How Can A Lobbyist Help Me Succeed? – CHG

How Can A Lobbyist Help Me?

An honest perspective.

Wikipedia defines a lobbyist as the following, but we think there’s more to it than that.

Lob·by·ist

/ˈläbiist/ noun: a person who takes part in an organized attempt to influence legislators.
“industry lobbyists pushed the government to undo the decision”

That’s great, Wikipedia, but, what does that mean for your organization? That’s a great question and one that we’d love to answer!

The word “lobbyist” sometimes conjures up negative connotations. However, we’re here to tell you that lobbyists are loyal, trustworthy, transparent, educated, qualified and supportive.

We are a group of passionate, problem-solving, professionals that have worked with or within government(s) at some point in our careers. We each have our own extensive networks that we grow and nurture so that we can help our clients connect and demonstrate their value. Have a look at our team profiles, we’ve shared all our career highlights. We are a proud team and have been able to make a positive change in the Canadian political landscape. We’ve worked on strategic responses to high-profile, sometimes international, issues well into our Saturday nights (more than we care to admit, but our spouses would happily tell you). We have drafted key pieces of legislation that impact the daily lives of Canadians and their businesses. We have even had to write some key messaging in a pinch at one time or another. In short, we drove change and helped communities and businesses all across Canada. We love this analogy for lobbying. “When your air-conditioner is on the fritz, you call someone you know who does HVAC. When your car is making a funny noise, you go see your mechanic. If your feeling sick you’d go to the doctor. So why not call someone when you can’t seem to navigate, connect or work with the public sector? (That last one is us by the way.)

You’ve likely been told that you should seek out the services of a lobbying firm to help you enhance your interactions with the government. Maybe you were already connecting with the government but talks have stalled or the government decision-makers you met with aren’t answering your follow-up emails. Now you are doing your research, trying to find out which firm is the best to help you advance your objectives. We can help you better understand what it is we as lobbyists do to better inform your decision.

How can a lobbyist help me?

All firms are different but at CHG we ensure that our clients have the right tools to maximize their advocacy reach and advance their business objectives. We want you to be comfortable and confident in our methods, knowing that they have been tried and perfected over 35 years, across all levels of government.

Here are some of the ways that CHG works with your organization:

Expertise

You have unmitigated access to CHG’s team of highly qualified consultants. CHG believes in the power of numbers, and in order for your organization to fully advance your business objectives, our consultants work together with your organization to expand your advocacy reach as far as possible. Your organization will also have unmitigated access to our team of consultants should you have any questions, ideas or concerns outside of scheduled meetings. CHG consultants will also proactively notify your organization of government actions and changes that may impact or be of interest to your organization.

Advice

CHG’s team of consultants will work with your organization to identify specific asks of the government that will advance your business objectives. These asks will be coupled with key messaging for communications and will be reinforced with key government decision-makers where appropriate with our consultants’ experience understanding the importance of relevant messaging and how particular nuances in language can affect advocacy efforts. CHG’s consultants always seek new and innovative ways to promote our clients with key decision-makers, which could include developing key business relationships with the private sector or identifying opportunities through social media to engage government.

Influence

Our consultants’ experience in both politics and the private sector brings many connections to current political staff on all levels of government across all political parties. It is imperative that your organization has contact with elected officials and their political staff to affect positive change. While department officials are tasked to elaborate policy initiatives, their direction comes from elected officials. Many decisions ultimately require Cabinet approval and it is pertinent that your organization has political buy-in. Our consultants take a dual approach working with both the political and departmental officials to support and advance initiatives.

Engagement

CHG works with your team to schedule meetings and, we socialize your value proposition with the government before and after any such meetings are held. CHG consultants will work directly with your team so that you have a stronger understanding of who you are meeting, what government is looking for, and messaging that clearly highlights the mutual benefit(s) to all parties involved. CHG’s team of consultants will ensure the appropriate follow-up is completed and will continue to socialize your business objectives between subsequent meetings. CHG’s consultants will ensure that wherever possible, your team is participating in government stakeholder initiatives and events.

Research

Government decisions can impact the way your organization does business. You may be unsure about how exactly government changes will impact your organization. CHG has a dedicated team of researchers that work alongside our consultants to make sure that our clients know exactly how government decisions will influence your advocacy approach and current business objectives. Our researchers use a variety of different sources to bring your organization the most up-to-date information from government in a timely manner. CHG also provides our clients with a daily procurement opportunity list.

Well, that about wraps it up. We’ve listed a few of our services below, in case you want to learn more, or feel free to send us a message and we can find some time to chat. Hopefully we were able to share a bit of information and show how we can truly help you, your team and the economy.