Crisis Communications
This article is about crisis communications: what they are, and tips on how to deal with crises in a productive way.
Any publicity is good publicity, right? Well, if you've just been hit by a major scandal, whether it's about something true or if somebody is publishing misinformation about your company, you could be shaking your head. You're probably wishing that the whole nasty thing would just go away, and that you could go back to where you were before. You're wishing that there didn't have to be such a thing as crisis communications.
Well, the bad news is that scandals hit, crises come, and people will spread rumors. Even if your products are fool-proof, your accounting is impeccable, and all of your employees are of the highest ethical and moral standards, you still have competitors. There will always be people out there who want to spread rumors and give out misinformation. You'll have to deal with these rumors too, and you'll have to deal with them quickly. Because if the news media has no idea that the rumors are wrong, they'll publish them. And as the story spreads, your situation becomes more desperate.
The good news, however, is that there are productive strategies and great ways to deal with crises and to have great crisis communications. This article is to give you some tips on developing your crisis response and how to turn a crisis to your advantage.
The first tip is to develop a plan early. When a crisis hits, you don't have any time to be scrambling around, hiring a public relations specialist, and coming with some sort of after-the-fact plan that will save your corporate image. One of the first things that you need to decide when coming up with a public relations strategy is how you're going to deal with a crisis when it hits, whether it comes from inside or outside your company. Besides, once a crisis hits, you're going to be too frantic and too shaken up to come up with any sort of coherent or effective crisis communications plan.
Now the next thing that you want to do is be honest and be accessible. No matter what, no matter who's right and who's wrong, the news media is going to run stories and publish information. So don't sit back and let other people speculate about what really happened. Don't let your competitors have a heyday and control the situation. You want to get out there, get ready, and answer any and all questions. Be honest about them. Be willing to talk. If you seem to be eager to put things right, it will help your corporate image and your public relations.
Have a good relationship with the news media. This good relationship with the news media is important to cultivate before the crisis hits. If the members of the local and, if you're a bigger company, national news media already like you, they're going to want to say nice things about you. This is going to help you when scandal hits.
Have a crisis manager. A crisis manager can do a lot of things. A crisis manager can be looking out for potential crises before they even happen. Then the crisis manager can try to nip the crisis in the bud. If this doesn't work, at least you have someone who already knows all of the pertinent information. Then the crisis manager can have complete and total control of the situation and won't be caught empty-handed and embarrassed.
Set up an 800 number. You're going to have to do this beforehand, but if you set up an 800 number just for dealing with crises, you'll be way ahead of the game. Then members of the public or the media will have a number that they can call and information that they can get right away. This will help set your corporate image right immediately.
For other tips on how to develop and carry out effective crisis communications, try these links.
Crisis and the News Conference
http://www.publicrelationsideas.com/bad_news_make_the_news_conference_work_for_you_in_000087.html
Dark Pages
http://www.publicrelationsideas.com/ever_heard_of_the_dark_pages_000031.html
Crisis Management Tips
http://101publicrelations.com/damagesgoodname.html?s=prideas&c=damages_good_name
Making People Believe You
http://www.publicrelationsideas.com/making_people_believe_your_side_of_the_story_000030.html
Crisis and Your Website
http://www.publicrelationsideas.com/your_website_is_safer_than_a_news_release_1_000029.html
The Online Crisis
http://www.publicrelationsideas.com/how_to_deal_with_people_who_post_complaints_about_1_000028.html
The 800 Number
http://www.publicrelationsideas.com/your_best_weapon_in_crisis_get_this_weapon_now_so_000027.html
