DealQuest Episode 75 Remaster - ENHANCED 1
===
Corey Kupfer: [00:00:00] Do you want your business to grow faster? Are you open to new and out of the box ways to drive revenues and increase value? How do you imagine the most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders double, triple, or expand their businesses tenfold or more? This is a weekly podcast featuring conversations with business owners, executives, and leaders, as we reveal behind the scenes details that give you, our listeners, the confidence to pursue your own deal driven growth.
On the show, we discuss a huge variety of deals. Everything from large, complex mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, joint ventures, strategic alliances, real estate, affiliate and sponsorship deals, and more, including smaller deals that you can do without significant capital. My name is Corey Kupfer and I've been supporting deal driven growth for businesses for over 35 years as a successful entrepreneur, professional negotiator, and attorney.
My goal is to help you strategize, plan for, find, and complete deals that will help your company grow faster. [00:01:00] Welcome to the DealQuest program. Let's get started. DealQuest community. I'm so excited to introduce you to a remastered episode of the DealQuest podcast. The podcast has grown so much. We started it about five years ago now, at least at the point I'm recording this.
In the beginning had maybe 60 or 80 listeners per episode. We now have many multiples of that. In fact, we've got almost a hundred times that. And I realized that there were so many great interviews I did early on in the podcast. In fact, in the first year of the podcast. It wasn't even called a deal quest.
It was called fueling deals until we rebranded it. And we interviewed some amazing, amazing entrepreneurs and deal makers. And, you know, just amazing stories, amazing content, and I know that so many of our listeners have joined us over the last several years and may not have heard some of those earlier episodes from five years ago, four years ago, even three years ago.
So we have picked the best of the best of those old episodes and the advice and the [00:02:00] stories and the experiences are timeless. So we've remastered them, we've made sure the audio is great, and put in our new intro and outro, that kind of stuff. And we're going to be re releasing some of these amazing, amazing episodes.
So look out for them from time to time. And here's one coming up right now. Jesse Cole is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and the owner of the Savannah Bananas. His 1 million fans into their ballparks. and have been featured on MSNBC, CNN, and ESPN. The Bananas have been awarded Organization of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business of the Year, and won the CPL Championship in their first year.
Fans First Entertainment has been featured on the Inc. 500 list as one of the fastest growing companies in America. The Savannah Bananas currently have sold out every game for the two straight seasons and have a waiting list in the thousands of tickets. Jesse's an advanced speaker and released his first book, find your yellow tux how to be successful by standing out in January of 2018.
The book launched number one in three categories in [00:03:00] Amazon and has been sold in 18 countries, staying true to his mantra, whatever's normal, do the exact opposite. Co launched the book with a world tour at Epcot. His Veck, P. T. Barnum, and Walt Disney. He's the host of the business done differently podcast.
And has been featured on more than a hundred podcasts, including the Sigler show, Story Brand, and Donald Miller and NPR's Only a Game. I am so excited to have Jesse Cole on the DealQuest podcast. Welcome Jesse. Yeah, Corey, fired up to be with you, my friend. So listen, uh, we definitely want to hear about the Savannah bananas and how you got there and all this great stuff you're doing now with your company, but let's, uh, let's take it back.
Uh, when you were growing up as a little kid. My guess is most people I say, you know, my guess is they probably, uh, didn't think they were going to do be doing what they did now, but I mean, being involved in baseball, maybe you did. I, my guess is you probably didn't think you'd be walking around on yellow tux all the time though.
So what did you want to be when you were a kid, eight, 10, 12 years old?
Jesse Cole: No, I never thought I'd be an owner of a [00:04:00] baseball team and wearing a yellow tux every day. No, as a kid, I had a dream to play professional baseball. That was my dream. So it was in the baseball industry. My father bought a baseball facility up in Massachusetts.
When I was a kid, I went there every day, hit in the batting cages. I would play catch, uh, you know, every single day I could, and that was my dream to play professional baseball. And I was very fortunate to start hearing from professional teams, and we got a full scholarship to play college ball. And then, uh, my senior year tore everything in my shoulder and just like that, uh, it was over.
I actually was filming a documentary at the time in school and I turned the camera myself and it's probably one of the realest moments to, to find out right then that your dream that you've been working on since you were three years old, playing every day. It was gone, but it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.
And what's ironic is that I was so focused on playing the game that I loved, and now I am so focused on changing the game that I loved. And that's what I would feel like we're doing with the Savannah Bananas.
Corey Kupfer: Well, that's great. And we're going to hear a lot more about that, and I'm excited to. One more question, though, before we get there.
What was your first [00:05:00] deal? However, you know, whatever that looked like at whatever age, what was your first deal?
Jesse Cole: I, yeah, I gotta go back and remember to what, when that was and what that was. Uh, I was an only child. So I was, uh, I think constantly trying to make deals with my dad and just staying on the same route.
