A Visit with Matthew (Matt) Haller

April 2020

Senior Vice President, Government Relations and Public Affairs
International Franchise Association

Can you describe what your work was like a month ago, and what it is like today? How has it changed?

A month ago, we were fighting existential threats to the business models of our members, in terms of regulation and other legislation. But for the past few weeks, we haven’t been able to do anything about those threats, in part because most non-coronavirus legislation is just hanging out there unresolved one way or the other. And today we’re fighting existential threats to our members’ very survival. I’d say 60% to 80% of our members have closed their doors, not to mention those that don’t have storefronts. I’m thinking of mobile franchises that come to people’s doors, like Mosquito Squad or California Closets. And as far as my own work has changed, it has shifted to almost 100% “constituent service,” as we would call it on Capitol Hill — “case work.” It has to be done member by member, because the way this crisis affects different members is different — restaurants versus hotels versus hair salons. It’s all different, so it’s very high touch right now.

Has anything in your experience prepared you for this?

Not really, but one thing that stands out is how at a time like this, people appreciate proactive communications. Misery really does love company, so a lot of our work these days is being a convener, passing along best practices and shared experiences, using digital platforms more and more, obviously.

Things seem to be changing daily, if not hourly. How does that affect your work?

It’s true. It does change all the time. Every new piece of information about the coronavirus that comes from the White House or every new tidbit about the relief package that comes from Capitol Hill can send us and our members reeling. We just have to remember to remain calm and try to figure out what any of this information means and communicate that to our members.

What’s it like, working from home?

My wife owns her own business, so she has been working from home for a couple of years. So the cohabitation thing has been a challenge, but there is a good side to that too, of course. The biggest challenge workwise is keeping your team focused and engaged. It felt a lot easier to do that when you could just yell over the cubicle to a co-worker.

Someone posted something on Facebook asking people to recommend “a good breakfast wine,” so there are temptations in working from home.

I haven’t gotten to that point yet, but maybe on the weekend. Of course, at our 8 a.m. call today — today’s Friday — our CEO said, “Well, it’s only three more workdays until the workweek starts.” It doesn’t feel like we have weekends now.

Is there a silver lining to any of this?

I think we will all have to become more efficient, especially with budgets being cut in response to the contraction in the economy that is expected, and IFA as a trade association is not immune to that as we have been forced to make challenging decisions related to both staffing and outside expenses on consultants and other vendors. This will be especially challenging for government affairs, which too often is seen as a cost center. A lot of unnecessary business travel will be eliminated, but of course that is not good for a lot of our members, because people won’t be staying in hotels and eating in restaurants as frequently. We’ll do a lot more of our work through Zoom. We’re being forced to make a two-year rehab in two months, which is scary right now. But because we’ll be forced to be more efficient — to be more streamlined in our work — we’ll also see a clarification of mission and purpose.

Reach Haller at 202.460.8356 or [email protected].