By Kerry O’Brien, IOM, CAE, Executive Director and Cassie Wesener, Membership & Programs Manager
We may be tempted to approach sponsorship the same way that produced decent results in the past. We built a prospectus listing what’s for sale, distributed it to prospects, and hoped they would pick something with many zeroes. It’s familiar and efficient to administer. But we can do better. The key is to consider what our prospects are trying to accomplish before we offer a list of gold, silver and bronze packages as a solution.
Prospects Don’t Buy Benefits. They Invest in Value
Every item in a sponsorship package stands in for an objective. Booth space is access to prospects; a sponsored session is thought leadership. Take it a step further. Logo placement is brand visibility. Logo placement at the right time and in the right place elevates visibility to brand recall. Sponsors don’t buy the deliverable — they invest in the value it delivers.
Similarly, be clear about how you describe the audience. “Our conference draws 600 attendees” is a flat black and white image. Describe their roles, purchasing authority, influence and now you have painted a full-color picture of the experience your prospect can expect.
“We have enough prospects,” said no one ever.
To keep your prospect pipeline full, work three tiers of prospects continually: current, adjacent and new prospects.
- Current prospects are your existing sponsors, exhibitors, and corporate members.
- Adjacent prospects are the vendors and consultants who are already serving your members, but do not have a relationship with your association – yet.
- New prospects are emerging companies who are actively stepping in to those adjacent spaces.
One of the most useful questions to ask your board and committee members is “Can you introduce me to the representatives at the companies who are calling on you?”
Know the Problem You Are Solving for Your Prospect
Skip the cold prospectus as a first touch. Ask for a conversation, not a sale. Lead with connection, relevance, and a proposed opportunity.
Once the conversation starts, ask questions that will inform your development of solutions for your prospect. Who are you trying to reach? What are you trying to accomplish — awareness, leads, education, relationships? What’s worked elsewhere, and what hasn’t? How will you measure success?
Now, with that relevant information gleaned from the conversation, build opportunities across four categories: access, content, experience, and year-round presence. Opportunities that relate back to a specific objective hold far more appeal than something novel or catchy.
The Sale is Just the Beginning
The transaction that signals a sold exhibit booth or sponsorship procured, is not the end of your work, but the start of a relationship lifecycle: prepare, promote, engage, follow up, renew. Sponsors and exhibitors who are set up to succeed generate better outcomes for themselves and better experience for attendees.
Revenue alone is an incomplete picture of your sponsorship program. As you would track the health of your association’s membership, also track the health of your sponsorship program. Consider growth of new partnerships, in addition to revenue. Retention rate is a strong indicator of the level of satisfaction of your sponsors. If sponsors aren’t renewing, it may signal that the partnership didn’t deliver the value that was promised.
The Big Idea
When we begin by asking “What can we help our prospects accomplish?” we are able to provide opportunities of value. Better value leads to stronger relationships, which leads to sustainable non-dues revenue, in that order.
There are no shortcuts to relationships. It takes time and interest to build trust in a relationship that leads to loyalty. Systematize, automate and streamline your process so that you can put your time and effort where the value lives – in the relationships.