Sales skills: How to get a racing sponsor
Your skills as a racing driver will get you noticed by team bosses, commentators, supporters, and fans. But when it comes to closing a sponsorship deal to take your racing career to the next level, it’s not always easy to bring the same level of confidence.
If you’re worried that you’re not a natural salesperson, you’re not alone. In fact, we see it a lot in the drivers we work with. It's one of the biggest stumbling blocks to sponsorship and one that knowledge alone won’t solve.
The good news is that you can learn these sales skills to land more motorsport sponsorship deals. Developing a playbook that you can fall back on every time, will make the process easier. You’ll have a plan of action to follow and answers for everything that comes your way.
Here are some tips for nailing the sponsorship sales process.
Planning for success
Take time to plan as you go through the sales process. This means conducting proper research so you understand a potential partner’s goals before you speak to them. This will help you to nurture them, ask the right questions, and better understand what their pain points are.
Qualifying leads
Qualifying a lead means establishing that they’re a fit for you. This means you’ll be able to bring real value to them, they need what you’re offering, and they can afford to pay for it. Properly qualifying a lead comes down to two things: Research and asking the right questions.
Qualifying questions include:
What problems are you looking to solve?
What happens if nothing is done about this problem?
What are you currently spending to solve this issue?
What are your top priorities right now?
What’s your role in the decision-making process?
Have you considered motorsport sponsorship before? If so, what happened?
These questions will show your interest in the business but will also help you better understand how you can serve it. If they don’t have problems you’re able to solve with your offering or they don’t have the budget to partner with you, it’s likely not a good fit.
Value-based pitching
Heading into a sponsorship meeting with a pitch deck, PowerPoint presentation, or glossy brochure only works in your favour if the content focuses on what you will do for them. Don’t share your life story. Instead, your potential sponsor wants to know what you are going to do for them. Everything you say and do in the meeting should focus on the value you can bring to their business, not your back story.
Focus on the features and benefits
The best pitches are often the most straightforward. A glossy brochure is great, but it's not always necessary. A big presentation might impress, but only if it highlights the facts. Once you’ve qualified your lead, focus solely on what you intend to do to solve their problems. Your backstory and passion to drive are important but what a sponsor really wants to know is what you’re offering and the impact it’ll have on their business.
This is especially true when it comes to sending pitch emails and sponsorship decks. Try to use these percentages if you’re stuck: use 75% of your words and pictures to show what you’ll do for them and why it's so great. For the other 25%, add in contextual information (such as the series you’ll be driving in or the upcoming racing calendar) to set the scene.
Asking questions
During a sponsorship meeting, focusing on getting out everything you want to say can mean you are not actually being ‘present’ in the meeting itself. Instead, focus on your qualifying questions and show a little curiosity. The decision-maker will likely ask about you too but make sure you’re always armed with a few questions to lead the conversation.
Handling objections
Something that can knock you off track pretty quickly is an objection. They are part of any negotiation and should be expected. One of the leadership panel might interject with a question about the value of motorsport coverage, or the financial director might immediately say no to your top-price package cost.
How you handle objections is a skill worth mastering. Here are some typical objections and how you might get to the root of the prospect’s hesitance while also addressing their concerns.
“I want to think about it”
When a prospect says “I want to think about it”, they’re doing one of two things. 1) They’re trying to get rid of you or 2) they really do want to think about it. It’s important to get to the root cause here. Saying something along the lines of “so this means you’re interested?” can often help to disarm the situation.
From here, it’s important to ask who they might be thinking it over with. This will help you work out if there are other decision-makers you might need to meet with. If there’s no one else, ask if they’d like to think it over with you so you can answer any questions they might have.
“We don’t have the budget”
This is a tricky one to overcome but it can be done. The next question to ask is that if they did have the budget, would they come on board? If it’s a ‘yes’ then you’re dealing with a real budget issue. From here, it’s important to find out when the next budget meeting is. You might not make a sale right away but you’ll be in a good position to make one later.
But don’t give up here. If you’ve already established that the prospect wants to work with you, would buy from you in the future and that your offering will solve a problem, ask:
If I can solve your problem does it make sense to wait until the next budget meeting?
Is there someone who has the authority to exceed the budget?
Would a payment plan help solve these budget concerns?
If you’ve built a good rapport with the decision-maker, it won’t feel like too much of a hard sell to ask these questions.
Asking for the sale
Did you know that at some point, you need to ask for the sale? If they are giving out buying signals, it's time for you to warmly ask for an agreement to move forward (the sale). If you’re not recognising any such thing from their side, why not recap your offering before asking if they have any questions? Once any further questions have been answered, it's time to go for it. Try one of these:
What are your thoughts?
What would the next steps be to confirm a partnership together?
When is a good date to get contracts signed?
With practice, you’ll develop your own style of asking for the sale – but there is no escaping that it has to be done. You can’t wait, wonder, or have a wobble now. You’ve given it your best shot after all – it's best to throw yourself into those closing questions with grace and enthusiasm.
Mindset
Your mindset plays a huge role in the sales process. Do you know how to talk about yourself in a sponsorship meeting? If you think you’ll struggle to project your value and personality well in a business meeting, you might have imposter syndrome. This is the term used to describe what happens when the negative story we tell ourselves about our worthiness shouts louder than the facts about who we actually are.
If this sounds familiar, it's worth unpacking — here’s a resource to get you started: Racing Mentor Sponsorship Podcast: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome as a Racing Driver
Preparing for a sponsorship meeting starts long before you meet that sponsor. But once you have been invited to go in and talk to them, it's safe to say they are interested in what you do, and subsequently, in what you might do for them.
Handling a potential sponsorship deal doesn’t have to be scary. Think of it another way: driving into Copse Corner is fun for you, but for a passenger riding with you who doesn't have your skill or experience, it’s going to be scary. It's the same for selling yourself as a business partner.
Once you build your sales skills knowledge, you’ll feel more confident. With experience, you’ll gain even more. While it might not come to you easily, it will become easier over time with knowledge and experience.
If you’re looking to learn more about the sales process and how it can translate to motorsport sponsorship success, take a look at the Sponsorship Academy.
From 1st Sept 2022, you’ll learn how to build your brand, win new partnerships, and become confident in what you have to offer both on and off track. Check out the results from our 2021 course here.