COMMACK SCHOOLS

Chris Murray, Island Federal’s vice president of marketing, spoke with CHS business students on Friday about important factors in sports sponsorship sales.

Murray formerly oversaw sponsorship sales for Northeast college athletic programs as assistant vice president at Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment. He also had a similar role with Stony Brook University Athletics.

Murray told the students about the importance of making a phone call rather than sending an email to initiate contact. He also discussed the importance of setting up a meeting, and then spending 80 percent of that initial conversation listening to the potential client about their business objectives in the potential relationship.

He also discussed with students the importance of having that meeting on your own home turf, rather than at the potential clients' office, where they could be distracted.

When Murray was selling sports sponsorships for Stony Brook Athletics, he would ensure potential clients who came to him for an initial meeting saw their logo on the scoreboard when they walked into the football stadium and had the opportunity to shake hands with the men's and women's basketball coaches.

Murray also discussed his time with Van Wagner selling advertisements behind home plate at Major League Baseball stadiums. He would have his interns, armed with stopwatches, actively logging the amount of time each client's logo appeared on TV during the game, then share that info with their clients, as well as the ratings for the game.