PR is not just about promoting your business; it’s about protecting your fledgeling reputation. I share with you why crisis plans are not just for big corporates, why you need one whatever size your business is and show you how simple it can be to get started.
It’s important to have a plan for when things might go a little bit wrong, however big or small your business is; whether that’s a product that you’ve had to recall, a service that wasn’t delivered effectively, or if the IT fails in your online business.
So in this episode, you will learn
- What a crisis plan is and why you need one
- Tips on how to create your own simple plan
I also refer to Episode 8
Let’s dive in!
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Full Transcription
Emma Drake:
Hello, and welcome to this episode of Communication Strategy that Works, with me,
So in this episode, I wanted to talk to you about what to do when things go wrong really. I didn’t want to dwell on this because obviously, it sounds a bit doom and gloom, but actually being prepared and having a strategic approach to what you might do if things go wrong in your business is actually really good practice.
And PR is not just about promoting your business. It’s about protecting your fledging reputation as a brand as well. So it’s important to have a plan when things go a little bit wrong. So whether that is a product you’ve had to recall or a service that wasn’t delivered effectively maybe.
So in this episode, you will learn what a crisis plan is and why you need one, and you will learn some tips on how to create your own simple plan. So let’s dive in.
Something 2020 has taught all of us actually, is that anything can happen and we need to be prepared for the worst, don’t we? So having a crisis plan could be as simple as having a statement prepared and a process for getting news and information out quickly to the people that matter to your business, doing that in the right way, and also in the right order.
And you need a mechanism for speaking to the media, especially if you don’t really do it very often, and you’re not very practised at it. So that could include having a nominated spokesperson for your business to do the talking and all of these things, you want to think about them before you’re actually in the moment, in the heat of the moment. Because when you’re in the heat of the moment, you’re on the back foot, the crisis is happening and you are literally fighting a fire.
So what is a crisis plan? And why do you need one? I talked a bit in episode seven about issues, reputation issues and how to manage reputation issues before they become a crisis in your business, so that’s a preventative measure. It’s an effective preventative strategy, but, but, but, but, with all the planning in the world, you also need a plan. You need a go-to plan for when things may escalate due to acts of God, coronavirus is an example or things out of your control.
So you manage issues in your business, that’s a really good preventative way, but actually, we all recognize there is always going to be potentially a moment when you can’t manage that issue any longer, or there’s something out of your control that happens and you need a plan for that.
Potential crises can come from anywhere in your business actually. Things like product recall of any type of products that you make. A life-threatening incident if you manufacture a product or in construction maybe. Maybe an IT failure if you’re an online business. This is hugely significant for you if your entire business falls down.
And fraud obviously is a big one. So if one of your business partners or supply chain or even a member of your staff commits fraud, that’s a huge thing.
So in its simplest form, a crisis plan is an awareness and understanding of what you need to say and do, who you need to contact, and who’s in charge should a crisis hit. The reason being is that, as I said previously, crisis mode is a red light. You are in the moment, you are fighting fire and you have little to no time to prepare if you’re not aware of that issue.
So whilst I’m not a big fan of big manuals and procedures that go out of date or can go out of date, having an understanding of and a regular review of what happens in your business should things go wrong is critical if you want to protect your growing reputation.
I’ve worked in and for businesses and organizations where there have been hugely complex systems and procedures that need regular updating, and these have their place, they really do. Big companies and organizations where there are lots of people involved, but it isn’t necessary and it shouldn’t put you off developing a plan of your own if you’re a start-up or growing business.
So here are some tips on how to get started with your crisis plan.
So first off, you need to have a list of those potential issues or an idea of where the cracks are in your business and where potential crises could therefore come from. As I said before, check out episode seven on how to avoid crises and protect your reputational impact where I talk about a system to spot, monitor and mitigate issues before they become a crisis.
Secondly, take that list and think about who the audience is for each of those potential issues.
So you’ll have a list of issues and you want to ask yourself, who’d be affected by the crisis? Who can affect us if this happens to us? Who is involved directly in this crisis? Who needs to know about the crisis if it happens?
Next, we want to think about how we’ll communicate with these people. So if you’ve listened to my podcasts before, you know that it pays to be specific about your audience and understand where they are most likely to engage with your content and take action.
Well, in a crisis, you need to tell people fast and furious.
You need to avoid an information vacuum, and this may change how you communicate. So for example, some of the people you may need to call, you may need to pick up the phone to people and you need to know that they’re the people you need to pick up the phone to. Some people, you may have a WhatsApp group set up with. And some people may be online or maybe not be online. Depends on what sort of business you’re running really.
But be mindful when putting email down as the main form of communication as this can easily and quickly be forwarded outside of your business, taken out of context and shared easily. We have seen lots of examples of where that has gone wrong for business.
A syndicated news release can also be useful if you have to get something out to a lot of media outlets very quickly, and you’re not used to working with the media. That’s a really good tip. Bigger companies often hold press conferences or briefings. That is where they’re trying to exercise an element of control over the message and make sure that everyone gets the same information in the same way at the same time. Really important in a crisis.
So this leads us to the sequence.
For example, you would never tell the media before you have told key people in your business. Your staff, your supply chain, your stakeholders, your shareholders, depending on where you are in your business.
You will need to perhaps dedicate, think about whether you need to dedicate a person or a phone line on this issue if it’s of major consumer interest. If you produce a product and you need to have extra resource plans for, if you’re going to get a lot of calls if something’s gone wrong. You need to set that up and know what you’re doing. You don’t want to be trying to work that out in the heat of the moment. That is a really bad idea. So have a think about that.
Next, think about what you want to say. So I’ve referred to this in a previous episode, I think it’s eight, . I
And this can be a simple three to five statements on how you will approach the handling of a situation should it occur. So you want to cover what you would do about it. You want to cover a demonstration of your usual track record. Have a convincing message that this is a one-off, a one in a million chance, and probably an announcement of a thorough investigation as well off the back of that.
So you want to be reassuring people, but be really succinct and not have lots of unnecessary words in there. You want to tell it all and tell it fast. It’s a really, really key point when communicating in crisis mode. And if you don’t, someone else will tell it for you. Whether that’s a customer, a member of your staff or someone in your support network.
So this leads us nicely onto who is the spokesperson? You need someone who can be knowledgeable. My top tip here is this isn’t necessarily the most senior person in the business. It may be you, it may be someone in your business that can show empathy and authenticity.
There’ve been some big, recent blunders in terms of offering up the wrong person. In particular, one that comes to mind is there was a particular Rolls Royce interview that happened when they had to make some job losses due to, unfortunately, I think it was during the pandemic and due to coronavirus.
But it was handled badly. I don’t think personally that the CEO in this instance was potentially the right person to do that because he obviously had issues with making eye contact and following instructions potentially. So he kind of did it his own way and he got criticized quite heavily for it. So we don’t have all the facts, so let’s not completely lambaste him, but actually, I think we want to be really careful about who we put up for interviews and who is the spokesperson.
Finally, take time to look over this simple plan every so often and make sure you have the right phone numbers, you’re on top of the people to contact and the audiences are still relevant to your business.
So hopefully you can now write your own plan. And today you’ve learned what a crisis plan is and why you need one and some really simple tips on how you can create your own simple plan for your startup or growing business.
I’d love to know how you got on so please email me or DM me. My details are in the show notes.
So finally, thank you for listening to this episode of Communication Strategy that Works. Don’t forget to check my show notes for those links that I mentioned, and I’d really love it if you would subscribe to my podcast and leave me a review. And also if you think there’s someone that could benefit from listening to this podcast, please share this within your networks. So I’ll just say bye for now and see you next time.