Crisis Management For Small Business
Not quite sure where to start when it comes to crisis preparedness? How to handle bad news? This is your entry into crisis management. A guide outlining strategies for managing an unfolding crisis, navigating hostile feedback from media and the general public, and developing messaging formulae for building trust. Best practices for crisis readiness and managing an unfolding crisis.
1. Preparation is key
When you’re running a small business, budgets are tight. Which is even more of a reason to prepare beforehand.
Crisis preparedness is far more affordable than crisis response.
Investing in a proactive communications plan is a sound investment that will help to ensure you avoid getting yourself into a crisis situation altogether.
Identify high-risk scenarios, as well as your stakeholders, and develop potential responses.
2. Track conversations about your brand
When in a crisis, analytics - particularly social analytics - can help inform next steps.
3. If a problem does happen, get out ahead of it
Don’t allow the crisis to dominate.
Prioritize maintaining positive relationships with your loyal customers, followers and fans.
While hiring a professional is always advisable, if you’re in the midst of a social media firestorm, here are three primary rules to follow:
Accept - acceptance is more difficult than it sounds. Instinctually, more often that not, we want to fight back and defend ourselves. Getting to a state of acceptance is important in order to move forward.
Acknowledge - take responsibility for what you did, by clearly articulating the action(s) you blundered on. Depending on your crisis response strategy, and/or the legal implications, this could either be done internally, externally, or both.
Repair - put together a cohesive plan of action to start putting the pieces of your reputation back together. It’s not easy, but it can be done. And remember, you’re not the first this has happened to, and you won’t be the last.
How To Develop A Crisis Management Plan
This guide will help you to create, write and develop a crisis management plan.
forecasting crisis. plan based on the forecasting and define potential scenarios.
This guide will help you get there, and assist you in your messaging.
STEP 1: DETERMINE YOUR LONG TERM GOALS
Firstly, you need to decide: what are my objectives, and long term goals? What do I want to get out of this?
The goals could be to preserve your reputation, or they could be financially or ethically motivated.
STEP 2: IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF CRISIS YOU ARE FACING
There are three main types of crisis: immediate, emerging or sustained.
Think of potential crisis scenarios, and have messaging prepared for each.
STEP 3: IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE & OUTLETS
It’s a process to identify an appropriate spokespeople and audiences. Further, which audience needs to hear what message.
Prioritize audience and outlet, and tailor your message to each respective category. What do they know? What don’t they know? What will they want to know?
If you’re thinking ahead, you’ll have third parties in place for when something occurs - allies and supporters for your brand that can act as a voice-box for the organization. These people should be your first call in a time of crisis.
STEP 4: CRAFT THE COMMUNICATIONS
It’s time to execute your plan.
Be direct and empathic in your messaging. Show leadership. Start with what you know and don’t speculate. What tools can you use, and what’s at your disposal? Check official record sources, the press and social media, for starters. Wrangle all of this info.
Remember, people can handle bad news, but they cant handle surprises.
STEP 5: POST-CRISIS CHECK LIST
Lastly, a reminder to always update your crisis management plan on quarterly basis, at minimum.
When it comes to your crisis response, it isn’t one and done. Post-crisis, monitor your brand to rebuild and repair. Anticipate crises; stick to a schedule.
Examples
THE GOOD
Tylenol In the 1980’s Tylenol used responsive crisis PR to avoid catastrophe.
THE BAD
Doritos Doritos didn’t read the room on these lady Doritos.
THE UGLY
Toyota Toyota was ‘safety deaf’ in a decade-defining, policy changing scandal.
If you require tailored advice or assistance setting up your crisis management plan, book a strategy session with one of our PR experts.
