CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

Flood * Fire * Chemical Spill * Computer Glitch * Human Error * Embezzlement * Electrical Fault * Workplace Accident * Sexual Harassment * Death of a Director * Share Market Slump * Strike * Fall * Vehicle Crash * Explosion * Computer Virus * Environmental Disaster * Food Poisoning *

COULD ANY OF THESE HAPPEN TO YOUR BUSINESS?

Many SME business owners have no idea how vulnerable their businesses are to the effects of even a minor crisis. The result could be irreparable damage to the image and reputation of you, and your business. A crisis is not simply something big that attracts the attention of the media. A crisis may also be a situation that leaves your business open to criticism or negative comments – no matter how innocent or unintentional the situation is.

Insurance will not save the image and reputation of your business. You could have enough insurance to buy and sell your business ten times over – but insurance will never cover the goodwill you could lose.

This is another key mistake that businesses make; they think insurance will cover any ‘losses’ – but what’s your reputation and integrity worth? It’s priceless. The handling of a crisis is what will potentially SAVE the image, integrity and reputation of your business. And that includes information that is IN the media and information that is KEPT OUT of the media.

Even if the media doesn’t get involved (and you’d BETTER have a plan if they do), every business has a series of key audiences with whom they must communicate including;

• staff,
  contractors,
  suppliers,
  customers,
  sponsors,
  regulatory authorities,
  unions,
  government departments, and
  special interest groups.

Whilst crises such as environmentally damaging chemical spills and workplace accidents may seem irrelevant to owners of ‘safe’ office businesses, crises such as embezzlement, sexual harassment or a computer glitch could severely affect a business.

FIRST STEPS

Scenario planning with management, co-workers or, if you have no employees, with friends is the first step you can take to develop a simple plan for your business. Think of your specific business or industry; what types of crises could affect you? Think also of your staff, contractors, suppliers, regulatory authorities, state laws, etc.

For example, contract drivers in trucks with your business name on them – what if they had an accident?

Or, a disgruntled employee sabotaging your computer data?

Or, someone infecting food you produce?

Or, someone has an adverse reaction to one of your products (food, skincare, aromatherapy)?

Or, sexual harassment at your work or home-based business?

Some will be INTERNAL and some will be EXTERNAL. What impact or effect do they have on your business? Are they potential crisis points?

OUT OF THE BLUE

Sometimes, a crisis is so unexpected and unrelated to your business that scenario planning doesn’t cover it.

Consider the real-life situation of a café owner who was having a cash flow problem. He decided to start a fire to do some damage to his café that was situated on the street level of a four level city building, close to a busy T-intersection. His plan went horribly wrong when he inadvertently caused an explosion. Not only was his café destroyed but he was killed. The business directly above his was a sports store where all the stock was destroyed due to water and smoke damage. How could the sports storeowner possibly have prepared for THAT in his scenario planning?
But wait, there was more to come.

This was now a homicide site, an explosion site, and there was structural damage to the building. There was potential that the building would collapse or that pieces of the building would fall in to the street. So not only was the entire building cordoned off, but all buildings and streets within a city block radius.

As the explosion happened at about 3.00 am, the streets were already closed and buildings blocked by the time commuters started trying to drive down the streets, enter car-parking stations and access their own businesses. Not only was the street a main thoroughfare, but in the affected vicinity there were many businesses.

How would your business handle a crisis that was not caused by anything you had done? How would you let your clients & staff know what was going on? Would you have back-up for lost data? What would be the implications for not accessing your office? How would you survive the loss of income for several days? Could you re-locate temporarily?

Some of these are insurance issues – lost income, destroyed stock, relocation.

But some are communication issues – would you have a plan to let people know what’s going on?

What would you do if you couldn’t access important material or information for many days?

