Eight Ways to Avoid a Summer Sponsorship Slump
While most people are at the beach basking in summer sun, the struggle is real for... sponsorship sellers. Looking to reach any kind of real decision makers gets tougher between Memorial and Labor Day, but that doesn't mean you have to slow down your sponsorship efforts. Here are some tips for staying out of a slump and keeping your sales productivity up along with the sky rocketing temps!
1. Outreach Timing
With tools like Streak, you can time your email to send on say a Tuesday, rather than a Friday and a morning rather than an afternoon (both good ideas any time of the year frankly).
2. Keep it Brief
No one likes long-winded unsolicited emails, but especially when your schedule is shortened. So keep your initial outreach emails especially short in the summertime to show you can get your point across (i.e. lock down a follow-up should be the goal, not close a sale), while respecting their busy schedule.
3. Change Your Routine
Since you'll be more unlikely to connect with prospects on Mondays and Fridays, that's time you can be spending on prospecting for qualified leads and refilling your pipeline so you ready to maximize prospect outreach when it matters mid-week. Save the actual outreach for Tuesday-Thursday, when you're more likely to connect.
4. Change Up Sales Copy
Acknowledge your prospect may be at the lake or at the game, to show you get that their time is especially valuable over these months.
5. Get Out of the Office
Find ways to get out the office and network at meet-ups, conferences, breakfasts, etc. No one wants to be in the office when it's empty so get out of the office and mix it up with other industry professionals. You'll probably find prospects in a more amenable environment.
6. Summer Sweetener
Can you incentivize sponsors to take action, rather than punting to the fall, by providing an extra incentive to sign on now? What sponsorship benefits can you throw in to get your prospect to make a decision before Labor Day? Maybe create new benefits that can only be activated during the summer, therefore requiring the sponsor to come aboard now to take advantage.
7. Get Your Prospect Out of the Office
Offer your prospect an experience they covet - a game, festival or vip experience in your area. This is a great way to create a relationship with your prospect outside the office and greatly increase your odds of getting an answer quicker.
8. Share Relevant Info and Insights
With less hours in the office, your prospect will probably miss some of the relevant news they would normally catch. Send them some category information you found on SponsorPitch (e.g. new competitor deals) or note some recent news you saw on their company or competitors to build rapport and warm up your prospect.
