Let’s talk about sponsors

Introduction

If you are asking yourself (in that little voice in your head) why would I ask someone to sponsor me that knows nothing about an Xcel modified and how could racing an hour plus away possibly give them value/exposure..?, you are not alone. What is exactly the value of sponsoring one of our cars?

Sponsorship is one of those things that inevitably is a part of racing. If this is your first year or you have been racing for many seasons, all of us eventually arrive at the unpleasant task of trying to find funding for our pursuit. I want to open the discussion and present ideas that will get the ball rolling and hopefully motivate your quest.

To tackle that goal, I hope to address each segment and offer suggestions on how you could develop a solution to the problems that are commonly identified with sponsorship on both sides of the table.

Sponsorship is part of the racing world. If you look at the big leagues, the entire thing is based on some logo being seeing for ‘x’ amount of time.

Brand recognition is key because customers want to know that they are buying a product or service that has been vetted and the outcome of the purchase comes with less risk because of a reputation.

Already you are asking.. what?
Read on and let me explain how it applies to an Xcel Modified.

Brand loyalty, brand recognition

I am going to stay away from the obvious loyalty about pickup truck brands, but slide on over to a similar comparison of the reputation affiliated with tractors. Likely that you have some knowledge that there are brands and most are associated with a color and a slogan. Country songs will bolster that ‘nothing runs like a deere’. Taking a ride on my big green tractor immediately tells me what brand the singer is associated with.

I personally own a Kubota. Why? Because if you drive around my part of New Jersey, there are multiple orange tractors so I figure – one, there has to be a reason so many are here and – two, it is going to be possible to find someone to service the thing should I need help beyond what I can do on my own.
After many years of owning it – I can confidently say I was right.

Reputation and a feeling of security about my purchase led me to choose orange over green. Each of us does this every day when we choose the things we buy.

Don’t squander an opportunity. If you are taking your Kubota to the dealer for service and the bill is $1500 – be bold and ask them if they would consider the sponsorship of your team. My car mechanic gave me a check for the racing season while I was paying my bill. Giel’s Automotive has been my car mechanic for 30+ year and Ronnie and Bill follow us all the time and know what we are accomplishing.

What do you have to offer

Back to the opening question:
If you are asking yourself (in that little voice in your head) why would I ask someone to sponsor me that knows nothing about an Xcel modified and how could racing an hour plus away possibly give them value/exposure..?, you are not alone. What is exactly the value of sponsoring one of our cars?

ANSWER: YOU… you are the value.

You, your story, your team, your family and the network of people who are your racing circle. You may have to convince yourself of that, but it is true if you make it true. The more you believe that you have something valuable to offer, the more other will believe it when you tell them.

Action on your behalf brings recognition to that sponsor and people hear the name and recognize it even if it isn’t for what they actually do. It only works if you can get them that recognition. You will have to make every effort to live up to your part of the sponsorship you have been entrusted with.

At the very least your sponsorship shows maturity in the growth of the sponsor. If they have enough capital to put the name on a race car, they must be doing something right. Clearly it should demonstrate that the business is established enough to earn trust in what they do. Sponsorship gives them street credit on the business stage (and perhaps a tax write off to boot).

Ideas to make that sponsorship worthy of their investment in your race team

• Learn about your sponsors.
  • What are the owners names?
  • How long have they been at whatever it is they do.
  • Where physically is the location(s)
  • Are they hosting a special event – when does it happen?
• Gift them a decent image of the car with their name prominently displayed. One that they can post out where they engage customers if they choose. Maybe go all out and put it in a frame for them.
• Social media
  • Shameless plug: Register your Xcel on THIS SITE and list your sponsors!
    • Create a racing page and invite your family, friends, coworkers and anyone else to see and follow your racing.
      • Only positive – I don’t care if you crashed or someone took you out, phrase bad news posts as something of a learning experience. Do not argue or talk bad about things on your social media page
      • Mention your sponsors often – do it in a way that is more sincere than just listing them
      • Tag them in your posts
      • If you use their business or product, demonstrate on your racing page that you are. Show images even if it isn’t related to the race track.
    • Post on local social media (for example, we have a page dedicated to Holland Township the municipality where I live.) tell the local folks ‘they deserve your support’. Do it enthusiastically.
    • If it is a racing sponsorship, post on racing social media sites.
• Talk about them to your racing community when you are at the track. No matter how far away they are, someone somewhere has an uncle who could benefit from hearing the name. How many phone calls have you gotten asking you what was the name of…?
• Show your car and put their products with a sign on it
  • Community day
  • Parade
  • Town car show
  • In front of your house on a Saturday
  • In front of their business
  • At the local fair – or the county fair – or the state fair
  • If you are (insert thing here). Their fundraising event.
    • Member of the Elks? At the pancake breakfast
• List your sponsors on your trailer
• Make a shirt and put your sponsors on it. Make them inexpensive to multiple people can walk around and advertise your sponsors. Save a few of them and give them to the sponsors.
• Buy and use their products/services
  • Give them a review
  • Tag yourself if you are visiting their location
  • Create a giveaway with something they offer
• Ask if you can hand out samples for them
• Carry some of their business cards in your race trailer
• BE AN AMBASSSADOR

Quite sure if you are creative enough to race a car, you can come up with things beyond the ideas listed here. When you do, share them with other people. It isn’t a competition off the track. If you are going to speak it may be a great idea to bring one of your crew with you. Practice confirming points with that person and let them show how you work together just like you would with the sponsor you are courting.

