Engaging with the political community could provide an unexpected business boost.
This community can directly and indirectly influence a business through policies, legislation and local campaigning, and in a time of crisis a ‘friend’ in the right place is invaluable.
The political stakeholder may be the local Councillor debating the merits of a planning applications, the local MP who is campaigning on a local constituency issue, a Government Minster who is trying to push through some controversial legislation for your sector or a member of one of the devolved Governments in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland who wants to know more about an issue.
And they all need information.
They need to be well informed, able to get information quickly that is accurate and timely and in turn will value individuals and organisations who can provide this “service” – and they need to know who you are.
Companies who are one step ahead and have good contacts in place will find that there is less uneducated debate, they are influencing rather than following the agenda and that individuals and organisations know where to come for information.
Stakeholder communications can be as little as talking to a few select influencers to an extensive programme of political engagement – as long as you are communicating.