I had our social media consultant tell me once, “You know the dirty little secret about social media effectiveness is consistency.  It can be tough to build a following, but it’s even harder to keep it.”  The same holds true for sponsorship opportunities – especially athletes.  Ask yourself – “am I a diamond in the rough?  Do I posses access to a client base that sponsors want and couldn’t have without me?”  Your next question which is EQUALLY as important is: “how do I maintain this level of value?” 

There is a very specific reason why a sponsor chooses to affiliate their brand with you, and it’s wise of you to know what that reason is.  Now, it’s always going to be true that their brand having an affiliation with you grants them access to a client base that they want to be in front of – if you can’t do this, it’s not even worth reaching out.  It might also be that you’re tied to a cause, and they want the philanthropic brand affiliation, or you create some kind of image that gives you indirect access to another audience of theirs; you might support the message they’re sending, or you align with a new and fresh campaign idea – whatever it is, know why!  In my experience managing individuals, it’s my belief that the majority of poor performance is somehow tied back to lack of job clarity.  It’s not always the case, but I had a great superior that taught me that if I had issues with an employee I was expected to coach them “up or out.”  When I spent quality time making sure they knew the ins and outs of their position, what was expected of them, how they were supposed to get there, created action plans and even disclosed how they would be evaluated – 9 times out of 10 they advanced to the next level.  If you know as a partner why they want to move forward with you and you learn to speak to and uphold that value, you learn how to illuminate your brilliance, your value – like a diamond in the rough. 

It’s important to remember that sponsorship is a privilege, not a right; and we’ve all heard the saying “with privilege comes responsibility.”  And it’s for more reasons that you just being great at your sport.  In the specific category of athletes is seems this must be reminded… When I think of athletes getting sponsored I seriously believe it’s like they just signed up for a job.  Think about it, if you land a job you’re hired on for a particular skillet, a value that you can offer to the company to build their bottom line and reach their goals – they don’t just hire you because they like you.  Let’s say you’re a computer programmer, you have a very specific role your employer wants you to play.  If you don’t follow through in this role, you’re likely going to be cut loose, and it’s simply a good business decision from the company’s perspective.   They’d be crazy to keep you on board if you hurt their bottom line.  There is absolutely no difference in a sponsorship relationship. If they can leverage brand affiliation with you to build their business it’s a brilliant match, if you lose the value of that deal, if you become a medium that will not attract the right kind of attention to a “supporting” brand don’t expect them to stay.  And I must say – no one should be surprised about this.  It’s really a no brainer in my book.  My favorite example is in the case of Gillette and Tiger Woods.  Now, most golfers are men, they probably all shave, and Gillette’s tagline was “the best a man can get.” I can just feel the cringes… in light of the personal lack of integrity especially as it related to the mistreatment of his wife (who many women can relate to – many of those women also do the shopping for their husband’s razors) “the best a man can get” was no longer strongly supported by affiliating with Tiger.  Kim Skildum-Reid discusses this in more dept in one of her blogs.  So it really should not be a surprise that Gillette dropped their sponsorship – it wasn’t good marketing anymore, in fact, it could have been damaging for them to stay – he was no longer able to fulfill his role they “hired” him to do.  Nothing personal, just business.  Smart business in my humble opinion. 

Sometimes brands that don’t stick around can appear to be judgemental, and disloyal – there’s a tight-rope they have to walk across which usually involves a PR rep offering a very pc explanation, but the truth is, there’s a big difference between discernment and judgment.  If you see a friend get a DUI, you’d be accurate in your assessment that they have broken the law.  You become judgmental when you condemn them as a person and hold their transgressions as unforgivable; when you place yourself higher on the totem pole.  You’re discerning when you decide the next time they spend an evening out over drinks not to offer them your keys for safekeeping.   We have to allow corporate brands to be discerning, so if you want to become a wise investment, you have to uphold your end of the bargain – the mutually beneficial bargain.  Shake their hands and elevate your lifestyle and performance to one that can be assessed and know that action can be taken over it. 

I love talking.  A part of me seriously believes that a person’s thoughts are validated with words – whether by mouth or by pen.  When I was a kid I remember being reprimanded for speaking on behalf of my twin brother.  “Let him speak for himself, Emily,” I was told.  “But I just know what he means to say, and I can’t help it, I want to make sure they know what he’s thinking,” I insisted.

In sponsorship sales, there will be times that your proposal will have to speak for itself.  Maybe you’re a talker too – maybe the delivery of your presentation would be enough to earn a standing ovation in a boardroom; but know that you won’t always have the luxury of personally presenting your take on why a sponsor should get excited about your opportunity.  Your contagious enthusiasm and your passion for activation that you eagerly display in conference rooms and personal pitches can’t be your greatest strength.  Especially with more substantial partnership opportunities, there will likely be instances that the proposal has the platform with a number of individuals who will reference it as they weigh out the possibilities.  You might have a chance to speak personally with one or two of them, but you need to write your proposal in such a way that if you were in the room while the corporate decision makers were reviewing the document, you wouldn’t feel the need to interject or add to anything to what they were seeing.

