winning the political game…and winning customers
DESCRIPTION
My presentation for the SEATOA conference that presents tactics for building local political support for your broadband project, and influencing broadband-related legislation at the statehouse. Equally important, these same tactics enable you to develop and execute effective marketing campaigns that drives subscriptions to your network.TRANSCRIPT
Winning the Political Game……and Winning Customers
Objectives for this workshop
• Understand how to win
• Politics is Marketing and vice versa
• Tactics you can use now
The Political Status Quo
• 2013 – Georgia, Colorado
• Kansas
• Utah (x 2)
• Tennessee
The National Picture
• Google Fiber raises consciousness
• Telcos abandoning services
• Comcast/Time Warner Merger
Broadband Political Realities
• 19 states with restrictions
• ALEC playbook for muni networks
• State legislatures
• Local politics and politicians
Readiness Is All
• Know your constituents
• Know the political process
• Create the message
• Execute the campaign, deliver
the message
Needs Assessment Key
• What do constituents have
• What do they want to do, but can’t
• What are the benefits of getting
what they want
Executing Needs Assessment
• Main stakeholders
• Meetings and more meetings
• Surveys
The Power of Needs Assessment
• Take away incumbents’ tactics
• Define technology requirements
• Paint picture of benefits
• Motivate the masses
Gotta Know Rules, the Playas
• Know how a bill becomes law
• Know your legislators
• Understand local process, who’s who
• Neither personal (most times) nor partisan
Understand How Lobbyists Work
• 15 minutes, 2-pages
• Staff vs legislators
• Educator
• Access
Working the process
• Preemptive is better
• Bring constituent pressure
• The art of the deal vs the hammer
The Message
• Consistent core points
• High impact, high emotion
• Tell a story, tell it well
• Go for the close
Messaging Rules
• Consensus on the goal
• Just the facts, ma’am
• You are the light
• Helps to have a villain
• You are constituents’ voice
Executing on the Message
• Keepers of the message
• Everything that moves, breathes,
faces the public
• Schedule, coordinate, execute,
gather feedback, repeat
Communicating with Politicians
• Consensus vs conflict
• Line up allies
• Two tiers of communication: you,
constituents
• Communication is relentless