Sponsors want to be a part of a family. In this case a racing family. You should recognize your accomplishments. Be prepared to talk a little about what you have learned and any achievements that you brag about. It helps them to understand that there is a goal to all of this and they are investing in helping you reach those milestones.

The art of the deal

How can I ask the sponsor and what type of money do I suggest.

I am going to post what Doug Borger offered on this one. He and I were discussing this topic and he immediately offered a method of communication.

Summary is that you figure out your expenses, list them and after telling someone what you have in mind to help them promote via your race team – offer them a list and ask them to pick what costs they would be willing to offset. Clearly you cannot ask the local empanada shop to offer 10K, so you should tailor your talk to reasonable expectations. You could reverse the list from high to low if you feel that is the approach that will keep the interest as you list the expenses.

Hypothetically speaking you could list items you need or want. Instead of saying can you give me two thousand, you could show them the list and tailor your conversation to steer them towards the goal you are hoping to achieve.

Sponsor Suggestion Sheet

Your team, your list. Doug suggested you create a list that makes as if you are spending quite a bit to race and that could lead to them appreciating that racing doesn’t exactly fit the mold of most people’s perceptions and it is in fact a little high class to own a race team.
Depending how well you know the person you are communicating with is how you change the approach to what your ability to fund this endeavor you allow them to see.

After the deal

If you are offered something toward your racing program, be mindful on how that offering is going to occur. Generally, it is best for both parties to understand what the actually terms are. Perhaps you can offer to write up something and list the terms for them. That way what was said and what happens will likely be a better outcome.

If there is an agreement, live up to it. Include what happens if things go south two races into the season and for financial or personal reasons you cannot afford to continue. What happens if your towning vehicle blows a motor and you have no way to get the car there for the remainder of the season?
Have a conversation with them on what failure (on your part) would look like.

If they offer you a sum of money – budget it!

Smaller fish feed the ocean

While all of that sounds great in theory, you may not find it hasn’t worked out to find a bigger sponsor. Never stop trying!

One of life’s little rules is to stop and buy lemonade or iced tea from kids who set up a stand along the road in your neighborhood. You would do well to pretend your race team is that lemonade stand and you are worthy of them stopping, not because they need lemonade, but because they are ‘helping kids’ in the proverbial sense and it is the right thing to do. A little bit of small talk goes a long way toward socially relaying that message without costing you a thing but a conversation.

If all else fails, time to get creative. Sell a one-line sponsorship on your car panel for $10. Ask the multitude of people you know if they could sign up for a simple one-line sponsorship. Most people will open their wallet and hand you $10 without any reservations. It is a simple way for them to be a part of your accomplishments and each time they see the car, it will remind them the part they played. Remember them like they bought the car each time you see them. Saying thanks for the umpteenth time and sharing how your season is playing out. Include something you wish would make you faster.. costs you nothing and you become know for having a racing team. They may even share your details with others. All the better to generate more interest. Networking in its simplest form.

The following year you can ask them again and offer them the opportunity to see if they know anyone who would like to experience the satisfaction they experienced by offering a bigger sponsorship.

The Hammer Logo

You may be wondering why that logo on this article. I did a job working building the LG headquarters in Edgewood NJ. I was foreman for that 150,000 plus block job and had to call the block yard every time I needed a truck of block. I ordered block from Reuthers Materials. They are a full service masonry company in north and central jersey. I highly recommend them. The dispatcher for that company owned the trucks that delivered the block and this is the logo on those trucks.

After speaking with Rich (the owner) and telling him about our race program I asked if he would send the logo to me for our race car. We didn’t discuss money. My intention was to put the logo on the car and send him the image. I would guess that based on our multi-month relationship he would have sent me a few dollars had I asked him to. My company spend a huge sum of money and I was partly in control of where the materials were sources from. One hand washes the other if you will… again networking at its best.
Turns out that the opportunity with our race program didn’t afford me the chance to do it (yet), so I thought that I would recognize our potential sponsor here in this article.

See what I did there – find a way to tie it in – even if you cannot see the full image.

Conclusion

I would like to finish the way I started. This was not written by any expert. Agree or disagree with the content, the only way you are going to obtain sponsorship is if you put yourself out there.

I wonder if you all would like to offer comments, suggestions and thoughts on this. I have no idea just who or what participates in these offerings, but suspect there is the makings of a follow-up article on this topic since it is so important to what we do.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to reach out to me at keith@xcelchassis.net if you would like to offer.

Best of luck to your search. If any of these ideas pan out – would love to hear that too!