Government Affairs Best Practices: Building Stakeholder Networks

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Blaise Thompson
6 years ago
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1 WHITE PAPER Government Affairs Best Practices: Building Stakeholder Networks 1 Thomas Circle, 8th Floor, Washington DC contact@fiscalnote.com

2 Unprecedented shifts in power at the local, state, and federal levels are posing a challenge to executives tasked with strengthening their company?s stakeholder networks. These shifts are happening at groundbreaking speeds and many of these new lawmakers can be unpredictable and highly partisan-- making it hard for executives to know who to turn to when managing responses to public issues. This new environment calls for an innovative approach to relationship building. Many government affairs teams have already cultivated relationships with influencers through years of hard work, and those relationships are still fundamental to managing government impact. But today?s networks are being completely disrupted with a new administration and consolidation of party power both in Congress and in state legislatures. Traditional relationship building alone isn?t enough to move the needle on a public issue or manage modern response plans for government impact. In this new age of uncertainty, the ability to build new networks around public issues is a critical part of responding to them appropriately. Responding to this challenge, FiscalNote developed a Government Relationship Management (GRM) platform to deliver more insight into today?s policy makers. Our GRM streamlines internal workflows and ingests government data to provide timely information and analytics about policies, issues, and stakeholders-- facilitating a proactive approach to managing government relationships. Much like social media technology has expanded the ability of individuals to build bigger networks of contacts, so too can companies take advantage of GRM capabilities to build and maintain broader stakeholder and influence networks. The GRM platform helps companies expand networks in two ways: - It allows executives to manage and leverage their relationships collectively. - It provides data and analytics so companies can discover new networks. Through these GRM capabilities, companies are using the following best practices to increase influence, expand networks, and turn uncertainty into opportunity.

Maintaining a Single System of Record Just as business development teams store data and intelligence on prospective customers throughout the sales cycle, government affairs teams can utilize GRM?

3 Maintaining a Single System of Record Just as business development teams store data and intelligence on prospective customers throughout the sales cycle, government affairs teams can utilize GRM?s one system of record to manage information on their networks more effectively. For example, teams can gather contact information, notes on meetings with legislators, and information on communication with staff in one system for a comprehensive view of which actions are most effective, which relationships need to be strengthened, and which opportunities need to be pursued. Team members can house notes on relationship building within GRM to have a clearer picture of how network expansion strategies are progressing.

Using Data to Find New Champions Many government affairs departments are using data to find new advocates based on issues that matter most to the company.

4 Using Data to Find New Champions Many government affairs departments are using data to find new advocates based on issues that matter most to the company. Capturing the behavioral patterns of stakeholders such as their positions and priorities, effectiveness scores, ideological comparisons, and voting histories over time is an effective way to broaden a company?s network. These patterns serve as a guide, allowing executives to see who they should be reaching out to on a certain issue or who they should build long-term relationships with based on ideological leanings. Users can find new champions through GRM by searching for similar legislators based on relationships the company already has.

Building Coalitions Through Analytics Technology used in our GRM, such as natural language processing, enables executives to see who has the same opinions on regulations as the company by analyzing

5 Building Coalitions Through Analytics Technology used in our GRM, such as natural language processing, enables executives to see who has the same opinions on regulations as the company by analyzing the public comments on federal regulations. With this insight, companies can pinpoint advocates and build coalitions with key stakeholders to help drive specific goals. Teams can see feedback from competitors, advocates, consumers, and like-minded businesses-- allowing executives to take a holistic view of how a regulation is being received. With sentiment analysis, companies can target new potential advocates and build more effective coalitions.

6 Leveraging Internal Knowledge Maintaining a shared knowledge system that is used universally, allows teams to spread collective knowledge on relationships and maintain that knowledge when team members move on from the company. This system fosters collaboration across teams and departments-- enabling employees outside of the government affairs department to upload information on outside relationships that other divisions have. This intel gives more insight into possible ways of expanding the company?s stakeholder network. By documenting internal knowledge within GRM, departments maintain important information on relationships regardless of staff turnover.

7 CONCLUSION In this new age of uncertainty, the ability to build new networks around public issues is a critical part of responding to them appropriately. While there are a variety of ways to expand a company?s rolodex, many GRM-enabled companies are establishing a wider network of influencers through the methods mentioned above. As political power continues to shift within the current policy environment, data-driven technology will be increasingly critical in rebuilding and expanding relationships with influencers. To learn more about using technology to drive network growth, download our Legislative Analytics guide. Sign up for our newsletter to get more tips: or contact@fiscalnote.com for more information.

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA ABSTRACT The ACEC South Dakota Chapter developed a strategic plan to guide its projects and meetings, advocate for member organizations, provide