Bike Racers
January 17th, 2007 |As an employee of the bicycle industry I get barraged every single year around this time with sponsorship proposals. Here are some tips for those of you who are looking for the “hook up.”
You don’t deserve anything.
I know that bike racing is probably one of the more expensive recreational sports out there, especially compared to such low investment sports such as running and competitive fruit booting. But I have news for you: despite about how you feel about the sport, bike racing is not a mandatory activity in life. This is a sport that you have chosen for one reason or another and if you don’t get to ride that hooptie carbon bar at the local industrial crit this year your life is not going to end. So write your proposal with graciousness and be thankful for whatever you get, even if all you get is a rejection via e-mail. At least they took the time to write back. Most of the time I don’t even do that much. If you do get a sponsor then be grateful for whatever they can provide since you don’t deserve it anyway.
Don’t over estimate your true value in the marketplace.
Most bike racers who submit a sponsorship proposal have a grossly over inflated view of the marketing benefit they provide to a manufacturer. Here is a hint as to your real value: It’s very close to $0.00. In the case of my company, we have to sell 4 units in order to pay off the expense of giving one away for free. I don’t care how good you think you are, there is no way that you are going to get 4 other people to pay full retail for something just because you happen to be using it. Manufacturers sponsor bike racers in order to support the sport, end of story. So don’t attempt to convince a manufacturer that they are going to get massive sales by giving you those super light wheels.
Try and forge long term relationships.
Did the stuff you used last year work well for you? Then why switch? If you are lucky enough to have a sponsor that is willing to work with you for a season then it’s in your best interest to stick with those guys for the next year if they are willing to continue with you. Sure, you might have the opportunity to save a few bucks or pick up something that might be a little bit cooler in the short term if you drop your current sponsor. But keep in mind that each time you bail out on a sponsor you have to start fresh with a new one. That’s one more company that may be less inclined to want to work with you again next year. I can say that all of the teams that my company is supporting for 2007 have had relationships with us going back at least four years or more.
Get rid of the shoppers, whiners, defrauders and horders.
It’s plenty annoying to come to an agreement with a bike racer for a season and then hear about them talking to my competitor for the following season. What’s even more annoying is to come to an agreement with a bike racer for a season and then hear about them talking trash about my product. Hey, if you don’t like the stuff then think about what you paid for it. Did you get a break off retail? Then keep your mouth shut. Is the stuff working the way it was intended to work? Then talk up the product to everyone that you see. Do you like the stuff? Then make sure to give credit to your sponsor at every single opportunity. Sure, in the long run, it’s not going to matter much in direct sales if people know that you really love the stuff you are riding. But it can damn sure make a difference if people find out that you don’t like the stuff you are riding. I don’t care if the product somehow caused you to stack it in front of 100 spectators. Be grateful for the sponsorship and keep quite about it.
An even bigger problem are those members of your club who acquire more stuff for themselves from sponsors that they are ever going to need and sell it to pay off their investment in the sport. Another version of this is getting sponsorship product to set up friends and family members. This is fraud, plain and simple. The sponsor agreed to support you with product, not with some kind of screwed up idea of an income source.
If you end up with a bunch of pristine stuff at the end of the year then it’s because you took more than you needed for the season. Offer to give it back to the sponsor. Chances are the sponsor will tell you to just keep it but it will make a real positive impression on the sponsor. If the sponsor tells you to keep it then give it to the club and let someone else use it next year, and take less the next year.
Tell the rest of the team to shut up about the deal.
Information regarding what you paid, or did not pay, for a particular piece of equipment is not going to make you friends but it can sure make you enemies. No one cares if you got a deal unless your deal kept someone else from making a living. Don’t parade your deal in front of other bike racers and especially NOT IN FRONT OF BIKE SHOP OWNERS! One call from an angry bike shop owner is enough to spoil a relationship between a sponsor and a manufacturer. If you want to avoid this whole headache just keep your local bike shop involved in your team and aware of the sponsorship situation.
Use the stuff.
Your club gets the great deal on some helmets but you don’t like how they look so you are going to chart your own course and use brand X instead. Word gets back to the manufacturer’s rep and guess what? No more helmets for the club the next year thanks to you. If you want to play pretend pro bike racer then take it all the way and use the stuff provided by the sponsor.
Make yourself memorable, but in a positive way.
A note at the beginning of the season thanking them for the support is nice. A team picture or a team jersey is alway fun to get from a club. A note at the end of the season recapping the year and thanking them again for the support is great and it will help set things up in a positive way for the following season. Weekly e-mail updates about how you won the local training time trial or how the manufacturer can “improve” the product based on your “testing” do nothing but clog up in boxes and help you develop the reputation of being a nagging blow hard. Ask the sponsor how much information they want from you and then give them that much.
Keep in mind that you are representing more than yourself.
Hey, who hooked you in the sprint? It was the asshole on the Colnago. Not good advertising for Colnago. Don’t behave in a way that may reflect poorly on your sponsors.
That’s about all I got. Feel free to add more in the comments section if you think of anything else.
