Crises come in all different shapes and sizes - from an action by an employee that damages your brand to a natural disaster threatening your ability to stay in business.
There are numerous steps needed to prepare for a crisis, no matter the magnitude. One critical element to becoming disaster ready is creating a comprehensive crisis communications plan.
Who Will Be In Control?
“You’ve gotta feed them, or they’ll feed on you.” – Bob Bowman, Former Michigan State Treasurer, CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media
It is hugely important to be in control during a crisis. If you’re not in front of it, you’ll be a victim of it.
News of a crisis spreads almost instantaneously on social media. Think of how much news breaks on social media. Things which may have never made national news before are now escalating and taking the spotlight. This could come as a blessing or a curse for businesses.
How do you prepare? How can you take control?
The best defense is a good offense. If you’ve never had interactions with the media, during a crisis is not the time to start. You should strive to build relationships ahead of time with media and key community members. When you are battling a crisis situation – are you doing that from a place you feel confident or from a reactionary standpoint? You want to be in control and confident.
Trust goes a long way in a crisis situation. This building of trust begins with your culture, and it requires support from every level of the organization. Trust with your employees and your customers, as well as a creating a brand people have grown to trust. Building these key pieces along the way is critical in preparing you to handle crisis communications.
Quality Of Each Communication
Each communication needs to be well-thought-out, with attention to every detail. Yet it’s likely you need to be fast with the delivery. Never an easy balance. This is why your plan is crucial.
Communications need to be credible, clear, and consistently spread through each channel. Consider your audience and tailor the message appropriately. If there’s a call to action, make it simple and direct.
3 Key Components To Plan
When putting together a crisis communication piece – these are the most important guidelines:
- Get all the facts – If you don’t have all facts, you don’t have credibility. In the midst of a crisis, you need people to trust you.
- Put the facts into simple messages – You don’t want to have sentences with 7,000 commas, run-ons, or 5 thoughts. Write in very short, concise sentences. Don’t make people in a crisis work for it.
- Get ahead of the story. You don’t want to dig your way out of it. You don’t want to have to respond from a place of defense.
Be an OAF
In a crisis, if nothing else sticks, embrace being an OAF:
Own it
Apologize for it
Fix it
When you’re battling a crisis, you have to own it. If you can’t own it, you can’t manage it. When you’re in control of a situation the risk of damaging your brand in the face of a crisis is significantly decreased.
