Getting the Tools

I often talk about building proposals correctly, engaging in activation, doing discovery sessions, and ensuring that you have an industry standard values asset inventory. These are the four essential basics of a successful selling property's sponsorship program.

1. First, determine what you have to sell. Value every asset to determine the potential revenue your property can anticipate, and to allow you to build sponsorship programs with true value and pricing. We call this inventory asset identification and valuation.

2. Second, determine your prospects. Get the meetings and ask the right questions. We call these discovery sessions.

3. Once you have all the necessary information (prospect goals, budgets, what assets you have to help them achieve their goals and at what price), you can build a proposal, negotiate, and close. We call this successful sponsorship proposal development.

4. Then once closed, how do you get the sponsor to ensure its program with you works, and how do you keep the sponsor happy and successful through the term of the agreement? We call this activation, fulfilment, and sponsor summits.

So, that is simple enough to write in just a few words. Where can you find all this information? How can you get the details, do it yourself, and be successful? Again this year, the Partnership Group - Sponsorship Specialists™ will deliver the full SMCC One Day Sponsorship Workshop™ sessions on these four specific topics. The sessions provide all the proprietary information and content that we deliver one-on-one with our clients-for a fraction of the price. Learn the industry accepted valuation of digital and social media. Find out specifically what questions to ask in a discovery session, and how to write a proposal that will sell and engage partners in activation. With all four topics being delivered in Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Alberta in 2013 as well as a workshop in Kelowna, it will be a busy three months. Just last week, we delivered the first of these 14 SMCC One Day Sponsorship Training Workshops™ in Winnipeg. It was a huge success. Next, we have Edmonton, Calgary, Kelowna, Saskatoon, Regina, Toronto, and Ottawa.

In addition, this spring there are even more training and professional development opportunities. On Thursday, April 24 in Toronto, the SMCC will host the Sponsorship Marketing Awards and Conference at the Intercontinental Hotel on Front Street. This is a must-attend event to see the best of the best win awards and be exposed to incredible learning and professional development form a series of speakers and presenters. Then in May, TrojanOne and the Canadian Sponsorship Forum will play host at the MasterCard Memorial Cup in Saskatoon from May 24-26. This trend-setting experiential sponsorship conference is second to none. For the best in a special event experiential sponsorship conference, the Canadian Sponsorship Forum is the one to attend.

So for everyone from BC to Atlantic Canada, small organizations or big brands, there is sponsorship professional development to take in and help you become even better at what you do. All these events, as well as others, can be found on the Partnership Group - Sponsorship Specialists™ web site under the events calendar. (http://www.partnershipgroup.ca/events/)

Brent Barootes