In any government meeting, there can be a number of topics discussed, all of which could have an impact on your business. Below, we break down four of the most impactful conversations that pop up during meetings happening every day.
Government RFP’s
RFP’s often present opportunities for any business that works with governments to generate new business. While the standard RFP discussed in a meeting is important, it is often more important to track the discussions leading up to the RFP.
To do this you need to monitor conversations in all the major committee and sub-committees meetings that may weigh in on upcoming projects. For example, if your business deals with public infrastructure you need to be particularly aware of conversations surrounding the distribution of funds from the ARPA bill and the Infrastructure Bill that were passed recently.
It is common for a team of representatives to use these new funds as the starting point and work their way to forming an RFP. If you are able to follow the conversations while they are in the early stages, your chance of winning the bid once the RFP is formed will be much higher.
Brand/Company sentiment
Businesses that work closely with local governments can often find themselves as the topic of conversation during government meetings if they are listening. A brand mention can come in the form of a referral, a comment by a constituent, or even a complaint from a competitor in open session.
The frequency in which your brand is mentioned only increases if you have a significant presence in the community. Location-specific brand mentions are often triggered by things such as a new facility being constructed or employee satisfaction being disrupted. These are the conversations that can have the biggest impact on your business without you even knowing about them.
The key to protecting your brand’s reputation during a local government meeting is to establish a system to monitor every time your brand is mentioned in a meeting. Specifically the times it is mentioned in areas that are of interest to you.
Competitor Mentions
Much like mentions of your own brand, competitor mentions during government meetings can occur frequently. Each time your competitor is mentioned in a meeting you have an opportunity to learn more about how they interact with that particular government.
The common use cases for monitoring competitors mentioned in government meetings include:
- Outbidding a competitor on an RFP
- Understanding public sentiment toward a competitor’s brand
- Anticipating when governments are evaluating a competitor offering over yours
If you are able to pick up on these mentions in a timely and effective way you create defensibility that can become a competitive advantage in your market.
Policy Changes
One of the most obvious pieces of information to track during government meetings is the policies they plan to implement or remove. A new policy can either create new opportunities or roadblocks to your current way of conducting business.
Unlike the more nuanced topics we’ve discussed in this article, typically you don’t need to monitor the meetings themselves to see upcoming policy changes. With that being said, if a policy change is being discussed that will impact your business, it can be extremely helpful to review how it was discussed and who specifically was part of the discussion. This way you can target your response appropriately.
