As a business owner, it’s crucial to understand the significance of crisis communications and the benefit that having a specialist on board can yield during troubled times.
When a crisis occurs the reputation and viability of your organisation will be put on the line. Responding appropriately can salvage reputation whilst keeping stakeholders and customers on side. But neglecting to address the situation can cause dire consequences to your brand, image, and bottom line.
Here we discuss the tools and strategies necessary to handle crisis situations, promptly and effectively, to safeguard your business against any avoidable disrepute.
What is a Crisis?
Crises are classed as any incident or occurrence that poses a tangible threat to an organisation, business, or individual. They can take many forms, and they will look completely different for each business. Those most experienced include service or product failures, accidents, death or serious injury, physical abuse (or abuse of power), employment conflicts, or even committing a crime knowingly, or unwittingly.
How a business handles a crisis ultimately speaks to its strength and resilience, and that’s where effective crisis communications can pay dividends.
Specialist crisis communications teams assist with managing the consequences of crises, by developing strategies that prevent issues from arising and dealing with any that do emerge swiftly and appropriately.
Why do we need Crisis Communications strategies?
In times of crisis, effective communication is essential for connecting with stakeholders and controlling the narrative around your brand. Those that communicate with sincerity, honesty and clarity will not only maintain, but actually build trust with existing customers, who are then far more likely to advocate for them in turn.
However, there is no universal approach to crisis communications that will suit every business. Each will have a different audience (customer, shareholder, or stakeholder) that they will need to satisfy. And the channels used to reach each of these audiences will depend entirely on the specifics of the situation at hand. Regardless of the sector the business is operating in, protecting image, and retaining existing customers while attracting new ones will be crucial for business survival and growth. Therefore, each organisation must tailor their approach to ensure credibility and success.
Failure to respond effectively in times of crisis could have serious repercussions. For example, your competitors could exploit the situation to their advantage, or even in extreme cases, your business may be forced to close its doors.
An ill-handled crisis can wreak havoc on your brand, team morale, customer trust, and shareholder confidence. A comprehensive crisis communications plan can mean the difference between survival and disaster during tumultuous times.
Rumours and gossip can spread quickly, externally, and internally. But by tackling a potentially damaging scenario, swiftly and effectively, you can put an end to inaccuracies being spread, rebuild trust, and make employees feel safe. If you don’t do this, you may lose the support of your workforce, and position yourself as being an unappealing prospect for potential new recruits and business partners.
Crisis Communications Planning
They say, ‘fail to prepare, and prepare to fail’. Well, that has never been truer than when it comes to a crisis.
Whilst some crises can be prevented, others simply cannot be avoided. Having a strategic plan in place removes some of the variables, and serves as a roadmap outlining how, when, and what to respond with should a crisis emerge, which can make businesses feel a little more secure.
Even the smallest organisation should have a crisis communications plan since no company is safe from the exposure of a crisis. It doesn’t have to be complex, but it should address the following:
The Response Team:
To ensure the successful implementation of your crisis communications plan, it is crucial to appoint specific responsibilities to each team member. This includes the vital tasks of informing staff and fostering relations with media outlets.
For effective crisis management, your team should include senior executives, such as the executive board, department heads, and legal counsel. These individuals can provide valuable insights and assist in making informed decisions.
If believe that your in-house team lacks the necessary expertise, it would be wise to consider hiring a seasoned crisis management expert or consultancy. By doing so, you can ensure that your organisation is equipped to handle any unexpected challenges that may arise.
The chain of command and the systems to be used for raising alerts and communicating with the crisis team should be set in stone at the outset in order to facilitate swift mobilisation. Everyone should be made aware of where they fit in the plan and what their responsibilities are. Time is usually of the essence at times of crisis, so it’s important that the process is reviewed regularly to ensure it’s operationally sound, and that the right individuals hold the responsibilities best suited to their skill set.
Spokespeople:
A designated spokesperson should be appointed to represent the business to the outside world. This person will have their name put on any written statement, but depending on the brevity of crisis, there may well be interest from broadcast media too, so they will also need to be comfortable in front of a camera.
It’s always wise to make sure that any spokesperson has received the appropriate media training before putting them forwards as an interviewee. This should ensure that they are confident in conveying consistent messaging accurately, succinctly, and sympathetically.
Any good spokesperson should be fully briefed at all times, have real authority as a figurehead, but also be flexible, warm, and have good communication skills.
