Clubs – Taking care of your sponsors
One of the World’s leading experts on Cycling Sponsorship
A very experienced Businessman once told me that ‘any monkey can sell to someone once, it takes a real salesman to build a mutually beneficial relationship that will retain a customer for years’. The same principal holds true when it comes to selling sponsors on support for cycling clubs.
Many clubs nowadays have club sponsors. These are predominantly local businesses who put their hands in their pockets to help support the local cycling club. Many have an interest in cycling and are happy to help out, but this financial assistance should not be taken for granted. Any club who is lucky enough to have sponsors of this kind should be doing all that they can to help bring business to their sponsor. The sponsor may then be in a position to increase the sponsorship going forward as their own business improves.
The general feeling amongst many clubs is that once the sponsors name is on the jersey, their work is done. In reality that point is only the beginning.
Some clubs do a great job of looking after sponsors whilst some have websites and Facebook pages where Sherlock Holmes himself would be unable to discover who the actual sponsors of the clubs are.
So what can clubs do to help grow their relationships with their sponsors to a point where the sponsor will actually ask if they might like to have an increased budget for the following year ?
- Spend €20 on scrap books and memory cards. Every newspaper mention or photo of the club and sponsor should be cut out and placed in the scrap book to be handed to the sponsor at the end of the year. These can be copied for multiple sponsors. Every online mention of the club and sponsor should be saved to the memory card and that too should be handed over.
- Every Club nowadays should have a Website, Facebook page and Twitter account. The Website should have a dedicated sponsors page with recognisable sponsors logos and links to the sponsors website. If the sponsor does not have a website, then their business contact details should be listed. There should also be a brief description of the services or products provided by each sponsor.
- Large sponsors should receive a framed Jersey with their logo featuring prominently, which they can display in their place of business or their office.
- Encourage friends and family to support the sponsor and to mention the encouragement of the cycling club when they do.
- At least once per month post a good quality facebook picture showcasing your club kit in action or posed, where all sponsor logos are clearly visible.
- Send me on your clubs details here and I will feature both your club and sponsors as the ‘club of the day’ which can be a starting point for showcasing both club and sponsors.
If you need help setting up a facebook page, a twitter account or a website drop me a line and I will help if I can.
If you need help with Professional Club Clothing, Sean Kelly and I can help with that too.
Barry
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