The Lost Art of Relationship Management
Introduction
In a harsh economic environment where sponsorship is becoming harder to find and where indirect marketing spend is being cut back to the bone, the need to satisfy and retain existing sponsorship relationships is paramount. Those organisations placing little value on enduring relationships in the expectation that there is always another partner willing to pay more, may soon live to regret their casual promiscuity.
I outline below some of the key principles necessary to maintain good sponsorship relationships, mostly learned through hard experience.
Qualities Required
In forming and selecting members of a relationship management team, you should look for a clear demonstration of the following personal qualities:-
• Commitment – a clear demonstration of energy, drive and determination
• Enthusiasm – an undiminished appetite for the role and its challenges
• Initiative – leadership through clear decision-making capability
• Diplomacy – empathy, emotional maturity and strong inter-personal skills
• Teamwork – the desire to achieve objectives through collaborative effort
Precepts
An organisation can form an effective relationship when its operational managers are provided with clear direction about how the organisation expects them to behave and to perform their role. I offer the following precepts as an example:-
• Take the lead – aim to lead and innovate in terms of the level and quality of service
• Aim for the top – expect and accept from ourselves nothing short of the best
• Keep in touch – communicate regularly and in the most effective way, speaking directly wherever possible
• Integrity is paramount– treat all relationships discretely, fairly, honestly, professionally and consistently
• Deal with it – solve issues at source where possible, but be prepared to escalate promptly through the chain of command where necessary
• Look at things differently – encourage the generation of original thought in an environment that nurtures the development and implementation of creative thinking
• Forward thinking – anticipate, plan and work as a team to deliver results
• Set targets – set reasonable though stretching performance expectations, aiming to over-deliver where possible
• Continuous improvement – promote a culture that responds collectively, avoids apportioning unnecessary blame and learns from its mistakes
• Keep track – identify, monitor and report on key performance indicators on the basis that what gets measured gets done
Team Ethos
In forming a coherent team, members should be encouraged, supported and incentivised to perform effectively. Here are some guidelines:-
• Structure the team with enough flexibility and resilience to cope with business continuity issues both internally and in terms of partners’ organizational requirements
• Offer team members career progression, a progressive widening breadth of responsibility and accountability changing accounts periodically to avoid staleness
• Reward and encourage cooperative behaviour through sharing objectives and ideas
• Regular communication within the team can help promote collaborative behaviour
• Avoid creating a ‘silo mentality’ in which an individual’s success becomes more important than the team effectiveness
• Add experience from external sources, but absorb into the collective approach
• Keep contact reports and quarterly updates up to date
• Hold group update meetings weekly
Threats
Management of a sponsorship relationship is like a marriage. You have to put effort in to make it work. And the harder you work, the better it gets. The threats to a successful relationship are also similar. Here are some common examples:-
Apathy/Dormancy
– Failure to utilise rights available under the contract
– Lack of resource or failure to provide an adequate marketing budget or channel access
Unsuitable rights package
– Standard package of rights & promotional inventory unlikely to work
– Better to offer inventory tailored to partners’ business objectives (Rights Unique)
Disingenuousness
– Abrogation of contractual rights leads directly to unhappiness & termination
– This applies even where the issue is a ‘misunderstanding’ or ‘misapprehension’
Star Sports Marketing can help you to devise and implement an effective and robust sponsorship relationship management strategy. Visit www.starsportsmarketing.com or email steven.falk@starsportsmarketing.co.uk for an informal discussion on the possibilities for your business.
Introduction
In a harsh economic environment where sponsorship is becoming harder to find and where indirect marketing spend is being cut back to the bone, the need to satisfy and retain existing sponsorship relationships is paramount. Those organisations placing little value on enduring relationships in the expectation that there is always another partner willing to pay more, may soon live to regret their casual promiscuity.
I outline below some of the key principles necessary to maintain good sponsorship relationships, mostly learned through hard experience.
Qualities Required
In forming and selecting members of a relationship management team, you should look for a clear demonstration of the following personal qualities:-
Commitment – a clear demonstration of energy, drive and determination
Enthusiasm – an undiminished appetite for the role and its challenge
Initiative – leadership through clear decision-making capability
- Diplomacy – empathy, emotional maturity and strong inter-personal skills
- Teamwork – the desire to achieve objectives through collaborative effort
Precepts
An organisation can form an effective relationship when its operational managers are provided with clear direction about how the organisation expects them to behave and to perform their role. I offer the following precepts as an example:-
Take the lead – aim to lead and innovate in terms of the level and quality of service
- Aim for the top – expect and accept from ourselves nothing short of the best
- Keep in touch – communicate regularly and in the most effective way, speaking directly wherever possible
- Integrity is paramount– treat all relationships discretely, fairly, honestly, professionally and consistently
- Deal with it – solve issues at source where possible, but be prepared to escalate promptly through the chain of command where necessary
- Look at things differently – encourage the generation of original thought in an environment that nurtures the development and implementation of creative thinking
- Forward thinking – anticipate, plan and work as a team to deliver results
- Set targets – set reasonable though stretching performance expectations, aiming to over-deliver where possible
- Continuous improvement – promote a culture that responds collectively, avoids apportioning unnecessary blame and learns from its mistakes
- Keep track – identify, monitor and report on key performance indicators on the basis that what gets measured gets done
Team Ethos
In forming a coherent team, members should be encouraged, supported and incentivised to perform effectively. Here are some guidelines:-
Structure the team with enough flexibility and resilience to cope with business continuity issues both internally and in terms of partners’ organizational requirements
- Offer team members career progression, a progressive widening breadth of responsibility and accountability changing accounts periodically to avoid staleness
- Reward and encourage cooperative behaviour through sharing objectives and ideas
- Regular communication within the team can help promote collaborative behaviour
- Avoid creating a ‘silo mentality’ in which an individual’s success becomes more important than the team effectiveness
- Add experience from external sources, but absorb into the collective approach
- Keep contact reports and quarterly updates up to date
- Hold group update meetings weekly
Threats
Management of a sponsorship relationship is like a marriage. You have to put effort in to make it work. And the harder you work, the better it gets. The threats to a successful relationship are also similar. Here are some common examples:-
Apathy/Dormancy
– Failure to utilise rights available under the contract
– Lack of resource or failure to provide an adequate marketing budget or channel access
Unsuitable rights package
– Standard package of rights & promotional inventory unlikely to work
– Better to offer inventory tailored to partners’ business objectives (Rights Unique)
Disingenuousness
– Abrogation of contractual rights leads directly to unhappiness & termination
– This applies even where the issue is a ‘misunderstanding’ or ‘misapprehension’
Star Sports Marketing can help you to devise and implement an effective and robust sponsorship relationship management strategy. Visit www.starsportsmarketing.com or email steven.falk@starsportsmarketing.co.uk for an informal discussion on the possibilities for your business
From 2001 to 2009, Steven was Marketing Director at Manchester United Football Club. Steven served as a member of the Executive Committee of Manchester United and a board director of Manchester United Foundation, the club’s charitable trading arm. In January 2010, he launched Star Sports Marketing, a specialist sports marketing consultancy. For more information, please visit www.starsportsmarketing.com
Steven Falk’s 
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