IMG National Sales Director Patrick Purcell-Jones explains how his Tenacity made him Fearless
The Follow-Up Blog highlights industry trends, insights and keys to success from today’s top sales leaders and executives. Today we caught up with Patrick Purcell-Jones, National Sales Director for IMG, one of the premiere sports marketing companies in the world.
Patrick Purcell-Jones has spent the last 10-years building his sales acumen. He has experience selling for media companies like Meltwater News as well as sports marketing companies like Learfield Sports and IMG. I caught up with Patrick via email this past week to learn more about his experience disrupting consumer communication platforms and his thoughts on where technology is taking the tools we use to converse.
MH: IMG is a powerhouse in the sports marketing world — What is your role there and how are you impacting the business at a high level? Why did you choose to do this at IMG?
PPJ: I’m the national sales director for IMG, and I work with brands interested in entering the college landscape at scale. Unsure how much you know about IMG College — but we have the exclusive marketing, digital and licensing rights to over 80 college I universities nationwide. I’m impacting brands by aligning them with a target demo and they are using school IP to forge that deep association that drives consideration and conversion.
Of your past professional experiences, which has been the most important in preparing you for what you are doing today? Why?
Working at Cintas — received World Class training and have a strong understanding on how to generate interest on a cold call and close deals.
Can you tell me about a time or event in your life where you had to deal with adversity? Where things didn’t go as planned? How did you overcome these obstacles? Did this learning help you out in your professional career?
Losing my mom and 11 really hit me hard. Learned quickly that tomorrow is not promised and you need to make each day count. Think her death created in me a tenacity for life and when adversity hits — I blow that shit down.
What is your team currently using for your CRM platform? One of the main options like Salesforce? Or a custom solution? What have you found good & bad about IMG’s solution?
We use Winmo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator and KORE. They are all fine. Winmo and Linkedin is what I mostly utilize.
How has the sales and business development software changed since you started your career? Is it getting better? What do you think the future of sales software is?
Not really sure so I’d rather not say.
What do you wish you had learned when you were younger that you didn’t, and had to learn later? What advice do you have for your younger self or for those who are thinking about making a career change or going to start their own company?
Simply be fearless and don’t let society or anyone else tell you can’t do something and take on all challenges especially the ones that are to big for you to handle. Think most of us don’t really know he depth of our spirits.
Anything else you’d like to share with The Follow-Up Blog community? This could be what’s coming up for you personally or your next company idea, or it could be your thoughts on what you think is your secret to continued to success!
Thank you — Matthew.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to learn about your journey from Cintas to IMG! To our readers, if you found this interview on The Follow-Up Blog helpful, please applaud and share with your colleagues!