Whose list are you on? Being seen by your stakeholders.

Stakeholder relationships are a two-way street.

Your stakeholder engagement strategy should identify who you work with, who you want to work with and for what reasons.

But you should also consider whose stakeholder list you might be on – and whose you need to be on.

To establish and cement good relationships with the people you need to do business with, you should make sure your organisation is part of the mix.

To do this you need to be seen and valued.

Be seen

You need to be visible to others if you want to position your organisation as the expert in your field or the representative of a business group or geographic area. Get involved, attend events and conferences, join online discussions, contribute constructively, write creative blogs and opinion pieces.

Be helpful

You need to provide information and support to others to position your organisation as a go-to stakeholder. Be approachable and quick to respond to requests for assistance. Be a networker and connect people up. Be helpful without expecting anything in return.

Be upfront

You need to be on the right lists. Call or email your stakeholder – be upfront and say you want to be on their contact list and provide the best contact person and details.

There is a lot of information about a lot of interest groups and it changes all the time. Making it easy for your stakeholders to find you, will help make sure you get connected and stay connected.

Vicky Darling

Posted in Engagement, Understanding government and tagged , .