In any given year, Vendilli handles multiple major crises for businesses. About 10 never make the news, but unfortunately a few are all over the news.
Regardless of whether an incident stays under the radar or goes viral, we’ve been there and done that. We know how to handle the heat and, throughout the years, we’ve developed five core philosophies for managing a crisis.
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1. Your authentic story is never more important than during a crisis.
The most valuable asset your organization has before, during and after a crisis is what we call your Capital S Story: the story that answers the questions of why someone should buy from you, work for you, invest in you, or partner with you.
In times of crisis, your key stakeholders and target audience don’t have any interest in sales slogans, taglines or pretty logos. They judge you based on what they believe to be the true character and nature of the organization. How they feel about you before the crisis will influence their interactions with you during it and their willingness to have a relationship with you after it ends.
Your reputation depends on how many deposits you make in what we call the “bank of goodwill.” The number of installments in your account prior to a crisis is directly proportional to the amount of grace and consideration you’ll receive when you’re on the hot seat. The more clearly (and often) you define and communicate your Capital S Story before a crisis, the more understanding you’ll receive when something bad happens to potentially damage your reputation.
2. Communicate process when you can’t communicate progress.
You won’t have all the answers when a crisis strikes, especially if it’s ongoing, but you must keep talking with your stakeholders. How do you provide updates when there are no updates? Communicate process.
Keep employees and, when appropriate, other audiences updated on the steps you’re taking to respond to the crisis and how you’ll share updates when available. Be honest. Tell them what you’ve done, what you’re doing now, and what you plan to do to fix the situation. This simple strategy helps you control the story and lets stakeholders know that you are taking action to reach a solution.
3. Identify your most fluent spokespeople and prepare them.
Everyone has seen at least one cringe-worthy interview or on-camera flub. Preparing for, managing, and surviving these public-facing moments are critical, because as Warren Buffet once put it, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Therefore, it’s especially important to identify and train your spokesperson(s).
In most cases, this person shouldn’t be the president or CEO unless there are no other options. Once a crisis response is elevated to the ultimate decision maker, it can’t go any higher. In a fast-moving situation, you don’t want someone at the very top to be delivering information that might (legitimately) change the following day or week, potentially placing him or her in a position that negatively impacts any hard-earned credibility.
Depending on the situation, you’ll need the most knowledgeable representative from the company to speak on your behalf. We call this person a “fluent storyteller.” This person might be an employee in your own marketing or communications department or perhaps an external media relations resource.
4. Know the difference between an issue and a crisis.
You know the old phrase about mountains and molehills. Don’t go turning the latter into the former, because a molehill can turn into a mountain in no time.
Issues are smaller-scale problems that deserve attention from the business but don’t shut down operations or become widely publicized. Crises, meanwhile, are emergencies that can shatter reputations and potentially irreparably damage an organization financially, reputationally and operationally.
As a broad example, an issue might be a customer posting a one-star review of a product or service. It’s not great, but you can’t please everyone. But if an employee reacts by insulting the customer and that interaction goes viral, suddenly you may be in a crisis.
And thanks to social media, many companies now are susceptible to problems being amplified exponentially by simple shares. If your staff encounters an issue, here are just a few of the questions you can ask to determine if the issue is escalating into a crisis:
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Is it emotionally compelling?
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Is it relatable, or is there a conflict?
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Is it easily sharable?
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Could this go viral?
Having an established process and plan in place to evaluate issues and potential crises will help you stay calm even when a bigger issue does arise.
5. Most crises are predictable.
In 2020, no one could have guessed the COVID-19 pandemic was going to turn the world upside down. However, plenty of people did predict that the world would endure another pandemic at some point.
Just because we can’t see exactly when a crisis is coming doesn’t mean you can’t plan for one. Think of oil companies, for example. They don’t know if or when a tanker will crash or spill, but they can reasonably assume it could happen. (There are many previous instances from history, after all). You can safely assume, just as their tankers are insured for accidents, there are plans for responding to those potential incidents.
Think of the risks in your industry. Weigh how likely those risks could become a full-blown crisis. Engage in “sunny day” planning, because the best time to prepare isn’t after the storm arrives.
Want to learn more about crisis communications? Feel free to reach out to us here.
