With the sagging economy in place, some lobbying firms are trying to take advantage of prospective clients by offering “cost-effective” plans and fees. Anyone seeking the help of a professional lobbyist in Washington should beware of these deals. The maxim “you get what you pay for” is never truer than when it comes to professional services, like lobbying.
The fees for lobbying generally are not cheap or “cost-effective”. There are a number of reasons for this. First of all, it takes a lot of time to accomplish things on Capitol Hill. There are meetings with a number of Members of Congress and staff, there is monitoring and following legislation, there are hearings to attend. Nothing happens overnight and nothing happens quickly.
Secondly, successful lobbyists have the knowledge, experience and relationships to make things happen. Most have graduated law school, either worked on Capitol Hill or have years of experience as a lobbyist, and have relationships with Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate. In my case, I graduated from Howard Law School, started The C. L. A. Group in 1998, and have close relationships with Members of Congress and staff from the House and Senate, both Republicans and Democrats. Those factors give me an advantage over other lobbyists who don’t have as much education or experience.
At The C. L. A. Group, we offer a number of services for a successful lobbying campaign. We completely understand that some clients can not afford, or simply do not need all the services we provide. And that’s fine. We can provide as little or as many services as our clients need. But our fees reflect the number of services we provide.
Clients can retain us for only federal lobbying services, or any other service, such as state lobbying, strategic public relations, social media advocacy, grassroots advocacy or crisis management. The more services we provide, the larger our retainer will be.
Federal lobbying campaigns are far too important to go on the cheap. Pay a little more, and succeed.
