“Talk to your Congressmen,” is a message industry associations frequently pitch to their members to strengthen the industry’s voice on any number of issues facing landscape business owners.
So, have you done it? Have you called to let your representatives know the success of your business is in jeopardy if the H-2B returning worker exemption isn’t passed by September 30? Have you written letters or e-mails expressing a solution for the high costs of acquiring health care for small businesses? Do they know that the way they vote on guest worker programs, comprehensive immigration, pesticide regulations and water issues affects your business?
They should. After all, “You have to remember that your Congressmen work for for you,” said Laurie Flanagan, executive vice president of D.C. Legislative & Regulatory Services, a lobbying firm that works with the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) on legislative issues.
However, it’s incumbent upon you to educate your legislators. And while phone calls and letters are helpful, as any good salesperson knows, there’s nothing like an in-person meeting. More than 150 green industry members did just that earlier this week when they made Congressional visits on Capitol Hill during PLANET’s 17th annual Legislative Day on the Hill.
On Monday afternoon, the day before attendees would split up into state delegations to visit their own representatives and senators, Flanagan and Tom Delaney, PLANET’s director of government affairs, offered advice to both veterans and newcomers. “There’s nothing more to it than making a sales call,” Delaney said.
He and Flanagan offered the following tips for Congressional visits:
- Nervous about your first visit? Tag along with someone else and learn from them.
- If you’re adamant about speaking with your Congressman face to face (and not a staff member), it may be easier to get an appointment in their home-state office rather than in D.C.
- Establish a relationship with Congressional offices before there’s a major issue to build rapport and credibility. It also never hurts to simply visit or contact a Congressman to thank them for work they’ve already done on an issue.
- Campaign contributions show how “valuable” of a constituent you are when building relationships.
- Use your Congressional visits as a point for gaining positive PR. “Tell your newspaper back home you visits your representatives,” Delaney said.
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