I know I would make deals on how long I could stay out of the ball, ball field with him. How many more swings I could get. I just constantly made deals, uh, to try to get a little bit more, I guess, of what I wanted. But I was also a guy who had, uh, you know, tried to sell baseball cards and had a lemonade stands.
And, you know, I was, I was trying to make deals always. And I think I kind of had that entrepreneur mindset as a kid. Yeah. It's funny. I think kids are natural, you know, and negotiate it. Well, I just let me stay up 10 more minutes, right?
Corey Kupfer: You
Jesse Cole: know, I think it's so great. You know, you think about what a kid learns.
I have a two year old now and, uh, Hey, Maverick, we need to go inside. No, you think we need to, we need to go inside. No. And then, then you end up start making deals. All right. We'll stay outside 10 more minutes. If you do this, all right. If you eat your sandwich, we'll let you go watch paw [00:06:00] patrol. And it's so interesting.
I think there's actually a really great lesson to learn from kids. And it's persistence. It's persistence. Kids keep persisting over and over and over again until finally you're like, okay. And I think a lot of people, especially in sales, someone says no and they give up. And that's really when you get the first no is when the sales process starts.
And we've had to learn that. And, you know, I watch Maverick do this. I'm like, all right, kid, I see it. I see it. You're going to have an opportunity to make some deals when you get older as well. And I don't get as upset as I think most parents because I appreciate the persistence and the drive to get something that you want.
Corey Kupfer: That's great. So give us a couple of minutes on the Savannah bananas. And then I, and then I want to go back to your journey on how you got, you know, to be the owner of the Savannah bananas. And I know you had a team before that. So, but just tell us right now what, you know, what the Savannah bananas are and what your company that owns that, uh, does.
Jesse Cole: Yeah, long story short, the Samantha bananas are one of the lowest levels of baseball. There is, uh, it's not major league. It's not triple A. It's not double A. It's not high A. It's not regular A. It's not low A. It's not rookie ball. It's not top level college [00:07:00] baseball. It is college summer baseball. And, um, We've been very fortunate after struggles, challenges.
Uh, my wife and I had to, you know, sell our house, empty out our savings account. We were sleeping on an airbed. We only sold two tickets in our first three months, but now after, uh, being dramatically different and trying to change the game and be fans first, we're fortunate to, as you mentioned in the intro to sell out every single game.
We have a wait list for tickets in the thousands, and, uh, we've built a brand that is now. Um, really transcended even globally, we have people that are tuning into our games and, uh, tuning into what we're doing. So, uh, it's become a crazy brand story of building something, um, with a very clear purpose and, you know, to change the game of baseball and do it by being fans first and entertaining always.
And we've done some crazy things, break dancing first, base coaches every game. We have a senior citizen dance team, the Banananas, a male cheerleading team called the Mananas, which are the dad bod cheerleading squad. Our players do choreographed dances every game. We have a team wrestler that's one of our coaches in a full wrestling costume, a luchador that's in our dugout every game.
We have a professional [00:08:00] high fiver. We've hired aerialists, uh, and other circus like acts. It is a circus and a baseball game breaks out and we're basically just trying to solve that problem and baseball to many is too long, too slow, and too boring. And we're going to fix that and make it the most fun people have ever had at a baseball game.
And that's the battle. That's the fight. That's the deal we've been trying to make, uh, since we started. And fortunately we've been able to have some success.
Corey Kupfer: I love it. And out of all those things, I don't know why the question came to my mind. Like, how do you become a professional high fiver? Is there somebody that certifies you with that?
Jesse Cole: Very funny. Actually, very funny story. Uh, again, in the context of this, you know, anytime you're trying to hire someone to bring someone on, there's a deal that has to be made. And here was the deal. We posted out on social media, we're looking to hire a professional high fiver. We had auditions and we asked people to come in and we wanted to see how good they were.
But no one showed up like people like that's not a real job until finally two weeks before the season, a six year old showed up with his mother and he came into the stadium and started high fiving every single person on our staff. And I turned to the kid and I said, kid, you got the job. And so we hired a [00:09:00] six year old.
He got a Jersey on the back. His name was high. We said, hi. And his number was five. He has hand sanitizer. And his goal is to get between 1, 500 high fives every game. And, uh, he was came devastated during the COVID crisis and said, you know, I'm going to lose my job. And I go, no, let's, let's think about this.
And he came up with an idea of being the air high fiver. So now he's the air high fiver for at least one season where he's going to go around the state and giving air high fives to keep his job going. So yes, he is a very important part of our team. And, uh, Uh, I think it shows that, Hey, we're just trying to have fun.
If we can hire a six year old to give high fives or even air high fives, uh, it shows we're investing in the experience to make it fun.
Corey Kupfer: Oh, I love that. I love that. All right. So let's go back because, uh, you know, anybody's journey to owning any baseball team at any level is probably interesting, but yours is particularly interesting because, uh, you didn't start with this team, right?
