Pole Position – Set Your Targets and Attract the Attention of Potential Sponsors
Network and Prospect - The Art of Mingling
What then is networking and how does it tie in with prospecting? First of all, you develop a network by establishing formal and informal relationships with other people from all the different areas in your life. Most of you already have a huge network of friends and acquaintances if you took the time to think through everybody you know from neighbors, coworkers, people at church, friends at the racetrack, business owners, etc... Networking is the process of developing more of these types of relationships, strengthening the existing ones and then utilizing your network as you develop your sponsorship. Why is networking important then? Because even if you don't know any business owners or company marketing execs directly, you probably have someone in your network that does. And getting a referral or direct introduction by a third-party person like that to a potential sponsor is worth its weight in gold. Think about it. Let's say you were going to approach ABC Construction Rentals about sponsorship. Under what scenario do you think the owner would be more likely to listen to your proposal? You give him a cold call directly, or one of your good neighbors who plays golf with the owner every week has a little chat with him during their next round of golf or he introduces you in person over a cup of coffee one morning? REFERRALS are EVERYTHING! It's true in sales and the business world, and it's just as true in racing sponsorship. With that being said, let's start the prospecting process first by developing and working within your own network and then work your way out to the cold contacts. In sales your personal network is referred to as your warm market, and your success rate is typically much higher when working with a warm market vs. a cold one.
Anyway, let's press on with prospecting in our warm market, and then we'll come back to the shark-infested waters of the cold market (don't worry, they only nibble a little bit). So, Where to Begin? First, we'll start by putting together a list of your network - family, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, anyone and everyone you know - this will be your Network list. Don't even worry right now whether you think that person could have any bearing on your sponsorship search. You never know when you seeing someone's name might jar your memory and reminds you of someone else you hadn't thought of. You can start brainstorming on paper or use a contact management program like ACT! Of course, if you think of a business you already know and it fits your race program criteria, put them down right away on your list of potential sponsors. Okay back to our Network list. If you have a personal address book, then that's a great place to start. Add everyone from there to your Network list. Next, open up this Memory Jogger List. It gives dozens of categories to help jog your memory of people you know. Go through each category and put down as many people as you can come up with. You'd be surprised, but the average person can fairly easily put together a list of 200 to 500 people they know or are acquainted with. And No! We are not going to call each and every one of these people and invite them to a "business opportunity meeting" down at the Holiday Inn! There are two things we want to do with this list. One, you may actually have some people on your network list that could be potential sponsors that you hadn't even thought of before. And they don't necessarily have to be business owners or marketing managers. Don't rule out family members and close friends either. You may remember that long, lost uncle who won the lottery or just sold his silver mine and has oodles of cash lying around. Or maybe the grandparents would like to support your kid's karting career. Really, the whole point of this exercise is to just get you thinking, and then who knows what sources you may come up with. Two, you want to use this list to develop those all important referral contacts. Initial Work On Your Network List Here's how I would recommend working through this list, especially if you have several hundred names. First, run through each name on the list with the thought that they could be a potential sponsor. Make note of those that fit all the matching criteria for your race program and move them to your Potential Sponsor list. These are great prospects because they are your warmest, direct contacts (assuming, of course, you haven't recently shot their dog or something like that to tick them off). Next, take another quick run through the list and see who on there you already know has a contact at a business that would be a good prospect. Now, if after having done these two quick exercises you have a good supply of names of direct contacts for people who can provide referrals, press on to the Contact section so you can get the sponsorship process really rolling. However, make sure you come back here, because we still have some things to do with your Network list, and then there's tons of stuff on prospecting in the cold market. OK, let's press on and dig some more gold out of your Network list. First, let me say this. Some people prefer not to talk to family, friends or even acquaintances about business and money. If this is an issue with you, that's OK. Just move on to the next few sections on prospecting in the cold market. You may find it easier to talk about your racing program with people you don't know. However, just understand it is typically more difficult to approach a business contact who doesn't know you then one know directly or has been referred by a friend. Anyway, back to your Network list. The next step is to go through and start calling those on your list that you haven't already marked. All you simply want to do is give them a quick overview of your race team sponsorship program and see if they