Corporate sponsorship is a long tail strategy not a fast financial solution. And it takes time. It can take MONTHS to close a sponsorship deal. Most folks aren’t successful because they step away just before the deal gets into the closing stage–presuming a sponsor is stalling or disinterested when in fact, there are internal meetings, bottlenecks and sign offs that have nothing to do with you/your brand. I’ve seen the sponsorship industry evolve a great deal over my 18 years of doing this work. What hasn’t changed is that from start to finish, it can take seven to ten transactions for a sponsorship deal to close. Trust the process. A few steps to closing faster: How to Speed Up the Corporate Sponsorship Closing Time Don’t inundate your prospect with loads of materials. This strategy gives you a reason to follow-up, and a chance to cater to the sponsor’s interests. Once you’ve officially made your sponsorship “ask” listen and agree to next steps and timeline for decision-making. Once you get a YES, make sure you send your sponsor a confirmation letter that reiterates the details of your agreement. Be pleasantly persistent. If you haven’t received a rejection letter, “no” your deal may not be dead. Hang in there and don’t give up because deals take time. Last, if your deal is at the stalling at the contract stage offer to take on the task of creating the contractual agreement. Have you seen additional prospecting touch points or ways to cut down on the interactions required to close a sponsorship deal? Drop us a line to share.