You started with a prior team. And so give us the background on how you got there. And then let's talk about the deals that ended up getting you where you are.[00:10:00]
Let's take a break from the show for a minute. So I can tell you about an incredible resource. My team and I have put together for you secrets of deal driven growth, creative ways to grow your business. Even in challenging times is a powerful ebook that helps you take deal quest podcast episodes and apply them to your own life and business.
This is the ideal tool for anyone looking for creative ways to grow as deal makers, and you can get yours. Now it's as easy as heading to Corey comfort. com slash workbook. And downloading your copy. While you're there, you can also consider joining our dynamic, deal driven community of founders, experts, small business owners, and
Jesse Cole: entrepreneurs.
Now back for the show. Well, the first deal I made, I remember, um, I was in college. I just tore my shoulder. I was done playing, uh, baseball. And I got an email about an internship with a local team. I hadn't even heard of the team. That's how bad that team was. But I said, I'll try it. And they said, uh, I go, well, what's the opportunity?
Like, oh, we're not paying. It's an unpaid internship. I go. [00:11:00] Okay, this is interesting. And I said, I might as well try it. But so they gave me a phone book on that first day and they said, go call companies for sponsorship. So I started calling companies and I started actually selling sponsorship to a team that no one ever wanted to come to.
I just started coming up with kind of creative ideas on what would be good for the company, trying to solve their problems. And a couple of months went by and I was like, all right, let's make a deal. Can I at least get some commission? Can I get something? And so I made a deal to start getting some commission.
And then. Lo and behold, the owner offered me the job to be general manager of his other team at 23 years old. And my dad was like, why are you GM? And I go, and I realized that it was the worst team in the entire country. No one wanted the job. So I took it and I became GM at 23 years old. And the first deal I got offered, uh, I got offered 27, 000 to be a GM of a baseball team.
And I was like, okay, I'm going to get paid to do this. But then I looked and the first day there was only 268 in the bank account. We had three full time employees and payrolls on Friday. I wasn't able to [00:12:00] pay myself for the first two to three months, but I did make a deal. I said, Hey, if we hit this ridiculous goal of fans and revenue, I'd like to get up to 30, 000.
I'd like to get a 2, 500 bonus. And they jokingly said, sure. All right, we'll do that. And so I had a goal to make and I, uh, we, we doubled revenue. We tripled our fans. Yeah. Um, we started being dramatically different, focusing on the fun, the entertainment, the dancing players, the grandma beauty pageants, and I hit my bonus.
And then the next year, I was 24 years old, the owner came up to me and said, Jesse, I've never seen anything like this. And I said, well, thank you for empowering me to do things. He goes, we had nothing to lose. And he said, uh, He said, what would you like your salary to be next year? And I said, you're kidding me.
He goes, yeah, it's up to you. It was 24 years old. And so I said, I, I, I'd like to make 40, 000. I was like 10, 000 raise. And I said, I'll, I'll bring in at least an additional a hundred thousand and I'll bring in, I'll double the fans again. I said, done yours. And from that point on, at 24 years old, I was running the team.
I was owning the team. I was owning the finances, even though I wasn't an owner. And I learned so much from that amazing mentor of mine, Ken Silver, who You know, gave [00:13:00] me the opportunity to make my own deals, make my own decisions and even make my own salary. And so I was fortunate many years later, I bought that team from him, uh, made another deal and, uh, we got some success.
And then we went to Savannah and blew up bigger than we imagined. And we sold that team. And now I think back to those moments, those learning moments of making deals. It's how do you give people ownership? How do you, how do you empower them to, uh, to make their own deal? And so I've even given that opportunity to all of our employees in Savannah to name their own salary.
And, you know, now we do profits here, but it's giving that ownership. So that's the journey from Savannah or from Gastonia to becoming an owner to then come into Savannah and then the struggle to success.
Corey Kupfer: That deal you did to buy the team, uh, that first team in Ghassania back then, you know, anything you want to share on how, on how that, you know, what that looked like and how you managed to pull it off at such a young age?
Jesse Cole: Yeah. So, I mean, it was a very unique situation because I had a mentor, someone that I loved, I respected, and who actually ended up marrying my wife and I. Uh, we got ordained. That's how close we were because my wife and I met at our stadium and I proposed in front of a sold out crowd in the yellow tuxedo and she said yes.[00:14:00]
So, it's a very interesting deal to make someone that you're so close with, someone that you love, and, um, you know, Especially because he's like, you know, I have this number. This is what the team's worth. And by six, seven years of us building it, it was a very profitable team. And it was worth a lot more.
The challenge that I was coming from is when I took it over, it was worth nothing.
Corey Kupfer: Right.
