Sponsorship help/Ice breakers

[Qbert60]

Hey Brethern,

I am a fairly new team. I have cooked for years, but started competing in 2012. I did 3 events. Placed OK in all 3. Anyway, I was chatting with a vendor that assists the company I work for about what I do.

Surprise #1 - She loved it and wanted me to send her some info and she would take it to her managers for possible year long sponsorship. Hells yeah!

Surprise #2 - She also told me that her husband is best friends with a guy that is a higher up in a meat packing company. She is going to introduce me and see what goes from there. They deal in Waygu and Berkshire. The good stuff.

Question (sorry to ramble) How do I break this ice with this guy? Are there some guidelines that could prepare me for this? Any help would be much appreciated.

[Wager]

From the sounds of it it looks like the ice will be broken for you. I think if you are talking about breaking the ice in terms of what they can do for you as part of your sponsorship, start off by asking what you can do for them. should be a pretty easy conversation after that.

[Pigs on Fire]

Find out what kind of bourbon he likes. Then take him a bottle of Knob Creek or Woodford Reserve and let him try some decent stuff.

[boogiesnap]

Originally Posted by Wager

From the sounds of it it looks like the ice will be broken for you. I think if you are talking about breaking the ice in terms of what they can do for you as part of your sponsorship, start off by asking what you can do for them. should be a pretty easy conversation after that.

this is spot on.

[Hawg Father of Seoul]

Originally Posted by Pigs on Fire

Find out what kind of bourbon he likes. Then take him a bottle of Knob Creek or Woodford Reserve and let him try some decent stuff.

WR is crap, Bookers, Bakers, Four Roses single barrel. And your best ribs. Lots of folks think
ribs is the premium Bbq.

[Sawdustguy]

Originally Posted by Qbert60

Question (sorry to ramble) How do I break this ice with this guy? Are there some guidelines that could prepare me for this? Any help would be much appreciated.

Make your conversation about what you can do for them. You will be talking with businessmen and before they are willing to invest in a sponsorship the will want to understand what benefit it will be for them. Most new teams think sponsorships are free money but nothing could be furthur from the truth. You will be providing a service for money. Your service could be anything from a caterered event for the sponsor to displaying a banner for the sponsor. That is for you to negociate with the sponsor. When taking on a sponsor make sure you draw up a contract so that it is clearly understood what is expected from both parties. The contract will protect you both.

When we were a new team I wish I had listened to my own advice. We had a sponsor whose expectations were unrealistic but we had dollar signs in our eyes and accepted the money anyway. It was a big mistake and caused a lot of hard feelings. It kinda took the wind out of our sails. We lived and learned and will never take on another sponsor again. It we don't have the fund ourselves, we will not compete. Had I known then what I know now, things may have been different. Now we are a little wiser.

[Stoke&Smoke]

Originally Posted by Hawg Father of Seoul

WR is crap, Bookers, Bakers, Four Roses single barrel. And your best ribs. Lots of folks think
ribs is the premium Bbq.

Well, unless your brisket or pork is better than your ribs

[sweetracks]

Originally Posted by Qbert60

Hey Brethern,

I am a fairly new team. I have cooked for years, but started competing in 2012. I did 3 events. Placed OK in all 3. Anyway, I was chatting with a vendor that assists the company I work for about what I do.

Surprise #1 - She loved it and wanted me to send her some info and she would take it to her managers for possible year long sponsorship. Hells yeah!

Surprise #2 - She also told me that her husband is best friends with a guy that is a higher up in a meat packing company. She is going to introduce me and see what goes from there. They deal in Waygu and Berkshire. The good stuff.

Question (sorry to ramble) How do I break this ice with this guy? Are there some guidelines that could prepare me for this? Any help would be much appreciated.

first of all congrats for being in the right place at the right time

like everyone else said, make it about what you can do for them and not what they can do for you. The partnership with our butcher has paid huge dividends for us both during the season and after it.

If you want some company let me know

[Hawg Father of Seoul]

Originally Posted by Stoke&Smoke

Well, unless your brisket or pork is better than your ribs

My walks in pork has paid $1650 over my last three comps, I kind of like it.