The Follow-Up: Sponsorships Are Won on the Fifth Touch, Not the First

Most racers judge a sponsorship approach by the first meeting. They shake hands at the track, send a deck the next week, hear nothing, and decide the answer is no. The marketing directors I talk to see it differently. To them, the first meeting is barely a beginning. The racers who get signed are the ones who are still showing up, politely and usefully, a year later.

Nobody remembers the first meeting

Start with an uncomfortable fact: the person you met probably doesn't remember you. Jacob Brown runs the sponsorship program at K1 RaceGear and works the PRI Show every year. "Be personable," he told the audience at my PRI networking seminar. "There's hundreds of racers in this room, and I'll talk to thousands of people... I'll forget 90% of the conversations I have this week." ▶ Watch Jacob Brown on this

That isn't rudeness. It's volume. I'm the same way. I meet people constantly, and after one meeting a face might look familiar without my remembering why. After meeting someone five, six, seven or ten times, I feel like I know them. Everybody works that way. The goal of follow-up is to get to the point where you could text that person on a Sunday afternoon and expect an answer. That's when you can start talking about their marketing objectives and your race program, and that's when a proposal makes sense.

Plan on a marathon

David Morton, senior vice president at Fifth Third Bank, runs the bank's motorsports program. Fifth Third is a non-endemic sponsor, a bank rather than a parts maker. He described networking as a long series of contacts, each one adding something.

"This is a marathon, it's not a sprint. It takes multiple touch points," Morton said at the Motorsports Sponsorship Summit. "You really have to focus on the relationship first, and something that I always do is I really work hard at figuring out how I can get a win for somebody before I make an ask of somebody." ▶ Watch David Morton explain this

That last line is the best follow-up advice in this article. Every contact after the first should give the other person something: a useful introduction, a photo of their product on your car, a recap of a race where their customers were in the stands, a note about something you noticed that could help their business.

Follow up with a reason, not a reminder

Morton's own example of follow-up done right is small and personal. He described a young racer whose family sends him cards throughout the year with updates on how he's doing, and who stops by to see him at PRI. "It's not a one and done," he said. "Don't just send something, don't just stop by once. You've got to repeatedly do it." In his view "it's the multiple touches" that make the difference. ▶ See Morton's advice to racers

He added a warning about what to put in front of a brand too early: "Don't make any recommendations in that deck until you've gotten to know the company you're trying to build a partnership with, because you don't know what they need." ▶ Watch the clip The early touches are for learning what the sponsor needs. The recommendations come once you know.

Nate Hunt of BFGoodrich Tires says the deck itself can be a follow-up tool if you use it to get a meeting instead of a check. "I don't downplay the sending the decks, though, because we don't know everybody," he said. "But use that maybe as just a, 'Hey, here's my deck and I'd love to meet you. I'll be at blah blah blah race, will you be there? Let's meet up.' Take it a little more than just saying, 'Here's my deck, sponsor me.'" ▶ Watch Nate Hunt on this

That turns a cold attachment into an invitation, and it gives you a natural reason to reach out again: confirming the meeting, then thanking them after it.

Pick the channel that gets through

Email is the obvious way to follow up, and often the weakest. Eric Seibold of ITW Permatex receives roughly one sponsorship request a day. "Those who work with me know that email's a worse way to get in touch with me. I'm buried in emails all the time," he said at PRI. "So I really look for that relationship piece where people have done a little more homework. Maybe they're shooting me a LinkedIn direct message. I've had people follow me on Instagram and watch things." ▶ Watch Eric Seibold on this

Mix your touches: a quick visit at the next event, a phone call, a handwritten card, a tag on a post when you run their product, an email when you have something specific to say. And don't assume silence means no. One of the brand executives on that same PRI panel told the audience to "follow up with us if you don't hear," because "we're not all perfect. We don't always follow up on everything." ▶ See the full answer

A no is often a not yet

Toyota is one of the biggest sponsors in motorsports, and Andre Jackson, who has spent decades at the company, wants racers to understand how slowly a company that size moves. "Toyota doesn't do anything fast," he said. "If I would have put a word on it, I would say be patient... Networking doesn't mean you'll come to one after-race mixer and then you're golden. It's gonna take some time." ▶ Watch Andre Jackson on patience

His example was a racer who is now part of Toyota's program. "Steve Torrence approached us probably four times on different occasions. He finally found the right timing and he's part of the Toyota family now." ▶ Watch him tell the story

At the Drift Sponsorship Summit, Jackson described the process from Toyota's side as never really stopping. Drivers send decks, introduce themselves at events and attend meet-and-greets "all the time," which makes it "a constant interview process." When a racer brings an idea that helps sell Toyotas, he said, "it may take six months, it may take a year, it may take two years, but... persistence is always key." ▶ Watch Jackson at the drift summit

Jackie Donahue, marketing manager at NGK Spark Plugs, gave the same advice at PRI. You might get four no's before a yes, she said, so you never want to burn a bridge. A no this year can turn into a yes next year, and how you handle the no is part of what she remembers. "The more that you're nice to me, the more, you know, we want to reciprocate that kindness. And I remember it." ▶ Watch Jackie Donahue on this

The takeaway

• Assume the first meeting was forgotten. Plan for five to ten contacts before you ask for anything.
• Give something every time: an introduction, a product photo, a race recap, a useful idea.
• Use your deck to request a meeting at a specific event, not to request a sponsorship.
• Vary the channel. In-person visits, calls and cards get through when email doesn't.
• Treat a no as a not-yet. Stay gracious, keep in touch, and ask again when the timing changes.