Stop Pitching and Start Listening

Are you struggling to get sponsors onboard? Your approach could be closing doors for you before you even have a chance to slip through them. How you first approach a sponsorship conversation can set you up for success or it can cause you to immediately crash and burn.

I want you to imagine this scenario. Let’s pretend you’re looking for someone to remodel your bathroom. You start talking to people about your upcoming remodel, and two contractors reach out to you, offering their services. Here’s how it goes with each of them:

• Contractor #1 schedules to meet with you, and when you meet, he’s got a fully formed remodel plan complete with pictures and walk-throughs of your new bathroom, and he’s even taken the liberty of including some kitchen remodel pictures, too. In the pictures, the style looks okay and the work is well-done, but you hate the colors and the pictures show rooms that don’t even look remotely like yours. You can’t afford to remodel your kitchen right now, but he’s offering a bundle price if you move forward with both rooms. He won’t stop talking about the color of your new shower curtain, but you have a glass shower door that you want to keep. He’s way off base.
• Contractor #2 schedules to meet with you, and when you meet, he’s got a pen and a notebook, as well as a portfolio. He sets the portfolio aside and starts asking you questions about what colors you like and what the space looks like currently. He asks to see pictures of the space and wonders why you’re changing the room. He makes careful note of your budget and asks what the most important things are in the remodel. Once he’s got an idea of what you’re looking for and how much you are looking to spend, he opens his portfolio to a page that resonates with the style you’ve talked about and starts helping you envision what that style could look like in your space and how it might differ from the photos he has. You can almost see your new bathroom, already.

In this scenario, which contractor are you hiring?

Much like Contractor #1, many racers make the mistake of approaching sponsors with a pitch. They tell them how great they are, how many races they've won, how many fans they have, and how much exposure they can offer. They list all the benefits of sponsoring them and hope that the sponsor will be so impressed they sign a contract. But this approach rarely works. Why? Because it's all about you, not at all about them.

Sponsors don't care about you (at least not at first.) They care about themselves. They care about their goals, their challenges, their customers, and their bottom line. They don't want to hear how awesome you are. They want to hear how you can help them solve their problems and grow their business. They want to hear how you can create value for them and their target audience. They want to hear how you can be a partner, not a vendor.

So how do you approach sponsors with this mindset? It starts with being curious and asking questions. Before you even reach out to a potential sponsor, research their business to try and get a feel for who their target audience is, how they’re trying to reach them, and what they’re trying to tell them. By finding out what they are looking for and how you can align your racing program with their marketing and business strategies you can build a customized proposal that speaks to their pain points and goals.

Ask the right questions

Asking questions is not enough. You have to ask the right questions. The right questions are open-ended, specific, relevant, and insightful. They are not yes or no questions, or questions that can be easily answered with a Google search. They are questions that show that you've done your homework, that you understand their industry, their market, their competitors, and their customers. They are questions that spark a conversation, that reveal their motivations, their challenges, their opportunities, and their expectations. They are questions that help you uncover their pain and their gain.

Here are some examples of the right questions to ask sponsors:

• What are your marketing and business objectives for this year?
• What are the biggest challenges you face in achieving those objectives?
• Who are your target customers and what are their needs, wants, and preferences?
• How do you currently reach and engage your customers?
• What are the key messages you want to communicate to your customers?
• Who are your main competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?
• What are the current trends and opportunities in your industry?
• How do you measure the success of your marketing and sponsorship activities?
• What are you looking for in a sponsorship partner?
• How can we work together to create value for both of us and our audiences?
• How can we leverage our racing program to support your marketing and business objectives?
• What are your expectations from us as a sponsorship partner?
• How can we communicate and collaborate effectively with you?

The key is to ask questions that are relevant, meaningful, and tailored to each sponsor. Don't ask the same questions to every sponsor and don't ask questions that are too generic, too vague, or too obvious. Don't ask questions that are self-serving, manipulative, or presumptuous and don't ask questions that you don't care about the answers to. By asking the right questions, you can learn a lot about a business partner.

Listen with the intent to learn

You can ask all the right questions, but if you’re not learning from the answers, it’ll be a waste of time for both you and your business partner. Pay attention to the body language and tone with which the business representative speaks. In order to do this well, try and meet with contacts face-to-face, or at minimum, over a video call. Listen for the things they don’t say, as much as the things that they do. Ask focused, tailored follow-up questions that show you’re listening and hoping to understand more. If you’re doing this right, you’ll come out of most sponsorship meetings with a completely different plan for partnership than the one that you had going in.

Here are some tips on how to listen and learn effectively:

• Be present and focused. Don't let distractions, interruptions, or your own thoughts get in the way of listening. Listen to understand, not to formulate a response. Don’t be afraid to pause to think before responding.
• Be respectful and courteous. Don't interrupt, argue, or judge. Don't make assumptions or jump to conclusions. This conversation is not when you should try to sell, persuade, or convince.
• Be curious and open-minded. Don't be afraid to ask why, how, what if, and what else. Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know something or that you need more information.
• Be responsive and engaged. Don't just nod, smile, or say "uh-huh". Use verbal and non-verbal cues to show that you are listening and interested. Use phrases like "I see", "I understand", "That makes sense", "That's interesting", "Tell me more", etc.
• Be reflective and analytical. Don't just accept everything at face value. Think critically and creatively about what you hear. Use phrases like "What I hear you saying is...", "So, what you mean is...", "Let me make sure I got this right...", "Can you give me an example of...", etc.
• Be appreciative and grateful. Don't take their time or the information they’ve shared with you for granted. Thank them for sharing their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with you. Express your gratitude and enthusiasm for the opportunity to work with them.

After you’ve learned all you can, then, and only then, can you put together a proposal. If your meeting revealed that the business is trying to reach kids, aged four to nine, to sell them cereal, explain how your race program can do that for them. If your meeting revealed that the business is trying to develop video content that shows their board of directors how their brand represents risk-taking and fun, then explain how you can do that for them. And if your meeting revealed business needs that you can’t find a way to solve with your racing program, then explain that it’s probably not a great fit and walk away.

Approaching sponsors with curiosity and questions is a powerful way to stand out from the crowd and build lasting relationships. It shows that you care about them, that you understand them, and that you can help them. It helps you create value for them and for yourself. It helps you turn sponsors into partners and fans.

So, next time you're granted a meeting with a potential sponsor, don't pitch them. Ask them.