Pole Position - Set Your Targets and Attract the Attention of Potential Sponsors

Contact – Go Get ‘em

This is the easy part, right? Just call the first business on your list and say, "Would you like to sponsor my race car?" Actually, if you tried that approach enough times (like maybe 10,000), you'd eventually get someone to say yes, but you would have wasted a lot of time and eliminated many potential sponsors in the process. So, please don't do this!

Before we jump right in to making phone calls, let's go over some items in preparation for contacting potential sponsors. First, set a goal for how much time you will devote each week to your sponsorship search. You could set a goal of so many hours per week or that you will make X number of phone calls - whatever works for you. It's just to give you something to shoot for.

Next, set up a designated spot for doing your sponsorship work - a location where you've got a phone, computer, printer, and some quiet. This could be a home office, a spot in your garage, work, in your race trailer, or at the track. Wherever you are, it's a spot where you know you can get some serious work done.

Finally, in preparation for making calls, you may want to first go through and prioritize your Prospective Sponsor list. Line up first those you feel would be your best shot. These are most likely going to be the ones where you know someone directly, have a referral or perhaps you are a long-time customer of that business.

If you don't have a little background info on the companies you will be calling, now is the time to start putting that info together. You'll just want to have a basic idea of what they're all about, i.e. their products or services, their market geographics, typical customers, etc… Displaying some familiarity with the company when you talk with them will go a long way towards a positive first impression.

Can you do all that in person as well? Sure. May be you are already out running errands and are going right by a business on your list. And sometimes you have to resort to showing up in person just to see that hard to reach business owner or marketing manager. Regardless of phone or in person, do what works for you and makes the most efficient use of your time.

Ready, Set, Dial!

Make sure you're prepared to take notes when you make calls also. So what do you say? Well, entire books have been written on this subject, and I will give you a basic overview. But I highly recommend the book How To Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins. Amazon.com usually has it for under $11. Of course the book is not directly about obtaining racing sponsorship, but it's probably one of the best ever written about selling. And the chapters on using the phone and making presentations are directly applicable to the contact and presentation part of the sponsorship process.

Anyway, onward to the basics of the call:

• First, remember your manners
• Ask for the person responsible for marketing - get their name
• If this contact was a referral, make sure you mention that fact right a way
• If a receptionist or assistant wants to know the nature of the call, you can tell them that you want to discuss a marketing program with the person who handles marketing
• If a they ask to take a message or send you to voice mail, just try back another time
• See if you can find out the best time to call back
• Make a note of the receptionist’s or assistant’s name for future reference
• Build rapport with them
• Once you actually reach the right person, first ask if it's a convenient time for them to talk (remember - manners)
• I'll let you develop your own wording, but the basic idea here is to find out if they are open to looking at a cost-effective, exciting, event-based marketing program
• If there is interest, respond with one or two key benefits of your program and ask if you can send them a proposal for them to review
• Make sure to end the conversation with a positive next step
  1. You'll send them a proposal
  2. Set a definite time to get back with them after they've reviewed the proposal
• Last, don't drag on the conversation unless they want to - Respect their time

• Leave an intriguing voicemail that will make them want to call you back (I know we said earlier not to leave a message but maybe try this with one of those hard to reach types).
• Call before or after normal office hours to try and catch someone.
• Many times you may be able to bypass the gatekeeper and reach your contact person directly by doing this.
• Offer to meet them for coffee, breakfast, lunch, drinks, etc… especially if it's one of your top prospects.
• Mail out a brief letter (not your entire proposal) to try to generate an initial curiosity and then follow up with a phone call.
• Call at different times of the day to try to reach people.
• Be persistent but not obnoxious.
• Show up in person as a contact is arriving for work, returning from lunch, leaving - anytime you think you might be able to catch them in between their busy schedule.
• If you meet a prospect at a trade show, send them a postcard ASAP so they get it when they return to work
• Send the prospect a letter with a fake one million-dollar bill (lottery ticket or some other creative item) attached to get their attention and separate you from the pack.
• Send them a letter typed upside-down.
• Send a thank you note right away to each person you talked with from the receptionist on up.
• If you see a positive news report or newspaper article on a potential sponsor, send your contact person there a congratulations note. You'll probably be the only one who does and really stand out above the crowd.
• Ask for referrals from those who aren't interested or timing is not right.
• Ask those who are not interested if you can send them your team newsletter if you have one.
• Normally, mass mailings yield small percentages, but don't rule out at some point maybe doing some sort of direct-mail flyer. This is another one of those out-of-the-box things you probably wouldn't see too many race teams try, but businesses use them all the time.
• If you leave a message for someone, include your phone number at the beginning and end of the message - that way they don’t have to listen to your entire message again just to get your phone number.
• If you've thought of a unique marketing idea for a specific company, mentioned that right up front to get the conversation going.
• Make some practice calls with a team member, spouse, friend, your dog, etc… before you go "live."
• Stand up and smile whenever you are making calls - your smile will be felt over the phone.
• If you set a goal of one hour of contacting or 15 phone calls, stick to it. Think of it as a mini-race - you wouldn't quit in the middle of a race, would you?
• Don't forget to take notes of every conversation so you remember what was said for follow-up calls.
• Lastly, keep a positive attitude, have fun and focus on how great it will be to have a sponsor supporting your race team.

  
  Next section: Send Your Proposal - Go there now!