The document discusses stakeholder consultation and provides guidance on how to conduct an effective consultation. It recommends that consultations should have clear objectives, plan who to consult and how, consider timing and resources, and utilize a three step research cycle of planning communications, providing messaging, and evaluating impact. Repeated consultation can reduce costs over time through economies of scale and panel creation.

1. Stakeholder Consultation A view on how to make it effective and value for money September 2010 Peter Harlock Chief Executive

2. Market and opinion Stakeholder research Policy and Communications Research from Policy and Communications Experts What is ComRes?

3. A two way process of dialogue Building constructive external relationships over time through LISTENING Stakeholder Concerns Stakeholder feedback What is Stakeholder Consultation?

4. The importance of objectives How to go about it Making it work for you – Fitting consultation into strategy and execution to maximise effectiveness Structure

5. To assess relative support for policy options? To identify and mitigate against external communications risks? To plan and target communications activities? To evaluate the success of communications activities? To build stakeholder buy-in and community engagement? To acquire a community ‘licence to operate’? Why are we consulting? The Consultation’s Objectives must be clear, specific and focussed from the beginning Why you are consulting should change how you are consulting, the data you are collecting, and the resources you allocate

6. Should we be consulting? Given our Objectives - Are the benefits worth the cost? Will the data we gather add real value? Can we get access to data elsewhere? Is this the right stage at which to consult? Can we pool resources with other groups? Can we get sponsorship? What is our plan for making the most of the data we gather? What resources will we need? – Don’t neglect the staff time invested

7. Planning and Preparation Key Consultation Planning Questions Who should we consult? How should we consult? When should we consult? Test your Assumptions Give yourself Time Engage Internal Stakeholders

8. Who should we consult? Who are we here to represent? Who has the greatest impact on the outcomes that matter to us and the people we work on behalf of? Who influences the influencers? Whose views are of interest to our audiences?

9. How should we consult? Online, Telephone, and Face to Face surveys Qualitative Depth Interviews Focus Groups, Deliberative Groups, and Worm Polling Town Halls, Conferences, Exhibitions, Open Days Citizen’s Juries, Citizen’s Panels, Neighbourhood fora OBJECTIVES AUDIENCE TIMING RESOURCES

10. When should we consult? Is this a one-off issue, or an ongoing concern? Are there any internal timing considerations? Do we have a particular launch date in mind? Are there any scheduled interruptions among our consultees? Are there any scheduled interruptions among our target audiences? How long will research take? When did we last consult on these issues?

11. Making it work for you Sustained and Iterative A three step research cycle for communications success Planning and Targeting your Communication Providing messaging and media impact Evaluating and Improving your Communication

12. Planning and Targeting Communications A 360 view of starting stakeholder perceptions Stakeholder mapping for improved targeting What messaging works with which audience? What communication channels will be most effective with each audience? What are the hot button influential issues? Reduce wasted effort and increase the impact of communication activities

13. Messaging and Media Impact ComRes stakeholder research received 7,500 press and broadcast mentions in the first half of 2010 The views of charity stakeholders, including the general public, vulnerable and disadvantaged people, health or education practitioners and others are of wide media interest Consultation and polling is uniquely able to spread through media networks and receive secondary coverage The views of charity stakeholders are of particular interest to legislators and opinion formers

14. Evaluating and Improving Communications Show changes in the most important metrics Identify segments of target audiences where changes have differed in extent or type Explore any unexpected shifts in perceptions Show impact on wider reputation/issue perceptions Secure budget for further activity Demonstrate the value of communication activity, measure areas of strong and weak performance, track how views are changing, identify the next communications tasks

15. Cost Benefits of Iterative Consultation Reduces inefficient, ineffective, ill-targeted or scatter gun communication activity Publicly released data works hard in the media, and increases in value as it becomes able to demonstrate changes over time Repeated methodologies are cost efficient Economies of scale Panel creation Repeatable questionnaire and analysis Iterative consultation ensures that your communication always hits the target, and fully represents your stakeholders’ views in a constantly changing perception landscape

16. So what does it cost? Consultation and stakeholder research does not have to break budgets 2000 sample GB public opinion survey from £395 Survey of 150 MPs from £995 1 Focus Group £2,495 10 qualitative stakeholder interviews £3,950 Bespoke survey of 1000 targeted stakeholders £7-15,000 Costs decrease as consultation research is repeated

17. Q/A Peter Harlock Chief Executive ComRes [email_address] 020 7340 9634