Interview with the General Manager of the Trenton Thunder

Today I had a phone interview with Will Smith the General Manager of the Trenton Thunder baseball team, the AA affiliate of the New York Yankees. The topic of the interview was negotiation. As the GM, Will mentioned that most of his negotiations deal with cost savings. In every business finding new ways to save money is very important, and therefore it is no surprise that this task is given to the GM.

Will mentioned that during negotiations he is rarely between a rock and a hard place. There are usually other options to consider. Some examples he mentioned were in the concessions area of the business: If not Coke then Pepsi, if not Dietz and Watson then Nathans, and so on. Sometimes, if you are the New York Yankees you can have companies bid for the rights to your broadcasts. That was not the case last year when the Thunder changed their radio broadcast station from The Bronc to WTSR. It is always hard to end ties with a partner that you have worked with for years, but when a better offer comes along it would be foolish not to take it. That was the case with switching to WTSR. WTSR offered a better signal over a larger listening area. Which satisfies the Thunder stakeholders, the fans, whom the Thunder will do anything for.

Package and long-term deals are concepts that Will lives by. If a company is willing to really invest with the Thunder, and buy a package deal then they should be entitled to a discount. He mentioned that most of the time companies really like 80% of a package deal. The remaining 20% is what has to be negotiated. For that customization the discount will not be a steep. Will was really animate about negotiating long term deals. In the end he feels that it is the best for both parties to have long-term deals because negotiation takes time. If you have a good working relationship go for the long-term deal. There is no need to renegotiate every year. He also feels that if you offer a long-term deal and they do not except then you can always fall back on a one-year deal.

The main lessons I have learned from this interview are to do your homework and to know your product. If you do both then you will be prepared for whatever the other side throws at you.