Contact with decision makers must be consistent and year-round. Profiling Decision Makers Effective communication to increase public accountability requires that we know and understand our audiences. Therefore, to ensure successful communication with decision makers, we must learn as much as possible about their needs, likes and dislikes, media habits, levels of community involvement, and favorite issues. All copies of correspondence sent and received and description of personal visits should also be a part of this file. Establishing the Contact Several types of communications can be effective in building relationships with decision makers.
Personal meetings are obviously most effective.
Therefore, when problems do arise and you do need assistance from decision makers, they can be called in a personal manner to discuss the issues. They should help make the decision makers feel they are benefitting from the relationship and are receiving reliable information on issues. It is important that year-round contact be planned. The visit should be short and to the point, and information presented should be factual, accurate, and relevant. Visits should be followed up with thank-you notes that reiterate the key points and should be included in each decision maker's contact program throughout the year.