Is Sponsorship Hard Work?

Today we’re going to address another concern we get asked about a lot:

"Is Sponsorship Hard Work?"

I think the fear is that finding, servicing and activating sponsorships might become a cumbersome nuisance, and I'm here to tell you that such is not the case.

Sure there will be times when you run across a sponsor that is … um, shall we say, "extremely user-friendly" – and we can talk about how to deal with those folks in a later post.

However, so long as you're up-front and lay out the specific parameters of what you're offering your sponsors … right from the get-go … and you walk your talk … you should have little to no trouble at all. Believe me – sponsors WANT this to work. They're investing in you and your group, and they'd love to see it pay off.

So don't get off on the wrong foot by trying to "sell" unrealistic results. Tell them right up front – this is what you will receive from us and this is what it will cost you.

And then work your tail off to give them everything you promised them. And then some.

And don’t worry about being "liked" by your sponsors. Popularity is nice, but that's not really what this is all about. As much as they may "like" you – what they REALLY "like" is increased business. You establish right up front what their goals and objectives are for their sponsorship affiliation with you, and then you tell them what you can do to help them to accomplish those goals. Don't promise what you can't deliver … and deliver what you promise.

Where properties get into trouble is when they purposefully or inadvertently leave things unclear. Not established. Fuzzy or unspecific. "The devil is in the details" – or so the saying goes and this is ever-so-true with sponsorships. Get everything down in writing and then knock off each of your responsibilities.

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