4.3(c) Back off!
Aim
To make the best use of feedback and keep friendly communication going with the group’s contacts.
You need
Your list of contacts, lots of copies of activity sheet 31, plenty of space and about 45 minutes.
What to do
This is an activity to help you decide how to follow up on your communications strategy and the Big Event.
a) Look at your list of useful contacts from activity 4.3(a) Finding The Target and add to it or delete from it as necessary, drawing on the experience of the Big Event and anything else that has been happening. Naturally, you will want to stay in touch with them, but at the same time you don’t want to overplay your case or people will cool off. Think about timing. When is it best to target them? Look at the list of contact methods below and add any more you wish on activity sheet 31 before photocopying them. Now copy lots of them and put each contact name on a separate activity sheet card.
| Our contact’s name | |
| Ways to contact them | need an arrow here |
|---|---|
| a. Website | |
| b. E-mail | |
| c. Calling round | |
| d. Phone call | |
| e. Word of mouth | |
| f. Post | |
| g. Appointment | |
| h. On the street | |
| i. A demonstration | |
| j. Social media | |
| k. | |
| l. | |
b) You need one person to represent each of your contacts and one or more to mark down the contact’s answers. Place a sheet marked ‘OKAY’ at one end of the room and another marked ‘BACK OFF’ at the other. Everyone forms a circle round the markers. Each person in turn representing a contact stands on the line. The person with the card calls out one by one the ways the group could contact them. The contact moves to the point on the line between ‘OKAY’ and ‘BACK OFF’ depending on whether they think this is a good or bad way to be made contact with. Have some discussion in the group and the person can move to a different point on the line if they wish. The scribe marks the final position on the activity card for each contact method and any helpful pointers from the discussion. Think about how you can be diplomatic to all, judging each case on its own merits and circumstances.
What do you think?
You will end up with an agreed plan on whether to follow people up and, if so, how best to do it, or whether to leave them alone. Some of the above might seem obvious, but after coming so far, the last thing you want to do is alienate people. Update your communications strategy from activity 4.3(a) Finding The Target.
