A common challenge you’ll face as a lobbyist is when your client rejects your suggested way forward. For me, with a medical bent, this is when your diagnosis of the problem and treatment options are rejected.
Don’t worry. This is common for many experts.
I remember when I received cancer treatment. Some patients rejected the advice from world-class oncologists. They checked themselves out for an alternative treatment.
A few rejected the tell-tale symptoms for too long and asked for treatment too late.
So, it is common to have sound professional advice rejected or asked for too late in the proceedings.
Why you are ignored
There are good reasons for your advice being ignored.
What you are saying may make no sense. That can be cured by making your language clearer for the audience.
A mistake has been made in the past that has led to legislative or regulatory pressure. It is best to confront this head-on. Denying what led to the current position may be internally difficult, but it confronting ommissions from the past will help.
Sometimes, people want to go through the motions. They only want the cure without the steps you need to take in the treatment. It is like a doctor asking an alcoholic to quit drinking before the treatment for their liver damage starts.
What can you do
Three workarounds may wake people up to the tough reality they are in.
First is to get a client in front of a Member State government official, Commission official, or politician dealing with the legislative or regulatory file. 9 times out of 10, they’ll ask for the same things you recommend your client prepare for. That often leads the client to start following your recommendations.
Second, you can document what success looks like. Show them through case studies what those who have walked through the fire and back have done to succeed. Get them to speak to the people who have been through the legislative or regulatory fires and lived to tell the tale.
It helps to have the process chunked down, visualised and explained in simple language. Having a series of case studies helps as well.
This option can be challenging when few have done what it takes to walk through the fires and back. Success is far rarer than you’d think. And I know some who promote a treatment that has never succeeded. It is akin to offering experimental medical treatment without offering the patient the details of the chances of success.
The third is to look at the track record of going ahead as planned. Show them the road littered with the bodies of those who have tried what they want to repeat. Repeating what has not worked for others in the same situation is unlikely to start working.
Of course, you will have those who insist on going ahead and ignoring your best advice. This is their right. Of all the patients I know who choose to ignore a world-class team of oncologists, all soon passed away once they checked out.