Networking: The Deals Start With a Handshake

Ask a room full of racers how to land a sponsor and most will describe a document: a pitch deck, a proposal, an email with a PDF attached. Ask the marketing directors who actually write the checks, and they describe something else entirely — a conversation.

At my Sponsorship Summits, where brand decision-makers meet with racers, riders, and team owners to explain how sponsorship really works, one theme comes up before decks, before social media, before ROI: nobody sponsors a stranger.

Nobody signs a deal over DM

Robert Wilson, strategic partnership manager at tool maker Boxo USA, personally reads the flood of sponsorship requests that arrive through the brand's social channels. He is blunt about how many turn into deals.

"You're not going to get sponsorship from social media," Wilson told Summit attendees. "I don't think I've ever signed a sponsorship deal from a DM on Instagram. Find the email, call the office — if you're local, show up to the office. I know everybody's afraid to go talk to people face to face, but if you have the courage to come talk to me, I get to know who you are within a couple of minutes, and I can understand who you are compared to 50 DMs." ▶ Watch the clip

For Wilson, an in-person meeting does what no document can: "Show me who you are, not tell me who you are. It's easy for people to sit there and say that they're the best." ▶ Watch the clip

The trade show is the deal room

If showing up matters, there is no better place to show up than the industry's own events. Richie Lewis, partnership sales manager at Sunoco Race Fuels, described how his team turns the PRI Show into a sponsorship pipeline: before he ever leaves for Indianapolis, his meeting schedule is booked solid in 30-minute blocks — 55 meetings in just over two days, a mix of prospects and renewals, with Sunoco's master distributors helping vet the racers asking for time.

Even in that volume, Lewis says the meeting itself is what separates a signing from a sticker request. "Once you meet and you shake hands and you feel that sense of — there's a relationship, we can make this a win-win for both properties, the racer and the brand — then that's a good thing," he said. "There is still no substitute for face time, sitting down in that booth and talking to these people and hearing how they articulate." ▶ Watch the session

Lewis listens for something specific in those conversations: how a racer will represent the brand when things go wrong. "Anybody can do great on great days. But who's going to get out of the car after someone's spun them out, and when they get back in front of the mic, who can handle that situation?" ▶ Watch the clip

Leave breadcrumbs before you ask for bread

Face-to-face doesn't always mean in person on day one. Scott Lukaitis, director of sales and marketing at Engine Ice, is one of the few in the powersports world actively urging racers onto LinkedIn — not to pitch, but to become familiar.

"Start looking at people," Lukaitis advised. "I want to do something with Engine Ice — who works at Engine Ice? Go on there and start to comment on some of their posts. If you find some value in something that they do — 'hey, that was really nice,' 'hey, congratulations' — all those little breadcrumbs add up." ▶ Watch the clip

The one thing not to do: pounce. "Don't get all salesy. I don't want you to connect with me and then the second thing I get from you is a proposal. But 'hey, I like what you did with this product — can you tell me more about your Hot Rod coolant versus your Pure Performance product?' Those are the kinds of things that build conversations and allow people to connect." ▶ Watch the clip

It's a long game, and marketing directors notice who plays it. Lukaitis, like most Summit speakers, invites the contact: "I love talking to people about what I do. We're all passionate about our sport and the brands we work for. We want to tell our story, and we want to hear your story." ▶ Watch the session

Don't forget the announcer's booth

Networking isn't only aimed at sponsors — it includes the people who amplify you to the crowd your sponsors paid to reach. Jason Smith, president of USAC Racing, has watched racing from more vantage points than almost anyone, and he told Summit attendees that surprisingly few competitors ever introduce themselves to the people on the microphone.

"We'll have guys come up and say, 'Hey, here's my sponsor, here's this, here's that' — we totally want that," Smith said of USAC's announcers and streaming broadcasts. "But it's probably not enough." A one-page sheet handed to an announcer costs a racer nothing and can put a sponsor's name on the PA and the stream all season. ▶ Watch the clip

Smith paired the advice with a reality check about patience. Racers tend to measure themselves against the best-funded team in the pits. "You can't look at the guy at the top and go, 'Well, if I just had what he's got, I'd be there today.' That's not how it works. He didn't start with a lot of money — he started at the bottom and worked his way up. That's how you have to look at it." ▶ Watch the clip

The takeaway

Every marketing director quoted here said some version of the same thing: the deck starts the conversation, but the relationship signs the deal. Walk the trade show aisles. Book the meeting. Comment before you pitch. Introduce yourself to the announcer. In an industry built on personal trust, networking isn't a soft skill — it's the sales funnel.