Over the years, I have helped many clients prepare for their first meeting with a legislator. I have seen presidents of national and multinational corporations, men with billion dollar budgets and thousands of employees break out in a sweat at the thought of presenting their organization’s perspective to a Minister. I have also had clients whose complete lack of regard for the time and opportunity afforded to them by a meeting with a Minister come close to derailing their corporate objectives before they had even presented them.
In one particularly memorable case, my client who had been out at meetings with members of parliament (MPs) all morning called a minister’s office and asked the assistant to organize a lunch in time for their arrival since they were falling behind schedule. Given that the assistant in question worked for the Minister of Finance it’s fair to say that she had other things too attend to that morning, not the least of which were all of the other visitors waiting to meet the minister. She didn’t call a caterer, she called me.
When people told me government relations was exciting, I was skeptical. I had worked in politics for years and met plenty of lobbyists. While the issues were interesting and the policy solutions often ingenious, the hours were long and moving regulations or legislation is often tedious. Unless it was an election night, exciting is not how I would have described most political action. However, when my day was unexpectedly interrupted by a an outraged assistant previously known for her patience under fire, my heart rate might have picked up. There is definitely a certain amount of drama associated with trying to soothe an angry assistant, while madly pantomiming to your own assistant to call the florist and send a massive bouquet of flowers BEFORE your oblivious client gets there.
Although the client in question headed up a multi-national who could make the nation’s GDP drop when they had a strike, they were still people dealing with people. The cost of the flowers and my time while I sorted out their faux pas was negligible, but that little moment cost them a good deal of credibility. For a large corporation if you perform enough small blunders the cost to your reputation starts to take a tremendous financial toll. Whether you’re annoying a minister’s assistant or frustrating a customer, bad news spreads quickly. Social media means it spreads at the speed of a key stroke.The customer/stakeholder/follower is not always right, but they always deserve to be treated with respect.
Some Simple Tips To Keep In Mind
Consider how you might feel if positions were reversed.
Treat people the way you want your favorite human treated.
Respect the time of the people you are meeting with, including the time of their staff.
If you are going to be late, give them a heads up.
If you are going to be early, try to avoid their office unless you have no choice and then stay out of their way.
Born to Lobby – Laurel was asked, NOT to touch the flowers in the picture.
Guest Blogger Laurel Craib is an exceptional lobbyist bringing more than twenty years of experience from both sides of the political desk. Well known and well regarded in political circles regardless of the party in power she has represented a range of clients from health professionals to auto manufacturers. She gets inside of her clients issues and delivers their messages with a style and capacity all her own. Laurel recently launched her own company, Agora Consulting, named after the birthplace of democracy in ancient Greece.
I understand that lobbying does not come naturally to everyone. It does for me though.
It’s a story that I have heard my mother tell many times. In fact, it took years for me to understand its significance but not from a parent’s perspective, more from the orator’s point of view and what exactly I had begun so many years ago.
In 1968, my mother bravely took me downtown Montreal to watch the Santa Claus parade. Better known as the Défilé du Père Noël, Montrealers would line both sides of Ste. Catherines Street, as marching bands and decorated floats thrilled the crowd of spectators who overflowed onto the streets from the sidewalks and storefronts. I was about 4 years old, and my mother had dressed me in a white fur coat, a white fur hat, and white fur muff for my little hands. A little angel, she thought, as we headed out for our special day together.
The way she retells the next series of unexpected events is always scattered with incredible laughter albeit stemming from her ultimate embarrassment.
“I am a good girl, right Mommy?” I stated. “Yes you are”, she answered, beaming with pride.
“I never say %#@!!!. And I don’t use the words &%$@@ or *&%%, do I Mommy?”, to which she replied a little red faced in case someone in the crowd overheard , “No you don’t”, and she hoped it would end there. I admit that even today that response would never silence me.
I continued. “I hear some people saying #@!$$ and other people saying &&*%%, but I don’t say those things, do I Mommy? I am a good girl, right?”. Silence in response from my Mom this time. Huge mistake.
My voice raised, just in case my mother did not hear me, I persisted. “I don’t ever say &%%#@.” Getting louder still, “and I NEVER EVER SAY **&&* @@##$, BECAUSE I AM A GOOD GIRL, RIGHT MOMMY?”. And then whoosh! My Mother had whisked me into a storefront alcove where she promptly instructed me to say every bad word I knew then and there. Apparently compliance to my mother’s request took several minutes. I must have stock piled an arsenal full of expletives for this special occasion (I will call this my research). With onlookers giggling and shaking their heads, my red faced mother asked me one final time if I had any words left inside that I wanted to share as examples of me being an upstanding young person. Apparently I did not. I had made my point. I was a good girl, now let’s go watch the parade!
Indeed I had made my point, despite my unrefined delivery. At 4 years of age, I was advocating for myself, the good girl and on that cold December day, I was determined to influence my mother of the same. What I had effectively just done was lobby my mother. She was my first audience, and I knew her well. Why, she had even agreed with my premise early on in this advocacy exercise. Mission accomplished! What I had begun, maybe on that very day, was the beginnings of my career and passion for lobbying.
