First sales tip…it’s NOT “sales”! That word tends to freak people out…especially if they’re not in sales! So let’s go with “marketing”. Your committee members need to know HOW to market the golf outing to potential golfers and sponsors. Don’t be afraid to ask around for some ‘professional’ help; having a seasoned sales person come in and speak to the committee about basic do’s and don’ts can make a world of difference. There ARE some tricks to the trade:
- What are your goals when calling on businesses to be potential sponsors (and what alternate goals do you have if the original one(s) aren’t met)?
- Ask “open-ended” questions that engage the prospect in conversation; if you just ask ‘do you want to be a sponsor at our charity golf tournament’ and they say ‘no thanks’…there’s nowhere to go from there! (Try…”so what sort of events have you guys sponsored in the past?”)
- Let people know what you’re going to do next after the call…and then do it!
- The fortune’s in the follow-up 🙂
Don’t assume your committee members are sales people. And don’t assume even if they are, that they are comfortable asking people for money. Give them some tools to make their job easier!