Jesse Cole: So, so it was, you know, he said, here's my number. And I said, you know, we can't do that. And then we kept getting lower and he was like, all right, I'll own her finance. And so we own her finance. We looked at it and my wife and I said, all right, I think we can, um, you know, do this through the team.
We can pay off annually through the team. And we made a deal and, uh, it was a really, really cool moment. And so when we sold the team, there was still some debt to be paid, but we, but he helped restructure that with the new owners. And, I was very lucky to be able to make that deal because, you know, we didn't have money and we've always anytime we've taken on a lot of debt, I mean, between buying that team and buying Savannah and, you know, we were almost at 2 million in debt.
I think 1. 8 million in debt between everything. And we went from zero debt myself. I mean, [00:15:00] literally before 30 years old, zero debt to 1. 8 million in debt. Um, but luckily we were able to, uh, position that. Uh, paying annually through the team success, which made it a lot easier for us.
Corey Kupfer: I love it. So, so when you bought the Savannah Bananas, was it a similar thing where it was owner financing?
Jesse Cole: No, so there was no team. So basically the Savannah story is there was professional baseball in Savannah for 90 years. I mean, literally Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson. Uh, Mickey Mantle, every big time player played at that stadium. It's an old ballpark, uh, no digital scoreboards, no suites, an old stadium.
But to me, it was like, I felt like a kid in a candy store the first time I walked in there. And when I walked in there, uh, back in 2014, my wife and I were on a trip. Um, there was about a hundred people there. watching, um, professional minor league baseball game, uh, the New York Mets affiliate was playing, but no one was there.
It was just a ballpark that was left abandoned. So they asked for a brand new stadium from the city and the city's like, we're not building you a 38, 40 million state and you got no one coming to your games. So they said, forget it, we're leaving. So [00:16:00] we made a deal to come in there, but we had to buy an expansion franchise.
So I convinced the, uh, the league, the coastal plainly to let us come into Georgia. The first team ever to go you know, outside of North Carolina and South Carolina, Virginia. And we had to pay a pretty substantial expansion fee to the league, but they were able to, uh, make a deal where we were able to separate payments over years.
So the team could help fund that, which made it much easier for me and my wife. But even with that said, we had to put money in to fund the team to start. And after four months, that money ran out and we got a phone call on Friday. I had, It's like 445 January 15th, 2016, and then we were completely out of money and we overdrafted our account.
And so that was one of the scariest moments I've ever had. And, you know, she turned to me, she said, we have to sell our house. And so we literally sold our house. We emptied our savings account. We were sleeping on an air bed. And, you know, just a few years ago, when you think about it. Because we didn't have the capital and we didn't create attention.
We weren't creating fans quick enough. And so that was a big time struggle.
Corey Kupfer: Wow. I have to give some props and shout out. I don't know her, but I guess give some props, shout out to your wife, because to have a wife that says we have to sell our house [00:17:00] as opposed to, uh, you know, I'm not selling my house, go get a job or something.
It's, uh, you know, that's a great partner there, Jesse.
Jesse Cole: It's, it's more than, you know, and I think, I think that's so important. You know, we always give all the credit to the entrepreneurs and the successful people on in front, you know, for me, the guy in the yellow tuxedo, But there's no way I or anyone that you see that has success can do it without some form of huge support.
A rock family members, everyone, and, um, it's for us, she's also the heart of our team. She's the culture. She's the one that we, you know, if we surprise people with trips to Ireland and to the, to the go to the World Series game one with their dad for their biggest team that has done all these surprise things.
She plans that. So, um, yes, we're a very good team. And I think everyone should look not just on what you can do, but who do you have as your surprise team. And if you're going to try to do something big, if you want to make a big deal, you had to make sure that your spouse, significant other family members are on board.
And I think sometimes that's forgotten. I'm going to keep pursuing what I want to do. And, uh, I've been very, very lucky. So thank you for acknowledging that.
Corey Kupfer: Yeah, no, no. I recognize it. I'm fortunate to have a wife who is as supportive. So I [00:18:00] recognize it. No question. All right. So you, uh, so you, so you buy it, you know, so it's an expansion franchise.
You, you paid it over time to the league and then what's this, is the stadium situation a lease? How, how is that set up?
Jesse Cole: Yeah, yeah. So we have almost all teams, uh, have a lease to, uh, for the stadium. So most stadiums are owned by the municipality, uh, and they lease it out. So we pay a monthly rate to basically have, uh, the opportunity to have our office at the stadium and host events at the stadium.
So that's, that's a very important. And luckily there was a precedent set. That, you know, it was a, it was a lower lease because that's the way it was. They weren't, there wasn't that much success. And, um, so we were able to get a lease that was, um, not a huge, huge risk for us. And I think that was very important.
And obviously when you look at a lease, you know, you got to look at too, what do you bring into the city? And when you look at the economic impact, it's become a win win. So as we've renegotiated now, our next lease, which went on for about two years, we're negotiating back and forth. It finally came to life that the impact on the community is number one.
