Opinion
Assertions
8/24/09: In
the last issue of IEG SR, I broke a
longstanding tradition for this column and wrote in the
first person singular, stating the opinion expressed as mine instead of ours. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, my thoughts about
CareFusion’s jazz festival sponsorship were not necessarily shared by my IEG SR colleagues, so it felt wrong to use the collective “we.” Secondly, and more subconsciously, I have been influenced by
social media–including being part of IEG’s blog brigade, each of us writing from a
personal viewpoint–and the idea that people want to
connect with another
person, not necessarily a disembodied “voice of authority.” So now that that we–sorry, old habit–I have taken the plunge, you can expect a slightly more
personal tone to Assertions. Don’t worry, I’ll refrain from war stories from my 22 years (as of last week) in sponsorship and won’t bore you with which brand of coffee I prefer or what movie I plan to see this weekend.
Speaking of tone, it occurs to me that in
providing advice to properties on how to increase sponsorship revenue and build bigger and better partnerships with corporations, IEG SR can sometimes come off a bit like a
scolding school marm: “Do this. Don’t do that.” This is especially true when we run a piece such as this issue’s page 1 story about what sponsors say
properties do wrong! The spirit is not to
beat up on properties or suggest that all sellers take
wrongheaded approaches, but rather to point out that some
mistakes are still being made so they can be
avoided by those who are making them. That said, I have to
take issue with one of the recommendations made by some of the
sponsors interviewed for the article. The advice that properties
should not follow up on a proposal and simply assume that if they don’t hear back it means the prospect received it, read it and rejected it, is
unrealistic. Would the salespeople at these sponsors’ own companies ever be advised not to follow up with a prospect? I highly doubt it. Knowing how busy sponsors are and how many unsolicited requests they get, I understand their
desire not to be further inundated with follow-up calls and that they do not have time for a conversation about every opportunity presented to them. But such situations can be
easily avoided by having a
standard response ready to send
acknowledging receipt of the proposal and another reply once a proposal has been reviewed that indicates either interest in learning more or politely declining the opportunity. In the email age, it would take a matter of
mere minutes to respond to even 100 proposals a week this way.
Finally, both a personal and professional note: I was tremendously saddened to hear about the death of
Sprint’s
Tom Murphy in a car accident just over a week ago. As Sprint’s
chief sponsorship decision-maker and overseer of the
NASCAR Sprint Cup and
NFL sponsorships, Tom was responsible for a major portfolio and was behind many innovative activations. But apart from being a whip-smart sponsor, Tom was a
true professional and a
genuinely good guy who was always willing to take time to answer a question, sit for an interview, participate in a webinar or otherwise
contribute to our industry. Beyond the company he worked for and the properties he partnered with, his legacy is one of
openness,
kindness and
patience–which I’m sure were keys to his
success. He will be truly missed.
Jim Andrews