Tip 27: Gear Up to Sell Sponsorships

Most sponsorship dollars go directly to your bottom line, but making the sale is very demanding:

• The salesperson has to explain what "mindshare" is and then convince an exhibitor it is worth $25,000 just for the right to hang that banner.
  
• The salesperson has to handhold the exhibitor pre show and on site—and also be sure that the decorator hangs the banner correctly.
  
• Exhibitors use sponsorships to project image, so they are very, very picky.

If possible, separate the exhibit space and sponsorship sale (see Tip 4 and 7). And allow the person selling sponsorships enough time to do the job properly. If you have $X million in exhibit space revenue per salesperson—sponsorship revenue per salesperson is about half as much.