The One Thing Every Sponsor Wants (And Nobody is Doing)

Everybody wants a silver bullet to sell sponsorship, the one thing that works every time. Guess what?

It DOES exist!

Is it a well written proposal? A solid elevator pitch? The perfect combination of logos, sampling rights and exhibit space?

Nope!

I talk to sponsors a lot (yes, the people with the money!) and I hear over and over again that properties (the people who want the money) are missing the mark almost every time.

There is one thing that your sponsors want more than anything else and nobody is doing it.

That one thing?

Discovery sessions.

The Art of Sponsorship Sales: Discovery Sessions

Here are some of the comments I heard from my most recent sponsor summit, and these comments echo exactly what I hear at every summit! A sponsor summit, by the way, is a great tool to get your sponsors to tell you exactly what they want from you! Check out my blog post all about sponsor summits for more information.

• “No more sponsorship packages…I don’t even read them anymore”
• “Every day I throw out a huge pile of sponsorship packages- unread”
• “Properties come to me asking for money without any sense of our goals or their audience. I just can’t invest in something so risky”
• “I wish people would just pick up the phone and call me. I could save them hours and tell them in 2 minutes whether or not we have a fit”

And my favorite:

“Why is nobody telling sponsorship seekers that we don’t want sponsorship packages! We’re people – just give us a call and give us your elevator pitch. If there is a fit, we will ask for more information”

 

So, I am answering the call! Your sponsors do not want your unsolicited sponsorship packages. They are not interested in making a donation to your cause. What they want is access to your audience or use of your brand to connect with their own audience. There is no gimmick that you can use to get them to give you their money…which is good news! You can call every sponsor in your pipeline in two days and qualify them on the spot.

How Do I Run a Discovery Session?

I know what you’re thinking: “sponsors don’t have time, don’t want to talk, won’t take my call.” If this is true, then they have even less time for a full-on proposal that they never requested! I am here to tell you, your sponsors are busy people but they have a goal by which they are measured. Your job is to find out what that goal is and how you can help them.

My advice is to find a warm contact through your network and ask for an introduction. Don’t have a network? Get one! Until you get one though, check out my blog post about how to get 394 warm prospects.

Once you get your prospect on the line, introduce yourself and tell them you want their advice as to whether or not they think there is a fit and whether or not it’s worth having a more detailed conversation to see if there is a possibility for a partnership.

You aren’t going to sell them anything, not on this call. All you want to do is determine whether or not you have the audience they are looking for and how they like to work with properties like yours. Not sure what to ask? Check out my post on the five questions for every prospect.

If your prospect is interested, believe me, they will tell you. If they aren’t interested, they will tell you. What do you do if they ask for a proposal? Tell them you don’t have one! Tell them that everything you do is custom and that you don’t want to waste their time sending them something when there wasn’t a fit to begin with.

I know that you are likely feeling apprehension right now. My advice? Don’t treat this like an academic exercise – try it! Try it right now. Pick ten prospects, reach out to them and have a discovery call and tell me how it went!

What Kinds of Questions Do I Ask on a Discovery Session?

There’s no need to worry about that. I have a list of almost 40 questions here, then another eleven here. However, be advised that you don’t need to ask that many discovery questions. That’s overkill. As mentioned, you should only ask about 10 questions.

The questions should focus on these areas:

Target Market

What kind of target market does the sponsor want to reach? How far apart is that market from their current audience? Ask questions to get down to the nitty-gritty about their target market, such as which segments are the most important and what efforts they’ve used.

Existing Audience

You should also dig deep into their current audience, identifying the most valuable segments and which parts of their audience aren’t driving enough sales (and why that may be). Optimizing the existing audience rather than replacing them entirely is best, as is growing their audience by converting more the sponsor’s target market.

Marketing and Advertising

You definitely have to focus some questions on the sponsor’s advertising, sales, and marketing measures. Asking about what they’ve done and what kinds of results it’s driven can help you decide which assets and activations can make the biggest difference.

