Do you trust your sponsorship partners? It is easy to say “yes” off the cuff, but do you really trust them? As a sponsor/brand, do the properties you engage with, or at least your top partners, know your business as well as they need to? Have you truly shared with them your strategy, budgets, advertising, PR, IR, and GR plans? If not, the reason is probably because you don’t trust them enough. If you did trust them, really trust them, you would share all of this so they could understand the big picture and possibly bring you a better and more effective program that would deliver better ROI. And yes, it is fine to ask them to sign a non-disclosure agreement. You are not offending anyone if you ask them to sign a NDA; it is part of legal and smart due diligence.

As a property, are you truthful with your sponsors? Do you share when you are talking to their competition? Are your values realistic, or are you giving them less value than they are paying for? Are you more concerned with “getting the money” than ensuring ROI for them? Do you share all the concerns you may have with your own organization such as ability to deliver or failure to provide activation support? Do you tell them when a plan is wrong or won’t work, or are you scared they might run away? If you are not sharing all of this, you really don’t have the trust level you need for true success.

Trust is the key element in any long-term relationship—business, supplier, marketing, personal, marriage, or friendship. Without complete trust, these things will not be the best they can be. It is only when you are open, honest, and truthful that a relationship flourishes. Recently, the issue of trust has come up with both brand and property clients. I was pushing a brand client to share more information with the property they we hoping to do a sponsorship deal with. They kept saying, “The proposals really are not delivering all I need. They are good, the money is not an issue, but they won’t achieve all my goals—and I told them all my goals.” I pointed out that the new product launch they were planning for later in the year had not been shared with the property. I spoke to how the property was failing to deliver because they did not have all the facts. The brand said, “We can’t share that with them.” I said, “Then don’t do the deal. If you don’t trust them enough to give them this information, you are not ready to do the deal. You really don’t trust them, so why would you spend a quarter million dollars with them? That is a lot to spend with someone you don’t fully trust!”

Likewise, the other day, I had a property client say, “I had a competitor of one of our sponsors approach us. They want to be a sponsor. They are being aggressive in the marketplace. Should I talk to them?” My initial thought was, if you have to think about it, there is an issue. My answer: “For sure, talk to them.” But let your existing partner know. Also, tell your partner that you have no intention of changing; you value the relationship, but it is the right thing to do to talk to the other guy! If your partner doesn’t like this, they don’t trust you. If you do it behind their back, you are not being truthful. You are hiding information. That’s what breaks up marriages and ends long-term sponsorship agreements. Do what is right for your business, but keep your partners (your family) in the loop. If you are honest and truthful, you have nothing to hide or be sorry about. If the partner does not like it, perhaps their level of trust in you needs to be re-assessed.

Build trust. Nurture trust. Have long-lasting relationships that deliver great ROI for you, your audience, and your partners.

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