Project11 are always on the lookout to give young talent opportunities within the sports marketing industry. Recently, we had the pleasure of being joined by Marc Crown, doing a placement during a break from university. Aiming to gain experience in a number of fields, Marc worked in every department throughout his internship at Project11.

Here’s what Marc had to say about his time at Project11:

Firstly, it is a pleasure to have been approached to write about my insight into the internship I carried out at Project11 in 2017. During my internship, I worked with both the sales and marketing teams which provided me with an incredible opportunity to help expand my knowledge in these areas.

The very first thing I wanted to learn about was the structure of a sale and the different elements needed to make a successful sales pitch. Having understood this, I eagerly picked up the phone and listened in to the salesmen pitching to the clients to see how each salesman used a structure but also put their own spin on it to make a sale. At the conclusion of each pitch, I used my initiative to approach the salesman after the phone call to discuss it in depth with them. This conversation usually covered three main points: how they thought it went, which parts went well and where they could have improved. It is these little conversations that helped me truly gain an overall understanding of how to be a good salesman. Also, I requested to take part in a few training sessions for their sales executives. From these sessions, I learnt about excellent sales techniques which I could then take with me back to the sales floor to see how these techniques were being used. From my time working with the sales team I learnt how much patience, communication and team work is required for each sale. As a Sport Business Management student I could also appreciate how the organisation was run. I was particularly impressed with the ‘Buddy System’, which is a system recently put in place whereby the experienced salesmen mentor the sales executives. I really enjoyed seeing the interactions between the buddies and the mentors as it created an excellent atmosphere in the organisation while motivating and improving the confidence of the buddies.

I was also given great responsibility in the marketing department during my time at Project11. I created new content for their social media platforms and I also created a presentation for their clients. The aim of the presentation I was producing, was to demonstrate to potential clients how advertising in the Premier League would be the best possible marketing strategy to help improve their brand image and market presence. This work was very empowering as the presentation was sent out to potential clients in South America who may decide to do business with Project11 as a result of my work.

Overall, my time at Project11 was invaluable as I gained a lot of knowledge and met some incredible people along the way. The employees were very friendly towards me and made me feel very welcome and comfortable from day one. One of my favourite clichés is ‘what you put into it is what you get out of it’. If I was to give advice to anyone that is about to carry out work experience at Project11, or any company for that matter, I would advise them to do the following: take notes on what they have learnt and the tasks they have completed for their own reference, approach as many employees as possible and network with them and to try and go above and beyond in everything you do.

I would like to thank Project11 once again for having me and I wish them the very best for the future. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.