As a child, I and my neighborhood friends would play wiffle ball in my parent’s front yard. Our neighbor, an older, retired gentleman, would sit in his window watching and waiting to yell in a staccato tone, "Get Off the Grass! Get Off the Grass!"
Clearly, my childhood represents the genesis of today's topic: The Get Off the Grass IRO.
You may know or may have interacted with The Get Off the Grass IRO. This type of IRO does as little as possible in order to foster as few interactions with investors as possible.
The hallmarks are clear:
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signaling no empathy for the question or the human asking the question.
The failure to show or signal empathy represents one of the biggest missing pieces in investor relations. Investor Relations is about showing empathy for both your internal and external customers, the executive team and investors.
Empathetic IROs are great at building relationships both inside the firm and outside the firm with investors. The way to minimize problems revolves around showing empathy and building relationships.
If you are the company concierge and you are saying get off the grass, then those investors are not likely to continue to engage with you.
One of the easiest ways to fall into the Get Off the Grass trap revolves around acting like something you are not. Doing so typically entails a Small or Mid Cap company attempting to do Investor Relations like a Mega Cap company.
An executive needs an engaging IRO because: it minimizes investor problems, and maximizes executive tenure.
