CASE STUDY
Spurs Partnership
Team Achieves
3X RESULTS With DIGIDECK
The 5x NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs know a thing or two about elite performance both on and off the court. With a rich history as one of the four remaining teams intact from the ‘76 league merger, the Spurs are the only of those four to have won multiple championships.
But it wasn’t always easy for this franchise to achieve such monumental success… Rewinding even five or six seasons back, the Spurs partnership staff were looking for the opportunity to become even more innovative in their approach, and needed to find the right tool to use when in conversations with million (or even billion) dollar enterprise brands about potential activations at Frost Bank Center.
"We get comments all the time saying this is the best presentation we have ever received. We are so used to it now that we almost expect those comments.”
David Elkins
AVP, Global Partnership Sales
Spurs’ Pitch Deck before DIGIDECK
Pulling from one large “parent” PPT file to create presentations, the Spurs partnerships team saw an opportunity for more streamlined processes, ultimately leading them to DIGIDECK. “It was constantly being flipped and altered by sales people…” shares Lamar Wilkerson, Associate Manager of Partnership Production for the Spurs.
Adding to these challenges, the Spurs sellers were looking to maintain control and visibility into any changes being made to presentations to avoid inconsistency in branding, which previous tools did not offer.
With a clear need for a better tool that allowed Spurs sellers to maintain brand consistency and create more dynamic presentations, Dave Elkins, AVP of Global Partnership Sales and the rest of the Partnerships team valued the opportunity DIGIDECK presented.
Using DIGIDECK
For Everything
With 5+ seasons of use, DIGIDECK has become a mainstay for the Spurs.
“I mean we use it for everything. For new sponsorship pitches, renewals, recaps…” Elkins adds.
Using DIGIDECK throughout the entire buyer journey has helped sellers also feel inspired to create presentations.
“A lot of people have really opted to do season recaps in DIGIDECK. We had one seller do every single recap in DIGIDECK on his own last season without us asking,” shares Megan Guy, Senior Production Designer for the Spurs.
Armed With
Insights
In addition to empowering the sellers to create more dynamic presentations, DIGIDECK also equips the Partnerships team with the data needed to optimize their partnership offerings.
Utilizing real-time alerts and slide viewing statistics, sellers can get specific about their follow-up effectively shortening the sales cycle.
With more trackable presentations circulating, it is easier to predict when a new deal may close.
“I will get a note from a salesperson that says there is a lot of activity on XYZ proposal, I think we are getting close,” Daves shares. This helps the Partnerships team predict pipeline momentum more accurately while getting the reps excited about the deal.
Limitless
Customization
Beyond their NBA franchise, Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) represents a multitude of brands – from the G League’s Austin Spurs to the USL’s San Antonio FC – all of which have different branding and aesthetics.
With DIGIDECK’s “Master Styles,” the SS&E team can swap the look and feel of any presentation to automatically adopt the brand colors and styling of any of their other teams or properties – all in one click.
“I can quickly customize presentations to incorporate the color palettes of our other brands to meet those varying needs,” Lamar adds.
Raising The Standard of Excellence
DIGIDECK raises the bar without adding extra lift for the Partnerships Team. In return, the Spurs can spend more focus on revenue conversations resting assured every conversation will feel customized, authentic, and dynamic.
“The quality of our daily work infinitely grows because DIGIDECK has made the process significantly more efficient,” Dave Elkin states, “Our workload capacity has increased threefold, with these improvements.”
Additionally, sellers can rest assured knowing the content they send is accurate and compelling.
“It has made it easy to use the Master Deck as the golden record of what is accurate and up to date which has made all of our lives easier.” Sam Planto Partnership Insights Manager shares.
With an elevated standard of work, the reviews are just as positive.
“We get comments all the time saying this is the best presentation we have ever received. We are so used to it now that we almost expect those comments,” Dave Elkins teases.
Quicker To-Market
With DIGIDECK’s ease-of-use, the Spurs can sell new inventory and secure revenue faster than ever.
“When new inventory items pop up, we get a custom slide created in real-time and it is super helpful. And then we can share that quickly with all the sales reps,” says Lamar.
A Partnership Not A Product
A platform is not effective unless it is adopted. For the Spurs, adoption has come organically from the excitement DIGIDECK presentations create.
Because of the passion the Spurs have for delivering superior experiences, the team has enjoyed the collaborative partnership with DIGIDECK.
“You sharing what is happening in the industry helps us stay inspired as a partner,” adds Megan.
“Your team has always been phenomenal at looking at the platform and suiting it in a way that helps us get to where we are going. That is a level of support you would never get with any other provider,” Dave concludes.
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