Hey guys Frank in the shop here with McKenna
again. We are now on part 4 of our 4 part series on marketing and sponsorship
in motorsports. So McKenna we've we've concluded our meeting now talk to us a
little bit about how we should follow up with our potential partners. Absolutely
so there's a couple of different ways you can do this I would say first off as
a side note one type of follow up you might want to do is if you didn't get
the meeting in the first place you might want to continue following up with them
to either try and get a meeting or just kind of stay in contact. If you did get
the meeting you had a great great pitch and everything went well it kind of
depends on how the meeting went sometimes they'll give you an answer
right on the spot and they'll say we'd like to sponsor you at this level which
is great that's that's wonderful. If not they might say well we're gonna get back
to you or we'd like to think about it and get back to you. And so if their
answer is that they need time to think about it
give them no more than two weeks if you don't hear from them definitely follow
up. Maybe after one week and then again after 2. Typically if you got a meeting
though you should probably hear back pretty soon. If that wasn't the case if
they did do the deal right there and said this is what we want to do there's
a couple different ways you can go about it. You one of the more professional ways
would be to drop a contract and so it's really good to state everything that
they're gonna get from you in this contract so that you don't get to the
end of the season and they say well you didn't fulfill all these obligations. So
having something that you can both agree on and sign is pretty important and the
other thing would be also to send an invoice to. And so if they stated what
amount just ask is is it okay if I send an invoice following the meeting and
then just you know there's different templates you can use online for
invoices and send them a professional invoice that's to be paid within 30 days
or so in order to get the check. And so that's kind of the best way to follow up
and then after that would be delivering on your
sponsorship. Yeah so talk a little bit about that. So say we've we've actually
sealed the deal we've got the check right okay so how do I go about
delivering on what I had proposed in the first place?
Absolutely so actually just a quick side note Frank that you brought up it was
good as the check itself if if you don't have an LLC set up for your race team I
would highly recommend it if you find that relevant and so if you do start
getting deals and you've never kind of done this type of thing you're probably
not gonna want people just writing checks to you or your parents or whoever so
maybe have an LLC set up and you also might want to consider opening a post
office box too for like a separate mailing address for your company. So now
it's a delivery so now you have your contract and you have the check whatever
is in that contract or even if you don't have a contract whatever you discuss you
want to make sure that you do follow through with that. And so a great way to
lose a sponsor is to just take their money run and so definitely make sure
that you try your best to satisfy their needs but also be firm and make sure
that you're not getting taken advantage of for the value that they came on board
with. So for example if somebody gives you $100 and that's your associate
package and not your primary package definitely fulfill their needs you want
to make them feel just as important as any sponsor on the racecar but you also
don't want to give them all the value that a primary package would get if
that's not the package that they purchased. And so another great reason to
be upfront with your obligations and then just make sure that they're
fulfilled so definitely make sure try make sure that they're stickers on every
race car if you have multiple and you wouldn't want them to come to the race
and their logo is not on the car or something like that. And then also just
making sure that you're if you know including them in your social media
posts or including them in your shoutouts that you give your sponsors if
you have a driver profile on a certain track website or series website making
sure that they're listed there and keeping that type of stuff up to date.
And then also like staying in touch with and so it can be easy to sometimes talk
to your sponsors twice a year once when you're doing the pitch at the beginning
of the year and then once when you're thanking them at the end of the year and
so try to find a way to maybe stay in contact with them throughout the year.
One of the greatest things you can give your sponsors is your time honestly so
even just stopping by their business and just you know dropping by to say hi you
don't need anything just wanted to see them or even ask if they need
anything from you. Another thing that you can do though which is is different kind
of from what I talked about earlier with you don't get taken advantage of but it
is okay to over-deliver too and so maybe you're bringing a new sponsor on board
you really want them to have a great experience it is okay to over-deliver
and to maybe give them a little bit bigger decal and it kind of show them
what you can offer them to that maybe would make them be interested in moving
up a level the following season. And so that's another thing and then when you
get to the end of the year and even throughout the year make sure that they
are thanked consistently. Your sponsors want to feel appreciated and they do
make a big difference even if it's a smaller sponsor or a bigger sponsor
everything adds up no matter the team and so making sure
that you're thanking them and and supporting them too if they have
charities that they support or different events that that they're doing making
sure that you're participating in those and then thanking them at the end of the
year give them an appropriate gift to thank them and kind of start the whole
process over again next year and reach back out to them not at the time that
you're thanking them but later on and seeing if they're interested in
partnering with you again the following year. You know I know you've done a lot
of work in seeking partners you've talked to a ton of people. Can you touch
a little bit on just some of the relationships you've been able to create
through your your marketing. Oh man so many I'm super grateful that's easily my
favorite part of my partnerships is just simply the relationships I can't even
describe just the friendships that I've been able to form. I was thinking about
that this past week actually I was leaving a sponsor
location you know and we were we were like almost in tears actually just how
much we've been through together as partners you know. When my partner sit
down with me we talk about you know both of our goals and not only just with
racing but even beyond that in just our lives and everything and so if I'm
successful in the track it's not just my accomplishment it truly is their
accomplishment because we sat down and talked about how we're gonna get there
together and how can we put bring in our both of our connections to try and and
reach our goals. And so that's that's when you know you have a great
partnership when you guys are equally excited about succeeding and also you
know if something bad I've had deals fall through or different you know rides
fall through or different things like that that my partner's were on board with you
know and for me to be able to go to them and be honest about that and then for
them to say okay that's okay like you know let's just pivot you know and and
just being able to pivot with them is really important and I feel like across
the board even in terms of dollar value it's not about the money it's you know
it's really not I'm I have great relationships with all of my partners no
matter the level. And they all they all matter because at the end of the day
they're you know they can put their money in a lot of locations and so for
them to partner at the race team is really special not only for me but also
for the sport. And the same goes for anybody else
if you're bringing new people into the sport that's pretty special
considering they could they could be involved in any sport or activity
and so. I started getting sponsors when I was 13 going door to door and there are
sponsors on my car today that were there from day one and that they still talk
about me walking in with my little suit and briefcase when I was just a kid and
and then here we are we've kind of moved up the levels together and so. I think
that that's something to not lose sight oh is that these are people you're
dealing with just like you and they have feelings and emotions too and so if you
can care about them as people beyond just a business deal then the
rest will fall into place. McKenna that's so awesome I just have to
say we greatly appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to come
visit with us. That's going to conclude our 4 part series on marketing and
sponsorship and motorsports. I hope you enjoyed all this information
we had to share and thank you for watching.