So how can you make sure what’s in your proposal is head turning and eyebrow raising?  I encourage you to reference the “Elements of a sophisticated proposal” theme that we posted previously to gain some insights – it’s a great starting point.  Keep in the back of your mind that especially with the competitive nature of sponsorship requests right now, it’s very important to consider how to  write your proposal in such a way that it stands out as unique from all the rest.

Back when I was in retail, I remember preparing months in advance before a visit from Corporate.  All the big wigs were going to be there, people we had only seen in videos, press conferences or the news.  They hadn’t been to a visit in our area for nearly 10 years, and as a new store manager I would have their attention for about an hour – and so would hundreds of other store managers.  As the weeks drew nearer I recall some very wise advice from a more experienced store manager; “consider the one take away you want them to remember about you most – design all of your interactions to underscore that point.” So I did – the visit went so well I won an award for it.  I was the youngest and most inexperienced of my entire team, and I didn’t win the award because I was brilliant, my store did well but it was by no means the biggest or the best – I won it because I sent a clear, valuable and memorable message.  If you want to stand apart like a diamond in the ruff – one proposal among tens, hundreds or more; you need to quickly, and clearly communicate a message with value. 

I remember hearing one story about a property representative that pitched a sponsor by sending them a formal proposal which cast a vision in a very unique way – it was prepared much like a storybook – the cover was entitled “XYZ marathon presented by XYZ sponsor… the possibilities.”  The possibilities were then unfolded in a draft that highlighted their assets – painted a picture for how this specific sponsor would be able to capitalize on them.  It made the opportunity into an experience and made it very easy for the sponsor to catch the excitement before a meeting was ever initiated.  The sales rep was on the phone a day or two later to follow up and schedule a meeting, and the potential sponsor was on board to engage in a serious discussion about “the possibilities”.  His attention had been captured.  For this property rep – even the delivery of the proposal was unique.  The encased document was uniquely designed and even delivered via FedEx in a package straight to the desk of the decision maker.  Create your proposal to be memorable, then sit back and be prepared to let it speak for itself.

Mutually beneficial relationship.  You can put the stress on whichever word you want in that sentence and it’s an appropriate reminder for how sponsorship is supposed to work.  As a property rights’ holder, make it your motto – it keeps you from underselling yourself and from taking advantage of a sponsor.  It promotes long lasting partners and is an all around great perception to maintain about sponsorship in general. 

Remember the movie starring Mel Gibson: What Women Want?  Mel finds himself in the middle of a freak accident involving a wax kit, pantyhose, and a hairdryer; after which he’s able to hear a woman’s thoughts.  He finds it fascinating as well as frightening, and uses it to further his career and generally get him what he wants.  Eventually the surprising insights and transparency moves him to a place where he’s able to empathize with the hearts of women, and he ends up with much better relationships as a result.  Why? – Because he took the time to listen and perceive what women were thinking, what they wanted; beyond the petty self serving surface level stuff.  When you as a sponsorship rights’ holder take the time to peel back the onion and uncover the true goals and objectives of your partner, you become much more valuable and the partnership becomes mutually beneficial. 

Reality is that we live in a world that’s rather self seeking.  In business, people have on their best defense and offense when they go into meetings.  The question is; “how can I make sure I get what I want out of this deal?”  Not that I’m knocking a proactive approach to ensure a deal is well made – but I ask this; how would you feel if you sat down in a meeting with a potential partner, and the first words you heard them say were: “I think we both have reasons to be excited about where this partnership could take us; but just to make sure we’re on the same page, tell me, what is it you would like to see happen in order for this to be beneficial for you?”  Then how would you feel if they sat quietly and listened, taking careful notes, responded appropriately and seriously considered your perspective before they transitioned over to themselves?  Personally, I would breathe a sigh of relief, I’d feel more invited to be creative because I believe they genuinely have an interest in hearing my ideas, I would feel inclined to loyalty (even just for the relief of a sincere partner), and I would be inclined to trust their interest in keeping their side of a deal – and caring about valuable activation.  I would feel like I was being pursued for a partnership and not being pitched for my money.  When you prepare yourself to go into initial meetings, ground setting meetings; with the purpose of moderating a conversation and not verbally dominating; and when you’re quick to listen and slow to speak, you break down walls of suspicion, and self-seeking behaviors. 

You know the saying: two heads are better than one?  It’s true, and hardly anyone will refute it.  So the application is that no matter what kind of great ideas you might have or expect your partner to have regarding activation strategies, the best thing you can do is make it a dual effort.  If you simply listen and do not hear, or worse – ignore the wants of a sponsor, you might as well not have listened at all.  And when you invite a manageable number of individuals into a whiteboard session where you’re brainstorming how to best strategize your efforts, you’re bound to stumble onto something truly brilliant.

So – this is the last of our top 10 sponsorship connection tips!  I hope you thoroughly enjoyed them – we welcome your feedback, and your personal tips.  What has worked for you?  What connection effort do you know of that should be highlighted for those in the sponsorship community?