have any contacts at businesses matching your race program criteria. And if they don't know anyone, ask if they could just keep their eyes and ears open for any possibilities. Again, if you are racing on the West Coast only, odds are your long, lost cousin in Florida wouldn't have business contacts in your racing region. That doesn't mean you can't call him to say hi and let him know what's going on in your life. This may be a good time to catch out with some people you haven't spoken with in a while. And who knows, they just might be of some help. However, to maximize your time on your sponsorship search, focus your efforts initially on the people in the geographical region of your race program and then work your way out. As before, transfer the info over to your Prospect list as you get company and contact names. We'll go over how to use the referrals in the Contact section, but for now we are just building our lists. Growing Your Network Hopefully, at this point you've got a growing list of potential sponsors each of whom you know directly or can get a referral. Now, let's continue to grow that list. This is the on-going part of prospecting we talked about earlier. As you go about your daily business, simply have a renewed awareness of the people you interact with. Make a conscious effort to take a greater interest in those you meet at the bank, grocery store or gas station. Exchange business cards. Most people will probably be intrigued and start asking questions if you hand them one of your race team business cards. Have a quick little 30-second "commercial" that will give them a good overview of your race team and program. You never know when that next person you meet could turn out to play a future role in your motorsports marketing program. The great thing about this process of building your network is that it takes very little time - just a few extra seconds to maybe strike up a conversation with someone you might have otherwise blown off in the past. The next step in expanding your Network list requires a little more proactive initiative and time from you, but provides the opportunity to develop a lot of contacts fast. Tell me, tell me, what do I do? Well, go to where the people are - in this case Chamber of Commerce meetings and trade shows. Kind of the opposite of "If you build it, they will come." More like "If you go there, you will meet them!" The advantage of these types of events is that most everyone in attendance is there to (guess what?) - Network. So just dress sharp, have your little 30-second spiel rehearsed, grab some business cards and head over to one of these events. Chamber of Commerce meetings will give you a good cross section of local business people while the trade shows are very specific. You might focus on automotive-related trade shows, but most any of them involving companies that are a good match for your race program can be beneficial as well. The key at whatever event you attend is to build relationships, get some contacts and ask for referrals from those whom your racing program doesn't match up. You could get ten solid prospects and referrals from just one Chamber meeting. Talk about efficient use of your time. Now, just to reiterate why we are going through all this work when you could simply open up the Yellow Pages or do an Internet search for local businesses - half the battle in finding sponsors is just getting in the door. By developing relationships in advance, you will be much more successfully getting through the door and on to presenting your marketing program. Besides, what do you prefer - a call from a telemarketer for new long-distance service or a recommendation from a friend for that same service? The same goes with business people. Networking has been around since business has been business, so "Use it and they will come (and give you lots of money for you to go racing!)". Oh, and one more thing. For some of you all this networking and socializing is second nature, but for others it may be a little bit uncomfortable. As such, going through this part of the sponsorship development process will be great practice. Practice - practice for what? I'm glad you asked - practice for when you do have sponsors. Once you have sponsors, part of keeping them happy and providing the benefits they've paid for will involve:
The point is that maintaining a successful sponsorship relationship involves a lot of personal interaction with a variety of people, many of whom you do not know yet. Therefore, the process of expanding your current network is a fantastic experience for preparing you for what's to come, especially if you jump right into the next section - the cold market. Cold Fish Actually this section shouldn't be too scary because we are simply going to cover some additional sources for finding business names outside your current Network list. We won't actually get in the waters and start swimming with the sharks until the Contact chapter. So for now - Relax! You've already got a good idea of how to expand your current network, so now let's grow your Potential Sponsor list directly. Again, keep your race program criteria in mind as you evaluate companies. This time we will just list out the resources. It will be your job to go to the appropriate ones and research which companies may be a good match. So here they are:
Now, if you've worked through this entire target, networking, and prospecting section, then you should have an extensive list of potential sponsors to begin contacting. And if you focus each week on developing and growing your network, you should never run out of businesses you can call. OK, you've done a lot of qualifying work and definitely deserve to be on the pole position. So, let's move out on to the starting grid and get ready to race. We will finally begin the process of contacting potential sponsors and sending out your racing proposal.  
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