And not trying [00:19:00] to look at short term dollars over a long term impact. And that's how we do everything short term. I mean, we always look at long term fans over short term profits. And I think the city was able to see that as well as we move forward.
Corey Kupfer: So how, you know, we, we mentioned some of your mentors and, and, you know, people you look up to in the bio, you know, people like Bill Beck, who obviously had a reputation, you know, for doing some of these kinds of promotional crazy things.
But, you know, how did you, like, you have a whole philosophy around this, right? It's not just, oh, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna do this crazy promotion here or there, but it's, you know, your company and the way you run the team, uh, you know, I feel like you have this whole philosophy about the way you do this and, you know, talked about in the bio about doing things differently.
You want to talk about that a little bit? I love that concept.
Jesse Cole: Especially, yeah, especially stay in context with this in regards to deals. I think, you know, the biggest deal that any company should make is the promise of who you are and your brand and the promise that you make to your people, the promise you make to your fans.
That is an important deal that can't be broken, that needs to build trust. And so for us, [00:20:00] it starts with the name of our company and the name of our company is Fans First Entertainment. Um, you know, our mission is fans first. Entertain always. Every decision we make, we ask ourselves, is it fans first?
That's kind of our guide. That leads us. That gives us the clarity to who we are and what we stand for. And now that big vision is, is to change the game. We want to change the game of baseball. We want to change the way it's watched, change the way you play, because to many, there's a problem. It's too long, too slow, and too boring.
So, How we're going to do that is be fans first and entertain always and continue to question everything. Question the way it's been done. Question the fact that, you know, games have been seen the same way for so many years. Question the fact that games are getting longer and we're losing fans every year, major league teams are.
We're going to question that and put our fans first. So we're going to say, all right, every meeting we have a chair. We, I think we learned this from Howard Schultz, another mentor of mine at Starbucks. We have an empty chair that represents our fans. Would they make that decision? And so to put it into context, it's why All of our tickets at our stadium are all inclusive.
Every ticket is all [00:21:00] your burgers, your hot dogs, your chicken sandwiches, your soda, your water, your popcorn, your dessert, everything. Because fans get nickel and dimed when they come to most stadiums. They pay five bucks for this, eight bucks for this. That's a bad experience. A fan would not want that. So, it's why we made all shipping free, always and forever.
And everyone's like, Oh yeah, free shipping. Well, no, Amazon, you pay 99 a year for that. And other teams may do it for a weekend or companies. We're doing it always and forever because that's the fan's first way to do things. That's why we have no, uh, ticket fees or no convenience fees, which are the most inconvenient fees in the world.
And it's why Corey, we made the decision this year, which got a lot of controversy, especially in the industry that we will have no ads at our ballpark. We are creating the first ever ad free stadium. And people are like, what are you doing? Where's all the revenue? I go, no one, none of our fans wake up in the morning and say, I want to be advertised to, I want to be sold to, and I want to be marketed to.
And I guarantee you not one family wants to come to a ballpark and see ads and hear ads and be looked upon as the product that [00:22:00] people are trying to sell to. So we said, we're going to throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars for the long term impact of creating more fans. And, uh, That's everybody may have a mission and everyone may have core beliefs, but you have stories and actions that back up those core beliefs and back up those missions.
And every day we're trying to build more stories and more moments that back up who we are. And it's very powerful and it's very inspiring and it leads our team every single day.
Corey Kupfer: And so one specific question on the no ads thing, and then I want to sort of apply this in a bigger way. Okay. So do you still have sponsorship arrangements or, uh, you know, partnership of various kinds or, or it's not just no ads.
It's really no, it's, it's nothing at all.
Jesse Cole: Yeah, we, we completely zero ads. Now in the future, are we open to a company that wants to add something to the experience, but don't want to shout out from the mountain tops, the name of their company and what they do. If someone wants to give away A thousand donuts or a thousand so and so [00:23:00] bananas to our fans, but not having to say Chiquita or Dole or say and so so donut company, we will open entertain that because that would be a fans first decision.
But if someone's coming to say, I'm doing this so you will come into my company or so you will start working with me, that is not fans first because that's the reason why Every single day people are skipping ads like crazy on YouTube. And that's why Netflix is winning because there's no ads because people don't want that.
So yeah, there's zero ads when you come to our bar. I mean, literally not no program ads, no announcement ads. I mean, it is, you're getting a bananas experience that you can escape and have fun and dance and sing and be a part of something special. And to us, ads don't live in that environment.
Corey Kupfer: Wow. Wow. So, Jesse, I want to, this whole, uh, philosophy and the way you approach things differently, you know, it's, we're in a time right now with the whole COVID 19 coronavirus thing that's making a lot of people reevaluate their business models.