Stakeholder management:
Establish relationships with essential stakeholders, document their roles and how they might be impacted by a crisis. It is crucial to identify the individuals who will be impacted and determine the appropriate messaging. This group may consist of first responders, customers, relatives, social media influencers, government representatives, and regulatory bodies. Identifying these key players is essential in effective crisis management, but be prepared to answer their questions, agreeing key messaging upfront to ensure consistency.
Assess the risks:
Proactively identify potential crises that your organisation may face and establish contingency plans to address them. Becoming well-versed in the most common types of crises that affect your sector and having a communications plan in place (with pre-written and pre-approved holding statements) will help you to keep a cool-head and respond effectively at a time of high-stress and short deadlines.
Holding statements should provide sufficient information to the media to answer their questions and guide them in their coverage until the business is in a position, sometimes legally, to offer additional information. Holding statements are usually reactively distributed, and often give the bare minimum of information (eg, only that which is factually accurate such as times, locations, numbers of individuals involved, and next steps). Never provide a statement that can be open to interpretation or could be misconstrued. Always think ‘be concise, be honest, be clear’.
Monitoring:
You need to understand where conversations are likely to happen and agree on how those conversations will be monitored and responded to. Traditionally, this would have just been broadcast and print media, but online news channels and social media are now vital platforms for public discourse in crisis situations.
Effective crisis communication involves not only monitoring chatter and gauging sentiment but also integrating all communication platforms into your plans. Responses will need to be tailed for the platform, but messaging will need to be consistent and clear across the board.
Understanding the Stages of a Crisis
There are three key stages to a crisis, and they should each form an integral part of a crisis communications strategy:
Pre-Crisis:
Preventing crises is a crucial aspect of effective crisis management. Organisations should assess their preparedness for any possible crisis and identify any areas of weakness, proactively anticipating potential problems, and nipping them in the bud. It allows for the preparation of key messages, team briefings, and proactive stakeholder outreach surrounding potential issues. Such actions should ensure that team members, business leaders, and relevant staff are able to effectively handle potential issues before they escalate. Suggested actions should include:
- Selecting the crisis management team.
- Gathering information on current and prior crises as well as unique crisis risks for the organisation.
- Creating a crisis management strategy that specifies who will oversee what, and the lines of reporting in the case of an incident.
- Stress-testing the crisis response strategy at least once per year.
- Preparation of holding statements for commonly experienced or likely crisis scenarios.
- Proactively monitoring sentiment and key messages to establish a baseline in attitudes towards the business.
Crisis:
In the midst of a crisis, how a business reacts is crucial to its eventual recovery. The moment it hits is when public perception is at its highest and trust needs to be quickly regained. To achieve this, an inward evaluation is imperative to clean up any mess and establish control. Having a crisis plan in place beforehand is essential for a fast and efficient response, increasing the likelihood of commanding the situation and recovering losses swiftly.
Here, the crisis management team will need to mobilise swiftly, analyse the information available for decision-making purposes, define key messages, and agree on next steps. Meetings should be frequent, as in a crisis, things tend to evolve rapidly. Don’t be afraid to change tact, if necessary, but be sure to not contradict yourselves, as muddying the water with conflicting messages will cause more harm than good.
Post-Crisis:
As a critical component of crisis management, the restoration of trust, credibility, and reputation is paramount. After effectively addressing the crisis at hand, the next step involves taking measures to bring the company or organisation out of damage control mode. Executing a post-crisis review can help solidify public opinion in your favour. This may include implementing a compensation strategy, providing trauma counselling, and conducting exercises to prevent further damage. Other actions could include:
analysing the successes and failings of the crisis management plan and making any necessary modifications to the crisis response strategy.
Keeping stakeholders updated on the recovery, including the implementation of corrective measures and the status of any necessary investigations.
Contacting any victims/ potential victims, their families, or even members of the community as needed, aptly reflecting the role that a business may have in the healing process.
How can a PR agency help?
PR agencies serve as the communication bridge between a business and the press, ensuring that a brand’s image can be salvaged amidst a crisis. Clients are often reluctant to contact news agencies, but a PR agency can nurture this relationship, arranging interviews with journalists and setting up favourable conditions for communication between the media and company employees.
Agencies can deliver bespoke communications plans and media strategies, harnessing their inherent communications skills and media expertise to create a positive buzz for clients, both online and offline, globally.
In times of crisis, an experienced PR agency can guide you through the turbulence with measured responses and tailored messaging strategies, mitigating the damage and preserving your reputation. This can make all the difference between a well-regarded brand and a tarnished one.