I have taught many courses on how to effectively advocate and what lobbying is for a little over 8 years. My audience is mostly made up of board members, CEOs, Presidents and representatives from many varied professional organizations. I consistently hear from the participants in my course the uncertainty and fear that they feel about lobbying on behalf of their issue, organization or policy. Most are concerned that about their messaging, their delivery, their relevance, their impact. I often hear, “Why would they want to hear from me anyhow?”. The truth here is that if you have decided that you are ready to bring your issue front and centre with government, you probably feel that change can be made and who better to articulate your premise than yourself.
So allow me to suggest ways that will make your advocacy exercise less frightening;
– Don’t be afraid of your audience. First of all, do your research. Most politicians and senior bureaucrats have their biographies available online, or through professional social networking sites. Make sure that the senior officials that you are meeting with are in fact interested in your issues. You would not seek to meet with an official at Fisheries and Oceans if you want to discuss tariffs. Also remember that these people are quite likely someone’s mother or father, sister or brother, aunt or uncle. That is, they are just people.
– Don’t be afraid to be passionate about your issue. Speak about your experience, education and knowledge within your field of expertise and how it relates to your reasons for lobbying on your particular issue. Your passion will come through loud and clear. People listen to interesting and invigorated speakers.
– Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Much like my mother who forgave me fairly quickly for the embarrassing exchange on a crowded downtown sidewalk, senior officials are just people who also make mistakes. The more that you engage in advocacy exercises, the easier it gets. Don’t forget to start with the appropriate pleasantries, but quickly get to your point. This gets the conversation going, allowing for questions and open dialogue about what you are trying to accomplish.
I like to remind the participants in my course that the elected and non-elected officials have a responsibility to listen to stakeholders and that as an experienced and educated professional, they want and need to hear your input to be better informed in their decision making. Stage fright can also creep in your early phases of a lobbying exercise. While I have never suffered from one single bout of standing in front of an audience, I have witnessed many inexperienced advocates go from shy wallflowers in the first several minutes of their discussions to become full fledge scene stealers once they get in the groove. The positive feedback from your audience, whether verbal or simple body language, will prompt you to continue. They might even try to shut you up at some point, much like my mother did.
While I do know some lobbyists who swear like sailors, I no longer personally use such flowery language when I am face to face with an elected or non elected official. But that goes without saying.
For me, this just comes naturally. It flows like water down a slope.
Of course, most lobbying is not directed towards our mothers….if it were, it would be relatively easy. We would already know our audience, we know that they already like and wont judge us, and we know that they will most likely listen attentively and hear our case.
Do you have an interesting story to share where you had to overcome some element of your advocacy campaign? Have you faced fear, or been uncomfortable with your audience or subject matter? I would love to hear about your lobbying successes and challenges.
There’s No Such Thing As A Typical Meeting With An MP
There is no such thing as a typical meeting with a Member of Parliament (MP). While all MPs may share the same job, and some share the same party membership, that’s about where their automatic resemblance to each other starts and finishes. It’s not that you can’t have similar meetings with various MPs, but if you start to think that there is a set of rules or expectations on what will happen in meetings the only thing you can count on is that you will run into trouble.
How the meetings unfold will depend on a number of factors, not the least of which is the personality of the individual. The meeting will reflect what’s on their mind, their impression of you, what time they have, and many more issues you cannot control or even be aware of. Let’s not forget what you bring to the meeting with you.
I was once doing a series of MP meetings, about 50 one on one meetings in a three-month period. During the course of that process, I encountered MPs who knew all about my issue long before I got there and had done significant research after my meeting request was received. I also met MPs who didn’t know anything about the issue and not much more about the organization or group I was there representing. During the same round of meetings, one MP told me that I should never talk to the constituency MP (himself) but instead, I should talk to the party critic. Another MP suggested that I should never meet with MPs unless I brought a hired a lobbyist. I should mention that the particular MP had formerly been the owner of a lobbying firm.
One MP was only interested in talking directly to one of the professionals I was representing. Still, other MPs thanked me for bringing the issue to their attention and committed to speaking to folks in their caucus and in their constituency about the issue. The range of reactions I received as I met with these MPs was as varied as the faces I was sitting across from. I liked some and disliked others, but although they had all received the same information in advance, none of them responded in the same way.
Having made it clear that MPs are as unpredictable as most people, there are a few things you might expect when meeting an MP.
Lessons Learned
They will want to know who “specifically” you are and what it is you want from them.
They will expect you to explain as clearly as possible what your issue is.
They may ask you to suggest a solution or that you will provide one as part of your explanation.
The MP may oppose the position you are supporting and consequently may decide to argue openly or simply not commit to doing anything to help. In this case, note the position or acknowledge it if they share it with you. State your position, but do not engage in a back and forth argument.
Always offer to serve as an information resource.
Remember to take the opportunity to ask the MP for his or her thoughts and how you can help.
Always remember to thank them for taking the time from their busy schedule to meet with you. If there are any follow-up activities don’t forget to do them.
Over the years, I have helped many clients prepare for their first meeting with a legislator. I have seen presidents of national and multinational corporations, men with billion dollar budgets and thousands of employees break out in a sweat at the thought of presenting their organization’s perspective to a Minister. I have also had clients whose complete lack of regard for the time and opportunity afforded to them by a meeting with a Minister come close to derailing their corporate objectives before they had even presented them.
