18
01
2011
I recently had a precious baby boy. Upon his arrival I found myself jumping to invest in him in ways I would have previously considered torturous. Feeding every 2-3 hours, changing 1,000 diapers a day, trying to figure out what scream means what… it’s quite a party over here! Fortunately between the kisses, smiles and cooing, he wins my heart over every time and I can honestly say it has been a pleasure. And while my incentive to do the aforementioned is because I want to nurture my child; the truth is that we’d have a real problem practically speaking if I weren’t taking those action steps. Now – your sponsors aren’t going to require 2am feedings, but your relationship with them definitely should reflect some intensive investments; otherwise, you’ll have a problem too!
I strongly encourage you to do a gut check on your relational investment into your sponsors. The beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect on what you did in 2010. Grab a blank sheet of paper, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and start inventorying your efforts in a list format. Break it down by what you consider to be an average effort, something you promised, it’s nothing unique (though valuable), and then list the ways you were extra creative, and went above and beyond for each of your sponsors. This is a great way to get past your emotional perspective and understand the practical reality of what you’re doing. Then ask yourself if there’s a particular sponsor who you are investing proportionally more time in than the others. Obviously for major sponsors you’re doing more (they’ve earned it), but if you look at the above and beyond investments, is there room for growth with a particular sponsor? You might also ask if there are any outside reasons why investing more might benefit all parties. Perhaps if you help foster a cross-partnership which still benefits your efforts you drive in the stake even stronger, further cementing the loyalty of the partnership and adding value in a creative way.
Once you’ve taken the time to inventory these efforts, you can then start getting creative and brainstorming ways that you go can go above and beyond throughout this year and allocating the talent or resources needed to do this. Obviously you’ll need to do this exercise periodically as you continue signing on additional sponsors or customizing new or existing partnerships- bottom line is don’t stop considering how you can invest in this relationship. I like to think of this relationship as you walking backwards on an escalator – if you just stand still and do nothing, you’re actually going to lose ground; it takes hard work, a little blood sweat and tears to actually move the needle on the relationship. The same old thing won’t cut it anymore, so on a scale of 1-10, where are your efforts landing?
Keep in mind that you’re in a partnership –so your sponsor needs to be looking for ways to do the same for you. You might consider reversing this practice and taking inventory of those partners who are taking the time and making the investment in you as well. These partners are worth keeping around because they truly understand the concept of a sponsorship partnership – a relationship worth fostering; and they understand that they need to be of value to you. It’s not just about money…