In today’s business climate, the old adage “You never know what each day will bring” is more relevant than ever. You, as a business owner or manager of any size company, can wake up any morning and find yourself suddenly forced to communicate-inside and outside the company-while facing an adverse situation.
There are plenty of things that can happen suddenly that may require damage control on your part. Service interruptions, abrupt personnel changes and IT snafus are examples of relatively minor issues that might come up. More serious matters include an employee charged with a serious crime, an on the job death in your manufacturing plant or accusations of impropriety on the part of any employee.
It is crucial that you be prepared ahead of time to deal with these kinds of situations for the best results.
First identify the audience that you must reach. Keep a current list of employees, customers, contacts and any media members that follow your particular industry. Make sure that this list is updated on a regular basis. If something happens, you want to be able to communicate with these people as quickly as possible. It is always best that you get out in front of any kind of negative situation rather than rely on a third party to communicate for you.
Establish a crisis team and task them with creating a protocol. Someone will have to speak on behalf of your company and field any phone calls and incoming correspondence as well as serve as the direct contact for media requests.
Determine Top Messages – When speaking about something affecting your organization, always include your organization’s positive key messages- “talking points” focusing on what sets you apart and what you want your audiences to remember long after your “bad news” fades.
You may have noticed that the news cycle these days is perpetual. It takes no time at all for a crisis to be picked up by a local news organization and turned into the latest breaking news story. Business owners and their spokespeople benefit greatly from media training. Find a professional training program run by people who have newsroom experience.
However, no matter the size of the business the contingency plan needs to be in place.
Since 1987, Marx Layne & Company has provided results-focused public relations counsel to a broad spectrum of clients. For more information about media training or public relations, visit Marx Layne.