of the interview & onboarding process. And even with recent increases in salary pay for starting staff, it has always been made crystal clear that if you do not make sales, you will not succeed in this role. This is also echoed within almost every previous review listed within this website. As this reviewer noted, our training program, both comprehensive and continual, teaches you not just how to sell, but how to sell EARLY and CONSISTENTLY. For example, after making some staff changes in mid-2022 within our MKE division, including one of our VPs who permanently moved to Milwaukee from Chicago, over 70% of current Account Executives who joined ISM since then earned their 1st sale within their first 45 days, and their success has been sustained as well, as most have already been promoted and look to move into managerial roles shortly hereafter, dovetailed to the current office expansion! Hint: you WILL make sales as long as you’re outgoing, money motivated, a great communicator, and can maneuver a steep (but manageable) learning curve, while leaning heavily on your manager(s) to help you out. While this review is incongruent with what is actually happening, we hope the reviewer has found a great fit wherever they may be.

Thanks for taking the time to provide a review. Our office is on the 8th floor, so this post may very well be about a different company (being reviewed), but in case someone didn’t realize what floor they were on, some clarifications below. Healthy office banter amongst coworkers are crucial to keeping a positive mindset while making our sales calls. There is a focus on new business for everyone, regardless of title. If a manager gets involved, the sales person simply learns more and has a greater chance to make a sale. Of note: ANY sale is entirely the sales person that originated the call. Any insinuation that a manager would fire someone for financial gain or to take a client is a grossly false statement – our goal is to develop sales staff, period. We win together. Compensation structure is set to provide focus, and be advanced as the individual advances. The first 3-4 months are challenging, but ISM prides itself on the culture and growth opportunities provided. The Chicago office has a mixture of senior level (5 years +), mid level (2-4 years) and newer staff. Our privacy policy disallows providing details on gender/age/religion/ etc., but there is also a significantly higher number of female staff than suggested. While your experience sounds less than ideal, if it was our company you were trying to review, this review is not representative. Either way, we wish you luck in your future employment.

Thank you for your time to share your thoughts. The Account Executive (AE) position is a business to business, inside sales, position. AE’s call on companies that are national in scope, so there is a good amount of work that is done over the phone. However, no one in Milwaukee, or any other ISM office is mandated to make 150+ cold calls each and every day. The daily focus as an AE is filled with multiple action items (such as prospecting, lead development, opportunity research, giving or receiving training & mentoring, reviewing pre-call and/or or post-call strategy with your manager(s), pitching executives, creating opportunities & closing sales). If someone is solely calling prospects and reading a pitch, then they would not be performing the position correctly. An AE meeting and exceeding our “KPIs” or metrics is far from a “crazy” idea. However, this reviewer is correct in that there are certain target metrics (not quotas or minimums) in place that are collected via our CRM. With direct access to those results, e AE and their manager jointly identify certain areas of struggle that require further training & development. While the ultimate “KPI” that we focus on is sales & revenue, these smaller metrics are quite meaningful in order to create sustained success & subsequent earnings. Research is an incredibly important part of the sales process. While some AE’s are successful in conducting market research in shorter time frames, certain situations and campaigns require longer amounts of time which vary team by team and office by office. Our Milwaukee office is, as of this response, spending up to 2 hours ea. day on research to properly prospect and prepare to cultivate new leads with the help of their manager. Thanks again for the time to bring information to light - hopefully this helps all understand at a different depth.

Normally we appreciate the time to review even when it is not in agreement to our views, however this review is different. 2022 was a record year for all offices including our Portland office, in addition to setting Account Executive records for sales. Good luck with whatever is next for you.

Thanks for this - looking forward to checking back in next year to see how much more you've accomplished!

While we appreciate the review, we are disappointed the position was not for you. We do sell exciting sporting events in each of our offices, and try to set out the most realistic expectations in the interview process possible not only about the sales process but expected earnings as well. There is a base salary, in addition to a commission and bonus, and while we can project a range in terms of earnings, but every sales person performs differently. In regards to the job itself, you certainly need to work hard in the role which entails conversing with executives, but the concept that the product is not in demand or that everyone struggles to find interest (regardless of when the event is) is simply not true. Revenues were up across the company last year over 60% and we have the most clients attending events in 2022 that we ever have. We expect Account Executives to make a sale in their first 30-60 days on the position and after the initial learning curve of 6-8 months continue to get much more consistent. In the Chicago office, 93% of our current employees had sales either in the final two months of the year or already in January. While the position did not work out for you and you didn't find a similar level of success with the role as current staff, we hope that you find success in your next position.