10 Tips for a Successful Legislator Meeting in DC

5/20/19

I am in DC to meet with my congressmen for the second time this week, and was lucky enough to receive some pointers on how to have the most successful meetings with legislators from a former congressman, Jim Turner! So I’ve created another Top 10 for anyone who might be headed to DC in the future to advocate for your passions.

1. You will have a short time, usually about 15 minutes, so be about 5 minutes early and be ready to be very concise in your message.
2. You will likely be meeting with a staff member rather than the actual legislator, but don’t take this as a bad thing. These aids specialize in the area you are advocating for, and are close advisors to the senator or representative, they will likely be able help your cause more than you think!
3. Bring and know your background information documents, but don’t hand them over until the end of your talk, or they will be focused on the pages of information instead of your own words.
4. Follow up with handwritten thank you notes and emails. Each person you meet with will offer their business card, or you can collect them from the front of the office. Following up will go a long way to making sure they remember you and your cause.
5. Prepare a quick 2-3 minute personal introduction about yourself and your business. This is a great way to open the meeting by finding a commonality between you and whoever you might be meeting with. A huge goal for the meeting is to begin establishing a long standing relationship with these legislators and staffers so that they will continue to support your causes in the future.
6. For pharmacists: have patient numbers, employee numbers, and prescription numbers prepared, and know how many people are relevant to the district that the legislator represents. As a student, you can borrow these numbers from the place you currently work.
7. Bring your own business cards. The offices will usually ask for these immediately as a record of you being there and as a way to follow up with you if they come up with any questions or concerns relevant to the meeting afterwards.
8. Invite the legislator to your hometown. For pharmacy owners, ask them to come to your pharmacy and be willing to give them a tour and create an opportunity for them to see some of the members of the community that benefit from your services. For example, Charlotte Kaye, a staffer from Senator Perdue’s office, just recently visited Briarcliff pharmacy in Georgia!
9. Use specific personal examples. Tell stories about patients who have benefitted from the services you provide. This makes the biggest impression and can actually impact the legislator’s opinion on the policies you are advocating for.
10. End the meeting strong with official asks to remind them of your priorities and purpose for being there. To see those for IACP CCH 2019 click here.