KEY AUDIENCES

Key audiences are those people that interact with your business. So depending on the type of business or industry you are in, the effect of your crisis on your key audiences will be different. It is important to understand that not all crises will attract the attention of the media – but there are other groups to whom you must communicate. These include;

o Staff
o Contractors
o Sub-contractors
o Stakeholders (Board, Directors, Shareholders, Owners)
o Suppliers (those who supply products and services to your business)
o Clients
o Potential Clients
o Sponsors (companies you sponsor and those that sponsor you)
o Community Groups
o Industry Associations (banking, legal, accounting, dentistry, etc)
o Trades Associations (plumbing, electrical, transport, etc)
o Regulatory Agencies (tax, health, transport, business, employee, medical, etc)
o Geographical (local, regional, state, national, international)
o Functional (distributors, retailers, consumers, etc)
o Financial (stockbrokers, analysts, investors, portfolio managers, etc)
o Special Interest (aged, disabled, children, charities, safety, health, religious, etc)
o Government (local, state, federal)

To adequately prepare for communicating with your key audiences you will need to work with pre-prepared material. Having pre-prepared communications – statements, media releases, telephone answering script – will show you to be professional, organized, sympathetic & credible.

PRE-PREPARED COMMUNICATIONS

Prepared statements that can be read out, presented, faxed or e-mailed are very useful. Another form of prepared statement can be issued by the person answering the phone and other ‘buffer’ people. Some useful prepared statements are;

o We are preparing information and will give a media conference before 4.00pm. Please give me your name and contact details and I’ll call and let you know when the conference will take place.

o We are investigating and will release information when we know more. Please give me your name and contact details and I will call you when we have more information.

o Thank you for your enquiry. We are compiling information at this time and plan to have a media conference at 4.00 pm (or other nominated time). Please give me your name and contact details and I will ring you back if anything is to be reported before that time.

Members of the media can be pushy and demanding especially if they think they have a scoop. Your key media spokesperson MUST retain control and run to YOUR agenda not that of the media. Even if you have your prepared statements under control, some media will try to provoke a response.

So practicing the following responses in order to retain control of the situation is highly recommended

o That information is not to hand but as soon as we have it we'll let you know.
o That’s an interesting question and I’ll respond to it in a minute, but the key issue is…..
o We are investigating that, but what you need to understand is……

Retain Control

o Have a ‘buffer’ person to answer phone calls / take messages
o Return calls promptly
o Have prepared statements
o Practice prepared responses

YOUR MEDIA SPOKESPERSON

Every crisis requires someone with the ability and confidence to speak to the media. Sometimes the CEO, MD or business owner is not the right person for the job. It is important to present someone to the media with a specific set of credentials and abilities.

Some qualities are;

o Comfortable in front of cameras, microphones and journalists
o Knowledgeable about the business and the crisis at hand
o Able to establish credibility with the audience & project confidence
o Sincere, straightforward, believable, accessible
o Skilled in handling the media and directing responses to another topic (deflection)
o Skilled in identifying the key points that your business wants to push
o Available for internal staff and external stakeholders

A back-up spokesperson should also be identified to fill the position if the key person is unexpectedly unavailable. In addition to your key media spokesperson, additional expert spokespeople or advisors may be required. These resources may encompass people such as a financial expert, risk assessor, health inspector, engineer, business leader, environmental authority, or technical expert.

Depending on your crisis, remember that other parties may also be involved – police, fire department, local government, health officials, transport authority – and that they will also have their own spokespeople.

It is important to know who are your co-spokespeople. Identify them and speak with them as early as possible so statements and contact with the media can be co-ordinated. It is in the interests of all organisations that collaboration and agreement is apparent.

It is critical in retaining the good image and reputation of your business that you have a Crisis Communication Plan in place. The previous information will be useful and should certainly get you thinking about crisis communication planning and management for your business.

To help business owners assess their crisis vulnerability, the Underdog Marketing Challenge offers a unique, FREE and simple, on-line, tick-box test that will provide an instant crisis vulnerability rating to your business. You can see instantly how vulnerable your business is.

But, there's more….
At the Underdog Marketing Challenge, a course on Crisis Communication Management and Planning has been prepared by an expert and is available for all members.

Topics include;

• Why Plan For A Crisis That May Not Happen?
  Scenario Planning
  Crisis Communication Teams
  Crisis Communication Kits
  Key Audiences
  Positioning
  Media Spokespeople
  Media Policies and Procedure
  Practising Tough Questions
  Prepared Statements Media Releases
  Collateral Materials
  Contact Logs
  Checklist for Speaker Presentations

Develop your own critically important Crisis Communication Plan with step-by-step guides and brainstorming help. Join now. Or purchase the UMC Crisis Communication Management & Planning Workbook for just $39.95.

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