If you think that your business is immune to crisis, think again. The potential for accidents, disasters or scandals is always there, and your reputation is on the line, so you need to know how to handle a crisis should one ever arise.
One thing you can do to ease the burden of a potential crisis is to have a crisis-management plan. Obviously you rarely know that a crisis is going to occur until it does, but you can still take a close look at your business and identify areas where you may be vulnerable. Are there any health or safety risks involved with your business? Is there the possibility of negligible or sub-standard business practices by management or employees? What about natural disasters or major accidents? Each business is prone to a unique set of potential problems. Try to identify yours and hypothesize about how you would generally go about handling it. Create key messaging and identify who exactly should be contacted. You should also appoint a main spokesperson to be the point of contact and to convey your message in one unified voice.
When businesses are thrown into a crisis situation, there is little to no time for them to get their bearings and sort things out. Time is of the essence and if you don't step up to the plate immediately, you'll allow others, usually the media, to speculate, establish the key messaging and set the overall tone. If you?re prepared and can respond quickly, however, you can take it upon yourself to get the facts straight and give the public your side of the story.
The most important part of crisis-management is communicating the right message quickly. When a crisis actually does occur, immediately get in touch with all relevant audiences, like the media, employees, investors, customers, the public, etc. You can do this through a press conference, mass email, phone calls or some sort of website messaging. Remember that hiding and avoiding your audience will only make them more upset. A proactive communications approach is a better way to go. When you do get a hold of your audience members, there are a few key messages you should convey.
People appreciate an honest response to a crisis situation, so don't use phrases like, ?no comment? or ?our lawyers have advised us not to say anything.? Responses like these are not going to give you the results you're looking for. The truth may be hard to swallow, but if people feel you are being les than truthful with them, your dishonesty will be remembered long after the crisis itself has been forgotten.
