Why buy-in is so critical for communicators and how to get it

Any communicator who’s worked in-house has been there. You identify a key reputation challenge, and you devise a great proactive campaign to address it. You know you have the data/proof points and everything that’s needed, all that’s left is sign-off.  That’s when things stall. Leaders are too busy to consider, their diaries are full for the next couple of months, they make reference to concerns that are low risk, stalling progress. 

This cycle can become repetitive within organisations. Your job as a communicator becomes less about executing communications campaigns, and more about the uphill battle to get things over the line, getting swamped in layers of approvals or feedback loops, only to result in either a diluted campaign that doesn’t land as you’d imagined, or not getting off the ground at all.  

Buy-in is a term that can be thrown around a lot but when it comes to communication, it’s critical if you want to move the dial on reputation. It’s about singing off the same hymn sheet as your organisational leadership and them viewing communications as a strategic function there to support their goals – not a superfluous distraction or just an issues management function. 

If your leaders were asked, in many cases they’d say that communications is a key priority and at the end of the year they’ll ask you why the reputation hasn’t improved or why there has been little proactivity.  

So where is the disconnect and how can we avoid falling into this trap? Most of the time, it comes down to trust, alignment and how we talk about our work. 

Build trust before you need it 

You don’t build credibility in the moment you need sign-off. This is earned over time, in the day-to-day interactions where you show you understand the business.  

Corporate communication represents how your organisation shows up and expresses itself. This means that the executive leadership team’s buy-in is not a “nice to have”, but a critical foundation to any plans you make.  

Consider the last year or two: what are the forums where you have met your leadership team on the organisations communications strategies? How frequent have they been? Have they been involved in a two-way conversation or simply been you presenting to them?  

Think about what your executives know about the organisation’s communications and what they should understand about your communications strategies, in an ideal world. Then consider what forum you might need to establish this understanding – whether that's feeding it up through your superior or via a direct meeting where you can reset on communications and re-establish the foundations. 

Within any of these forums, make sure there’s a two-way dialogue and focus on asking open questions: How could communications support you? What are your biggest priorities for the coming months? How do you prefer to be briefed? What would your dream communications outcomes look like? What are your biggest concerns with external communication and how can we address these to reach our goals? 

Avoid making any assumptions and you might find where the disconnect is happening. 

Speak their language 

As communicators, we love stories and nuance and we’re often thinking about what will land with media and other audiences. Executives love clarity, numbers and outcomes. If your proposals focus on awareness or coverage, you risk losing them. It’s important to connect the dots between the business strategy and how your communications strategy and each initiative supports that, whether that’s about reaching your buyers, boosting employer brand or influencing investors and other stakeholders.  

Partner with others in the business to really understand their roles. You could offer to shadow them, join a sales or partner call, or read some of their strategy documents or internal reviews on the business performance. 

If you understand the organisational and/or commercial challenges, the service offering, the stakeholder relationships from all corners of the business, you’ll be able to speak your executives’ language and point to tangible areas where comms can help.  

Make it easy to say yes 

Even the most supportive executive can lose a good idea in a flood of emails. When you speak with your key leaders and spokespeople, establish clear channels to reach them when you really need them - whether that’s a direct connection with their executive assistant or a short WhatsApp when something really can’t wait. But guard that access carefully. Use it only when the value is clear and avoid overloading them with non-urgent asks.  

Bring value, not just requests 

Communications teams are often in “ask” mode - requesting time, sign-off or insight. Flipping that dynamic is key to boosting the credibility of communications as a function. Share meaningful updates that make your leaders feel informed: competitor moves, relevant industry shifts, or an analysis of how the company is being perceived externally.  

Ask them what kind of insights they find most useful and tailor your cadence accordingly. Some leaders prefer more regularly shorter updates, while others will prefer to have a “2deep dive” less frequently. When you can clearly connect the dots between communications activity and business outcomes, risk mitigation, growth, reputation, leaders will start to come to you for insight and bring you into more conversations earlier on. 

Help spokespeople feel confident 

For many executives, communications and media work feels uncomfortable. Often, their first instinct is to protect the business and avoid risk, which can make them cautious. Preparation and training are crucial - but this is often where you can lean into your agency partner.  

In a recent episode of the excellent podcast When It Hits the Fan, hosts Simon Lewis and David Yelland speak about the power of external advisors to be able to address the elephant in the room that everyone internally cannot voice. 

A good agency partner can help you validate the approach and strategy and build confidence among your leaders. At Drury, we partner to do exactly that, making sure client leaders feel supported, prepared, and aligned behind every message. And often this is about supporting our in-house communicator partners to help get things over the line. 

Close the loop 

Every time you work with an executive, try to get feedback – either directly or indirectly. What did they find valuable? What did they find challenging?  

Regardless, share your own feedback and takeaways. Where relevant, source feedback from others within the business to show any impact, qualitative or quantitative, within the organisation of your external communications activity.  

Getting internal buy-in isn’t about pushing harder; it’s about translating better. When leaders see communications not as a chore but as a driver of reputation and business outcomes, things start to progress.  

Sometimes you have to take a few steps backwards to re-lay the foundations in order to move forwards and this kind of reset is worth the hassle. 

Eleanor O'Mahony, Director Corporate and Reputation