Obviously different industries have been much more adversely affected than others, including Any kind of live entertainment, obviously, certainly the speaker industry, both you and I are professional speakers, you know, people who, [00:24:00] uh, don't have a business model that includes other types of income, but just make their money on stage, which is not you or I, but it's many of our colleagues are reevaluating and looking at everybody's looking to pivot.
And frankly, and even before that, you know, there's always a discussion of, uh, of, uh, you know, uh, differentiation and having a unique value proposition and all these things. But you've taken all this to a totally different level, right? You know, you, you've looked to totally redefine something. Uh, you have such a strong and clear philosophy.
What are some of the lessons that you think a lot of businesses that are looking right now to struggle to pivot and, and frankly, a lot of them, you know, like tech speakers, right? Everybody's pivoting. The way they're pivoting is they're delivering their talks virtually as opposed to in person, right? For me, that's, yeah, it's a pivot, but it's not really differentiated because it's what every speaker's doing.
So, you know, what are some of the lessons that you think, uh, not only for speakers, but for any of these kind of businesses that are sort of determining right now that maybe they, they should be doing something different in their business model as, uh, the world has changed. Uh, you know, what are your thoughts on [00:25:00] that?
Jesse Cole: So when we started, and still to this day, we never had resources. We never had lots of money. Um, and when we tried to market and do things like everyone else, we got results like everyone else. And that's when we first came to Savannah. And I believe whatever is normal do the exact opposite. Um, so when you start doing that, when you start doing things like everyone else, and when you start trying to, uh, you know, be like everyone else, you're in trouble.
And so for us, what we realized, we had no resources, we had no money, so we had to create attention. And instead of just having a marketing plan, I believe every company should have an attention plan. What are you doing to create attention? Put yourself in not just your customer's shoes and our fan shoes we do every day, but Put yourself in a reporter's shoes.
So a news reporter, why should they be talking about you? What are you doing different? So you mentioned all the speakers that are just going in. Everyone's doing online. Well, first of all, I'd go back and you should be innovating when you're at your best, not when you're forced to. That's often too late.
So what we had to start doing before all this, and we're fortunate that when [00:26:00] this hit where most teams are folding and they're having to let people go, we're actually hiring. And because we had to, Uh, we've been doing this since the beginning and we call, the best thing you can do is small bets. Just start experimenting.
I think there's so much analysis and paralysis by analysis. Well, what if we do this? Will this hurt? Will this hurt? Just keep coming to a bet. Keep coming to bat. Um, you know, as a baseball, I started as a baseball guy. I know that the player that has more hits than anybody in major league history For over 4, 000, Pete Rose also had dramatically more at bats than anybody else in Major League history.
Most businesses don't have enough at bats. They have these big, they come up this one big pinch hit at bat and they hope they have to hit a home run. If you keep coming to bat and testing new things, trying new things, you're going to start having more hits. So what that means for us, I mean, we started, Hey, we're going to be the only team that has dancing players.
If we want to get people to stop talking about being baseball, being boring, we got to do something that's a little different. So we started having dancing players. Then all of a sudden I [00:27:00] led to a break dancing for our space coach. Then that led to our banana Nana senior citizen dance team. Then it led to our male cheering team.
We just kept testing and testing and we kept pushing envelope. And by doing that, We kept separating ourselves as the only, the only male cheerleading team, the only senior sense of density, the only break dancing first base coach. And it just kept separating. Now it sounds like, Oh, this is easy for an entertainment business.
But everyone asked that question. What are you the only one doing? And how do you get there? You got to start asking, all right, here are the industry standards. Here's what's normal in our industry. What would be something that's different and remarkable? And then how does that fit to your core mission of what you're trying to do?
For us, if it's very clear that our vision is to change the game, we can question everything on how the game is played and how the game is watched. But you need to start by asking important questions. I think a lot of leaders don't ask the questions we have. Idea Palooza's. Every single month with our staff, where we value the importance of ideas from our whole team, and we always ask a question.
So, for instance, what could we do that would make fans want to stay to the end of the game? Because [00:28:00] that's still a problem in baseball. People don't leave movies in the middle of the game, but people leave baseball games in the middle of the game. So, we ask that question, and then we start throwing out ideas.
And then the key is to start implementing. We start executing them. I would challenge, you know, what are all the experiments that you can do this week, this month, this year? Don't just say, hey, we're doing two experiments this year. Start testing quicker because you do it and then you aren't. Um, I mean, I can give so many examples.
I mean, we started doing 24 hour drops with merchandise and it shut down our system. The network broke down, but we learned we had to do this differently. We started doing live auctions on our game worn jerseys online. We start just testing things in every department from our merchandise to our videos, our dancing player music videos.
So Corey, I could go on for a while this, but I just, I don't believe entrepreneurs and businesses are adept to experiment on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis and not be afraid if something doesn't go right. Once it doesn't go right, you're, you're a step closer to doing something that will make an impact.
