Never give the sponsor a breakdown of expenses unless it's absolutely necessary to close the deal. "Once you start giving them information about where you're spending the money, pretty soon they're going to be telling you to stay in a cheap motel and they're going to be telling you to use cheaper oil or how you can get a better deal on tires," says Saxton. "It just gets out of hand, so you're better off never, never, never letting them look at your budget and see what you're spending the money on when you're racing. As long as you're going to give them what they're asking for, or even better than what they're asking for, then they shouldn't have any complaints or any say on what you're spending your money on."
If you lack the time, or if you lack the knowledge and self-confidence required to put together a proposal, a local community college or university could be an excellent source of help. Professors, particularly in marketing and communication departments, regularly assign projects for students to gain real world experience, or at least something simulating the real world. Even if it's not part of a class project, upper level students could be available for marketing work at a very reasonable cost. The experience and knowledge gained will be beneficial to your effort and their education.
There exists no clear-cut method of getting a prospective sponsor to sign on the dotted line of a sponsorship package. Saxton cautions against hanging on too long and offering too much in the initial proposal. "Then when they come down to the final meeting, the meeting where everything is supposed to happen, there are no perks to offer," he says. "You haven't given them anything new and you have no incentives to offer to a sponsor to get him to sign on the dotted line at that time."
Saxton suggests taking the potential sponsor out to lunch or dinner whenever the timing appears right to close the deal. Although you've carefully planned your proposal and feel you've done a credible job with the actual presentation, you must now rely on your gut instincts to know when to make the final move. "I don't think there is anybody out there-and this is only my opinion based on the years I've been involved in this-who can't feel inside of them that the timing is right to move on a deal," says Saxton. "If that potential sponsor is still balking, though, then it's time to walk away because you're just beating a dead horse."
Keeping a sponsor can often be as challenging as finding one, so it's important to be aware of the many things that can bring exposure to a team. Below are three often-overlooked ways to do that.
* Give information about the driver, team, sponsor, etc., to the track announcer. "I've announced races at 174 tracks around the country and don't understand why more racers don't provide information to an announcer about their racing, about their team, and about their sponsors," says sponsorship expert Ernie Saxton. "Because almost every night when you announce a racing show there's going to be some dead time when you're looking for filler. This can be perfect filler and it gives you additional opportunity to gain some exposure for your sponsor."
* Submit stories to be published in the track program. "I've published race programs for years for racetracks and I'm always looking to fill space," says Saxton. "It's amazing to me that more teams don't make stories about their team available and send over some pictures that can be included with the story. It costs absolutely nothing to do that and generates additional exposure in front of the people who buy the program. Then the book is taken home and read by maybe three or four other people at home."
* Be mindful of the sponsor's name and logo in photographs. "Probably the most exposure you get is when you win a race and you're in Victory Lane with all your crew and all your friends and they look like they've just been through an earthquake or disaster or something," says Saxton. "They're all standing in front of the race car and you can't see who's sponsoring what on that race car. Here's lost opportunity for the sponsor to get the exposure they pay for, plus you turn the sponsor off by looking like a bunch of hobos."