10 ways to make your lobby experience more valuable

Although lobbyists and the “special interests” they represent are often vilified by the press and politicians, they perform a crucial role in the development of public policy choices.  The truth is that lobbyists are citizens, just like you, who are exercising their First Amendment guarantee to petition their government to address legislative, regulatory, or policy issues.  Lobbying the Congress, the Executive Branch, and independent agencies, like the CPSC, is not only a patriotic duty, but it is your right and what makes our participatory democracy strong.  Moreover, as somebody with a specific issue that needs to be addressed, you are now a “special interest,” just like those who advocate for education, health, and other policy areas.
Thank you Steve Lamar for providing this information.
 
Here are 10 ways to make your lobby experience more valuable:
 
1.  Thank them for their time.  Do this at the beginning and end of the meeting.  Members have lots of pressing things on their agenda.  And while they serve you, they get dozens of requests for meetings so their time is valuable.  Treat it that way.
 
2.  Be a Constituent:  Members and their staff take special care to be responsive to constituents.  Establish your credentials as a constituent of the district or state.  Begin by talking about where you live and work for a few minutes to establish some common ground.  Often the Member will be familiar with the area and you may quickly find you have people or places in common.
 
3.  Stick to your 2-3 Main Talking Points:  Members of Congress and their staff have to deal with dozens of complex issues every day.  Often they have very little background other than what is written on a hastily crafted briefing memo that was read a few minutes before your meeting.  Your ability to reduce the issue to 2-3 main points is critical to an effective meeting.
 
4. Pick a Leader:  If there are multiple people in a meeting, make sure one person (preferably a constituent) is tasked with opening the meeting and drawing upon others to speak to make particular points, etc.

5. End with an “Ask.”  Members of Congress want to be helpful.  They want to know what they can do to be helpful, be it writing a letter, introducing a bill, making a phone call, etc.
 
6. Leave a “Leave Behind”.  Make sure you leave behind a “one-pager” or packet of materials that the Member or aides can use as they work the issue.  It is best to provide the material at the beginning of the meeting so they can make notes.
 
7. Follow Up.  Get the name of a staffer and a time when you can follow up.  After your meeting, the Member or aide will probably meet with other constituents or lobbyists so your issue or ask will get buried unless you are following up.  And when you follow up, please be polite and not a pest. Finally, make sure you report back the gist of the meeting, whether you feel the Member will be helpful, and what follow up steps are needed to the lobby coordinators. 
 
8. Watch the Time.  Members may only have 5 minutes to meet with you, even though they have scheduled 15 – 20 minutes.  Meetings are often disrupted when the bells go off (announcing a vote or other floor action) and members are often distracted by several simultaneous events happening (including a watchful eye on the TV that will be turned on to C-Span so they can monitor floor proceedings).  
 
9. Staff are Important.  Visitors to Washington are often disappointed when they are told to meet with staff.  While staff are not as “glamorous” as the Member of Congress, they are very important.  They do much of the work on Capitol Hill and they are the ones who often end up writing legislation.  At a minimum, they will be responsible for making sure that any follow up gets accomplished.  Don’t be surprised if you have a meeting with a staffer and a Member pops in for a “drop by.”
 
10. Be Flexible.  Meetings often get moved, delayed, or switched around at the last minute.  Be prepared for such changes and “go with the flow.”  Often the most productive meetings are ones where a Member has to meet with you while they are walking to the floor or a Committee meeting for a vote.  One benefit of these meetings is that you often get to meet other Members of Congress, including some who may be critical for your issue.