We lobbied Congress. They actually listened and other surprising findings.
This past week, myself and one of our sales guys, Vesh, headed to Washington D.C. for the Franchise Action Network Annual Meeting. Our charge was to learn about the federal legislation affecting franchisees and franchisors and head to Capitol Hill to educate our local politicians about how they can help.
The first thing I’ll say is that if you ever get the opportunity to do this through your professional trade association or other means, I highly recommend you take advantage of it. Not only do you get to experience, first hand, a key part of our political process but you may even have a little fun doing it.
Here are a few takeaways from my experience on the Hill –
- They actually listened. I’m not going so far as to say they acted on our issues, but they absolutely listened. There’s a toxic message going around that Congress ignores the American public. They may choose to disagree with your points (some in more tactful ways than others), but they’re going to hear you out. You can go to the most liberal representative in the House and try to sell him on lowering the capital gains tax, and they won’t kick you out!
- You may think that Congress isn’t productive, but they certainly are working hard. I’m not going to tell you that Congress is any version of “good.” You are entitled to believe whatever you may on this subject. But I am going to say that it’s an unfair criticism to say that Congress isn’t doing anything. What I saw was a bustling group of politicians tackling all sorts of different relevant issues for our country. It wasn’t uncommon to see a Representative running through that halls! Frankly, it was a bit refreshing.
- Congressional staffers can be incredibly impressive. Perhaps the most unexpected thing I discovered while in our Nation’s Capital was how impressive the average Congressional aide was. Due to Congresspeople’s hectic schedules, often times you are caught speaking with their staff (usually a legislative aide.) These individuals displayed on absurd amount of knowledge of the issues, no matter what side of the aisle they were on. Each of them handled our meetings with professionalism and grace, which was a really fresh take on what can seem like a static political system.
- I’ve never been a bigger fan of staying “on message.” — Politicos are obsessed with staying “on message.” It sometimes seems like their goal is to infuriate their audience by saying the same thing over and over again, regardless of the questions they were asked. When we went up to the hill, we were asked to stay on message. Don’t talk about the election. Don’t talk about minimum wage. Don’t talk about taxes. Only talk about what we wanted to talk about i.e. the Congressional Franchise Caucus, Joint Employment Standard, and Overtime Exemptions. The second any of our conversations wavered “off message” (which a few of them did unfortunately), everything went terribly.
- It’s easier than you think (sort of.) — I can’t say enough positive things about Soapbox Consulting. Soapbox is a group in D.C. that organizes these lobbying days for you. They schedule everything and have so much experience so nothing is beyond their expertise. Corralling 400 people to meet with literally half of Congress in a five hour period seems like an impossible task. Not for these guys. I have no clue how they do what they do, but whatever it is, it’s really really impressive. I would give them my utmost recommendation.
So that’s it. Who knows the next time I’ll have the chance to head up to the Hill in a suit and tie? But when that day comes, I’ll be ready to play my part!
