Deal Flow

I have a smile on my face as I sit down to write this … because I know that just seeing the Blog title, it's going to make my staff laugh. You see, if they've heard this expression from me once … they've heard it a hundred times!

I'm always preaching the importance of having options. Fact is, you never want to find yourself in a position where you only have limited options – or worse, NO other options. Having said that, I'm constantly surprised (…in conversations I have with sponsorship sales people…), when they start grousing about one or two of their prospects – expressing frustration that the potential sponsor hasn't responded …or they've responded but the conversations never seem to go anywhere…

"So who else are you talking to (…in the _____ category)?", I ask.

"(Pause…pause)…um, no one. They’re the only ones."

Why are they the ONLY ones? What are you doing? Unless your prospect is the ONLY one in a given category (…and I don't think I've seen that case yet…), why aren't you chasing after a number of companies in that category? If it makes sense for Company "x" to sponsor your event … why wouldn't it also make sense for companies "A", "B" and "C" to be talking to you about this?

Fact is, the more irons you have in the fire, the better. For one thing, if "Company X" senses that you're also talking to their competitors … they're that much more apt to get a move on and get your deal done.

So … when it comes to prospects … if "some" are good…. "more" are better!

Ron Seaver, president of Seaver Marketing Group and The National Sports Forum, and author of "Brought to you By... - The Ultimate Sponsorship Sales System" has over twenty-five years of experience in the field of marketing and sponsorship. View all of Ron's posts here