I was waiting for a meeting yesterday and witnessed first hand the number of calls they were receiving with constituents voicing their opinions on the stimulus vote (even after the vote had occurred!).  Different offices have different policies for how to handle these calls, but I was surprised that this office’s policy did not include asking for the constituent’s email address and permission to send them updates.

What a missed opportunity!

Offices spend a lot of money to acquire email addresses and a lot of time to build up trust with those constituent to eventually get a formal opt-in.  Here was a missed opportunity to capture hundreds and maybe thousands of new email subscribers in just a couple of days and for free!

Many of our clients utilize Fireside Web and Email’s survey tools to help out when key votes are coming to the floor.  These surveys quickly aggregate opinions that can be reported to the Congressman.  Here’s how:

  1. Have an internal discussion of how you want to phrase the survey.  Just ask a yes or no question?  Potentially ask the constituent a series of questions like, “which of the following components or amendments do you support?”
  2. Publish the survey on your web site, feature it on your homepage and send out an email alert to your constituents asking for their feedback.
  3. Additionally, send the link around to your staff list with a script and instructions to collect the information over the phone.
  4. When the calls start to hit, your staff can take constituents’ information over the phone and enter it into the web site survey.

Here is a sample script:

Thank you for calling with your concerns on this issue.  First, do you support or oppose the bill?  Okay, please let me know if you support any of the following provisions…

Thanks again for your feedback.  Would you like to receive a response from the Congressman on this issue?

[Collect name, email and address]

Would you like to receive email alerts on this and other important topics from the Congressman?

[Collect email, check the subscribe box]

This tactic is going to yield your office a lot of new opt-ins and it also greatly simplifies the data entry for staffers.  I know that sometime when there are a lot of calls, some constituents’ opinions don’t get recorded at all.

Be sure your office doesn’t miss out on this opportunity in the future!