Business Goals 

You also must know the sponsor’s business goals, including short- and longer-term if possible. This will further help you determine how you can best serve them with your assets and activations.

Discovery Session Do’s and Don’ts

You’ve scheduled your first discovery session, and now you want to ace it. I’m happy to help. Here are some tips and best practices for making the meeting the most productive it can be.

DO Lead in with a Good Icebreaker

Like the start of any meeting, it helps to begin the discovery session with an icebreaker. After all, you don’t want the first words out of your mouth to be some stale comment about the weather. That doesn’t bode well for what’s to come.

An icebreaker doesn’t have to be something too complex. Don’t overthink it, as it’s only a small part of the meeting overall. I recommend a question any recipient can answer, such as if they’ve seen a good movie recently.

That kind of open-ended question allows for any type of answer, unlike a question such as, “so, have you heard the latest Taylor Swift song?” They wouldn’t know what to say if they hadn’t heard it, and now there’s an awkwardness in the air.

But DON’T Touch on Anything Inappropriate

Can an icebreaker be funny? Sure, if you’re naturally humorous. But whether you tell a joke or just ask a question, remember to keep it PC and PG. No sexual innuendos, racist or sexist remarks, off-color jokes, religious commentary, or political discussion.

DO Try to Memorize Your Discovery Questions

If you can learn your discovery questions verbatim, that’s ideal, as you can have a more natural conversation with the prospect instead of constantly referring to your notes. However, if your nerves take over and you can’t memorize anything, that’s fine too.

DON’T Bring Your Sponsorship Proposal to the Discovery Session

I recommend bringing nothing but a smile and a warm handshake to your discovery session. I know, it’s going to seem weird to walk into a meeting seemingly empty-handed, but you know what? It’s going to be refreshing for your sponsor.

They don’t want to see your proposal this early on. You shouldn’t have even written a sponsorship proposal at this point, as if you did, you’re practically screaming to the sponsor that these are the same assets you offer to all your sponsors.

Sponsors need tailored assets and activations, and you can only customize what you offer after learning about the sponsor’s challenges during the discovery session.

DO Keep the Meeting Going

As the meeting leader, you’re the one in charge of planning the agenda. You can share it with the prospect before the meeting or when you two first sit down, but you have to stick to it.

Sponsors are busy people. It’s great you got one to agree to meet with you but respect their time by keeping the meeting moving forward.

DON’T Interrogate Your Prospect with Questions

Part of the reason I recommend only asking 10 questions during the discovery session is to avoid interrogating the prospect. Also, it’s in the interest of time, as you don’t have all day to ask 40 or 50 questions.

The key to asking questions is to keep it conversational. It’s not a job interview either, so let the questions come up naturally, and if they don’t, ask what you need to know at the end of the meeting.

DO Follow BAMFAM Rules

BAMFAM stands for “book a meeting from a meeting,” and I always advise my clients to follow it. I’ll recommend it to you too. BAMFAM is an integral part of the early sponsorship process because neither of you is obligated to each other, and if you don’t make an effort to keep in touch, you’d be amazed by how easy it is to fall out.

Remember, your sponsors are busy people. If you don’t book your next meeting while you two are right in front of each other, there will likely never be a second meeting. So, do yourself a favor and make sure you mention setting something up as you are about to wrap for the day.

 

FAQs

Do I need to have a discovery session with all my prospects?

Yes, you do. However, don’t panic if you have a list of prospects that’s about 40 of 50 people deep. You’re not likely to get responses from everyone when you reach out, which is why you need so many options.

What if I work with a sponsor again – is a discovery session required? 

Great question! And yes, it is. The sponsor’s needs are likely to have changed, meaning you should have a formal sit-in with them and discuss their goals and challenges.

Wrapping Up 

Ah, the discovery session. Trust me when I say there’s nothing like it. It’s the most critical piece in the sponsorship puzzle, enabling your business or organization to learn so much about your potential partner and helping you plan effective, customized assets and activations.

Give discovery a try and I promise, you won’t want to go back to your old ways of doing sponsorship!