Uniquely, Texas legislative sessions are 140 days every other year. It is crucial that organizations utilize this interim period. Cultivating familiarity with legislators, creating a game plan and “building the dragon” are vital during this interim period ensure lobbyists and clients alike can garner the best possible outcomes within the session. As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail.
Cultivating Familiarity
Think of the first day of legislative session as test day. Lobbyists, clients and legislators alike are expected to be ready to go. Building relationships with legislators ahead of session is the first step to client success. Once session begins, legislators are overwhelmed with hundreds and bills and committee work, drastically decreasing their bandwidth for taking on new issues and client matters.
A lobbyist’s goal is to establish clients as a premier and expert voice in their sector, so legislators will look to clients for industry intel. Clients can use this time to educate legislators on how their issues affect localities as well. This bodes well for clients as during the interim period, legislators may be seeking reelection and will ultimately be more receptive to meetings and hearing how client issues affect their constituents.
Creating a Game Plan
Strategy remains the name of the game when it comes to client success in the Texas legislative session. Clients and lobbyists can utilize the interim time to outline both short term and long term goals as it pertains to legislation and regulation. Clients and lobbyists must enter a legislative session with cohesive and measured approach.
Organizations in highly specific industries may benefit from joining coalitions and associations for their cause, or even in some cases advocacy groups may need to be created for clients. The Texas legislative session is a high stakes period of time for lobbyists and often they represent multiple clients, so it is integral to outline which legislators to garner familiarity with, which events to attend and what possible challenges a client might encounter.
Building the Dragon
Ultimately, a legislator’s job is to solve problems. An integral part of the client success process is ensuring key decisionmakers understand there is a problem to be solved, also known as “building the dragon.” Oftentimes, clients have solutions to issues that are not yet apparent to legislators and the simplest tactic businesses can take to achieve success is to educate.
Generally, legislators strive to do right by their constituents and community. Informing them of what the problem is, how to solve it and how other states are handling similar issues makes a world of difference on the pathway to client success. Ideally, legislators will take this information and wield their “sword” of client solutions to slay the dragon themselves, leading to client success.
The Bottom Line
Every organization is impacted by legislation and regulation. Now is the time to connect with McGuireWoods Consulting’s Texas team to achieve success in the state legislature in 2027.
