The Influence of Analytics at the US Open

Rob Persiano is the chief operating officer of Seneca Resources, an information technology (IT) services and consulting firm headquartered in Reston, Virginia. In this position he is tasked with both the development and implementation of short- and long-term business strategies at the firm. Outside of his work in the IT industry, Rob Persiano maintains a number of interests, including tennis.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has partnered with IBM for nearly three decades to bring tennis fans in-depth, analytically driven player and match-up evaluations, particularly during the US Open. This partnership is best embodied by the IBM SlamTracker.

At first glance, the SlamTracker may appear to be a simple digital scorecard, providing fans with up-to-the-second scores from dozens of different courts at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center. However, SlamTracker also tracks and interprets point-to-point changes over the course of each match. Tracking these changes allows the SlamTracker to detect “pressure situations” and changes in “momentum,” providing statistical means of illustrating the competitive arc of a match and predicting the outcome of a set or match.

Perhaps more impressive is the IBM SlamTracker’s Keys to the Match feature, which analyzes more than a decade of Grand Slam matches (more than 12,000 matches). Analysis includes past head-to-head meetings and matches between players with similar styles. SlamTracker then sets measurable goals for both players prior to a match, and gauges each player's odds of winning depending on how well or poorly they do in hitting these marks. Examples of Keys to the Match predictors include “Player 1 must win more than 63 percent of rallies that fall between four and nine shots” or “Player 2 must maintain a first serve percentage of at least 73 percent.”

The Sandler Training Selling System

Rob Persiano is an experienced executive who serves Seneca Resources as the company’s chief operating officer. At Seneca Resources, he provides management and leadership to the regional and branch management personnel, as well as conducts market analysis. Besides holding a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Central Florida, Rob Persiano has also completed the Sandler sales training program at the Center for Creative Leadership.

Sandler Training is a training organization with over 50 years of experience in professional development. The organization has won several awards over the years, including being named a Top 20 Sales Training Companies in the US by Training Industry, which Sandler Training has achieved for ten consecutive years.

Sandler Training was founded by David Sandler, a salesman who created the Sandler selling system, a methodology based on behavioral psychology. The Sandler selling system defines three stages for a sale - the building and development of a relationship, the opportunity qualification, and the closing. The Sandler training is dedicated to teaching salespeople to develop the three stages of a sale to achieve superior sales results with less effort.

Alta - One of the Last Remaining Ski-Only Resorts in America

With a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from the University of Central Florida, Rob Persiano has since transitioned into the role of acting COO of Seneca Resources in Reston, Virginia. Rob Persiano works with the company’s founding partners to develop, implement, and execute strategic plans that help increase the company’s profits. In his free time, he likes to play tennis, lift weights, and ski at Utah’s Alta Ski Resort.

Operating since 1938, Alta Ski Resort is one of the only three “ski only” resorts that do not allow snowboarding. This revelation came to light when Burton Snowboards hosted a contest in late 2007 encouraging its snowboarders to document poaching of the slopes near the resorts. Taos Ski Valley lifted its ban that following spring, whereas Mad River Glen, Deer Valley Resort, and Alta remain true to only strictly allowing skiing.

So why doesn’t Alta allow snowboarding? initially, due to the lack of snowboard instructors, many snowboarders were self-taught and out of control on the trails. Nowadays, Alta maintains the reputation of catering to powder hounds and hardcore skiers and does not want to lose its status in the skiing world.

The Sandler Rules for Selling Without “Telling”

Based in Reston, Virginia, Rob Persiano is an established staffing and HR executive who has extensive experience boosting corporate sales. An executive MBA graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Rob Persiano has completed Center for Creative Leadership coursework, as well as Sandler Training.

Sandler Training was developed by CEO Dave Mattson, who is also the author of The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them. His integrity-driven methodology is based on foundational principles such as talking less and asking more questions, with the 70/30 rule defining the proper ratio of listening to talking.

This has to do with sales being a process that, even when initiated by the salesperson, involves a self-discovery period before a decision is made as to whether the product or service is needed. With resistance to the sales pitch pre-programmed, an optimal approach is to ask questions that lead to self-discovery and the underlying need that needs to be filled.

With the sales process framed as an open, honest conversation, the salesperson should be ready to provide informed advice and recommendations when they are requested. Third-person stories that demonstrate the utility of the product or service can be particularly effective. When the prospect comes to a conclusion on his own, resistance vanishes, as that person now feels that he “owns” it.