Hearing the voice of your silent patron majority
With a big election day just a few weeks away, candidates are hitting the trail and the airwaves, trying to connect with a critical mass of voters that will put them over the top. Their advertising is typically a case study in their efforts to respond to what they believe is the will of the typically silent majority – a group that will make or break their chances for success.
Sensing a rumbling that “values” will be the key deciding point? Dig up something from your opponent’s past that suggests that he or she is outside of what would be considered the norm. How about experience? If experience is good, push it. If it makes you seem like too much of an insider, aim for the “I am beholden to no one” pitch. And, of course, there is always the “I’m a better steward of your tax money than my opponent” line.
The ebb and flow of messages shows how the candidates are trying to find the sweet spot among those who rarely speak up, because they already know what their harshest critics and their sycophants are thinking.
School district leaders have a similar challenge, searching for ways to connect with – and better understand – what their silent patron majority is thinking. Whether it is long-range facility planning, working toward a ballot issue, considering a bell schedule change, or any of the thousand things that are part of leading a district, wondering what you haven’t heard from patrons can lead to many a sleepless night.
In an effort to make these missing connections and, hopefully, tap into this massive audience, districts will take steps, such as holding open meetings, giving out paper surveys to students to take home, putting surveys in the local newspaper, and utilizing online tools, to foster communication.
While we are strong believers in the notion that any research is better than no research, it’s important to understand what each research tool can – and can’t – do, in helping a district better understand those who rarely speak up.
All of the tools listed above require one thing to generate a response: Existing engagement. Therein lies the rub.
After all, if you typically don’t engage, what are the chances you would sign up to be part of an online community talking about schools, complete a survey in the newspaper or one sent home in your child’s backpack, or dedicate an evening to a public meeting? Slim and/or none.
If you are considering employing such tactics, here are some things to keep in mind:
If you need data to help make a decision, rely on quantitative research. It may sound tedious and old school, but the telephone survey (of landlines and cell phones) is still the gold standard for making certain you have data that gives you a true look at what “typical” patrons are thinking at a specific moment in time.
Qualitative data should be considered supplemental information. Online surveys are ideal for a captive audience when you want to, for example, test the climate of your district and/or your buildings with employees, parents, or students. As a tool to guide decision-making, however, they should be seen as supplemental to something that has a projective quality to it – as in, “If 400 randomly selected, registered voter patrons think X, we can be 95% confident that our entire patron population feels that way, too, as of today.”
Remember the public relations benefit. Whenever you do research, make certain you promote that you are doing it, report the results in an easily digestible form, and then remind the community of the research – and its impact on your decisions.