Corey Kupfer: Yeah. Yeah. It's that, uh, you know, that classic phrase that I [00:29:00] love, you know, about failing forward fast. That's really what I hear that, which is, which is amazing. So you mentioned, uh, you mentioned your employees. So, you know, obviously you must, you must create a culture because, you know, you need a team to pull all this kind of stuff off and they've got to buy into this, uh, you know, this, this different way of thinking, just give us a couple of minutes on sort of, you know, the arrangement you have with employees and, and, and how you create that culture of people who are, you know, uh, aligned and, and, and on mission.
Jesse Cole: Thanks. So I got to again, give credit back to my wife and also Marie, our fans, first director. Who, you know, started with us as a 22 year old and that's been their, you know, their big projects and constantly questioning if we're trying to create the best fan experience, uh, for our fans that come to our games, how do we create the best fan experience for our own people?
And so we start with asking that question. What does that look like? And going back to part of what we believe in, you know, we have a fans first playbook that goes to. everyone on our staff, our players, our interns, our game day staff. And in there, we have some of our core beliefs. And one of the beliefs that we have is, is we talk about the three loves [00:30:00] and love your customers more than you love your product, love your people even more than you love your customers.
And you got to love yourself and you know, you got to love yourself to be the best to be able to do those two things. And so we talk about that. So we look, what does that, what does that look like? We map the experience from during the interview process to the fact that we literally have. Three steps to our interview process.
We have a video cover letter because we want to see their personality. Do they fit with us? Are they going to let it good be on camera? Cause everyone's on camera with our staff fans. First essay that fits to our six core beliefs. And then we have our future resume, which it's not what they've done in the past.
It's what they've done in the future. We want to know how you want to grow with us. What do you want to be a part of? And even if you want to grow outside of us, we want to get that trust in the beginning and then it's mapped when they start here from, you know, interns having scavenger hunts, where they get together, you You know, we have celebrations, we know what their favorite snacks are, we have pictures of them, you know, it's, we just try to, to care for them, and to show this is, this is how we want to care for our fans as well, and, you know, again, Marie and my wife Emily are constantly looking at these things, and, you know, it's why we'll [00:31:00] invest money to take our team to Disney, it's why we've gone on cruises, it's why we, we do surprise, uh, VIP concerts for our people that love music, uh, it's just, invest there, um, and be okay of investing there if they leave in a year or two.
Luckily, we've had very little turnover, but invest in people for what they are as people, for who they are as people, not just for what they can do for you as employees. And when you do that, the bottom line is taken care of. So our people understand what to do. They have a lot of fun doing it. And we understand, like, we literally celebrate it.
We recognize it. You know, what gets recognized, uh, gets done, and most people recognize sales. And I know this is talking about deals here, and everyone says, Oh, we have our sales champion of the quarter, our sales champion of the month, you brought in the most revenue, here's a bonus. How often do you recognize just being a good person, a good leader, being someone that cares for other people in the office?
And so, we have fans first moments, we have fans first recognition that we do before every staff chat on things that we've done for our people. That's recognized constantly. So that's how we've been able to build it. And it's all millennials. Everyone's [00:32:00] 22 to Our president just turned 29. He started as a 24 year old.
So we're a young team and I think it's even more important. And Corey, the last thing I'll say, this got me going. Um, you have to be able to, uh, take the time to know your people as people in a sense of doing, uh, fun tests. So for instance, I mentioned love. We've done the love languages. Our entire team knows everyone's love language, which is fascinating.
And like, you know, our president's like, Tell me you love me, but don't you ever touch me. Like his love language is words of affirmation. So we do that. We did the Enneagrams. We spent time learning about every people, what motivates them, what drives them. Know your people. Know your people. Don't just say what's going on with that work project.
What's going on in their life? How, you know, what are the challenges? What's going on? That's, that's so important. That's been crucial for us.
Corey Kupfer: I love the way your philosophy and your values permeate every part of your organization. And I think that's someplace where a lot of entrepreneurs and larger companies are trying to get.
And, you know, most of them don't do close to as good of a job as, you know, [00:33:00] as you've done it clearly, Jesse. So I think there's a lot of lessons there to learn. When does the new season start and, uh, and, uh, are you going to be able to be playing, uh, in, in these times?
Jesse Cole: It's why I'm so fortunate that our team has built this culture of innovation, this culture of ideas, and this culture of experimentation, because.
Um, obviously what's happened with COVID has crippled so many businesses, but the sports business, you know, is right up there on the top percentage of that list because, uh, live entertainment can't happen and minor leagues are canceled. College summer leagues are canceled. Um, but we took action. And I think a lot of times, especially during challenges, challenging times, people wait around and watch.
That's not how we're going to do things. We're going to take action and if we have to pivot, we'll pivot again, we'll pivot again, but our fans deserve that. So we made the decision in April and we worked with the league and said, we are going to play and we're going to play in front of fans. We were the first league, first teams to announce that.
