Stephanie Vance is aware of what most people think motivates elected officials, but they are only partially right, the former congressional staff member says.
Vance, owner of Washington-based AdVanced Consultancy, told attendees gathered for the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) Annual Meeting that while senators and representatives need money to be re-elected, they also strive to provide constituent services to individuals and business owners in their districts or states.
Additional influencing factors can be the opinions of the their spouses, friends and families, their image in the media and their own pet issues and principles.
A small business owner will probably have to be persistent, tactful and will need to make a clear request to get help from elected officials and their staff members.
While it is possible to arrange a meeting with an actual Congressperson (and these will average about seven minutes, Vance notes), company owners should not be discouraged about meeting with a staff member.
Meeting with a staff member can be a screening process that will get a company owner an audience with a representative or senator, or it can serve to accomplish the same desirable result.
Whether meeting with a staff member or an elected official, Vance had the following tips for CMRA members listening to her presentation:
-Know your facts
-Be positive
-Be specific
-Don’t turn the meeting into a “monolog” or long complaint.
Vance acknowledged that the act of getting help from a congressional office to deal with a regulator or ask for a rule change can be “slow, frustrating” process, but she reminded the group that the U.S. lawmaking was intentionally designed to be slow process so that all could get a fair hearing.
The CMRA Annual Meeting took place in mid-March in Las Vegas in coordination with the ConExpo-Con/Agg 2005 event.