People were like, what? And I was like, this is how we're going to do it. And not only that, we planned, so we're going to play [00:34:00] July 1, we pushed our season back to July 1, uh, and we have to go 50 percent capacity. Which for us is, as every game's been sold out with 100, 000 plus people, you know, we're turning away 50, 000 people that already bought tickets.
That's a huge challenge. So we were already ready in innovation and said, all right, well, what's the problem fans are having? So fans aren't gonna be able to see games. How can we not only show games to fans, but show it in a way they've never seen before? So we immediately started working on a test that we were working last year.
It's how do we stream games from drones? How do we actually put camera mics on players? How do we get you inside the huddles, the celebration? How do we let fans choose what happens during the game, whether it's a pinch here, whether it's a pitcher coming into the game? How can we give fans an experience digitally that they've never had before?
We've already been testing it. Now we're ready to rock and roll. And the other test is we're actually going to play a secret game where for two years, we've been working on creating a baseball game that's faster and more exciting than any other game out there. And we played a test game that was the equivalent of nine innings in 99 minutes.
And the player said it was the most fun they've ever had playing. We're doing a [00:35:00] secret game tested in front of a live audience. Right before our season and it'll be on our bananas streaming. And so we've set up bananas inside or 5 a month, a whole new, a subscription business to see the behind the scenes.
It's literally the Netflix of the bananas. We're doing documentary shows. We're following the players out at night. We're following the players everywhere. Uh, and to really show what this is about. And so we are fired up. There's the time is right for us and to do it now.
Corey Kupfer: Oh, listen, listen. If this doesn't inspire you to get some new ideas to really, you know, uh, think out of the box to really look at, uh, how you differentiate yourself and whatever your business it is.
Because, you know, if you hear this as, you know, it's just a, you know, a baseball team and entertainment, uh, you know, area where it's easy to, you know, do these things, then you're missing the point, right? Because there's so many opportunities to do things differently. And, you know, it's funny, I was just, uh, emailing with Jeff Oppmann, who's the founder of Priceline.
And I remember he did a, uh, talk for EO at, uh, at one point where he talked about how he came up with the, uh, idea for Priceline. And it was really about thinking differently. And it was [00:36:00] really about, he spends like an hour every morning, just blue skying, brainstorming. Being on the internet, looking at different things and putting ideas together.
And you know, that created his, you know, his whole business. So, you know, take these lessons into your business because, you know, it can make a huge, huge difference. Jesse, my final question, always on the podcast, uh, is, uh, highest value in life is freedom. And for me, that means everything from, you know, very significant topics like freedom from oppression for all people, but it's also why I'm an entrepreneur and why I'm unemployable, you know, and why, because I want to do things my way and clearly you do as well.
What does freedom mean to you and how does it impact your life and business?
Jesse Cole: Sorry, you cut off a little bit of being there, how does freedom a part of our life?
Corey Kupfer: Yeah, so how does freedom impact, what is your definition of freedom and how does it impact your life and business?
Jesse Cole: It's funny, you know, people ask me what is success, and to me, same with you, success is freedom and fulfillment.
The ability to do what I want, when I want, with the people I want, and to do something that gives me purpose and joy in everything I do. [00:37:00] And so freedom is a huge part of that. And, but with that, I also believe the great quote from Howard Schultz, that success is best when it's shared with others. And so I think the ability to have freedom, to be able to create the life, create your own path, challenge the status quo, uh, do things that, you know, are bigger than yourself, that fire you up, that gets you up in the morning, that keep you up at night in a good way.
Those are the things that I think about. And, you know, I'm challenging a lot of people and saying, you know, you know, what game are you changing right now? And if you have that opportunity, uh, you'll have more freedom than you ever imagined. If you're changing the game and creating something truly remarkable for others.
Corey Kupfer: Oh, that's great. And Jesse, listen, in a prior conversation, you told me that despite being sold out at when I get the Savannah, you'll get me in to a Savannah bananas game. I can't wait to see, to see one and to meet you in person. And I so appreciate having you on the deal quest podcast.
Jesse Cole: Thanks a lot, Corey.
Appreciate
Corey Kupfer: you. Thank you for joining me on this episode of deal quest, where we help you understand how deal driven growth can [00:38:00] be your ticket to freedom. I want to invite you to a unique way to tap into the wisdom and experience of the deal quest community. The deal then is a place where entrepreneurs, high level executives and business leaders come together, support each other's growth and success and share what's working best as well as what challenges we are facing right now.
You will get input, not only from me. But from all of our members, we collaborate and serve each other. To join us, go to Cory Kupfer dot com slash deal day. I'll see you there. I'm Cory Kupfer. Until next week, wishing you the freedom and financial prosperity that I know your deal quest will bring.
