How a company handles every crisis determines its image and long-term public perception. Thus, it's important to establish a concrete plan from the get-go to determine who should be in charge, what the standard procedure should be, what kind of talk should be avoided, which news medium to contact, and who the media should contact. Large companies pass on the task to their public relations advisers.
Planning
Take the time to create a plan for future crises. This task is usually reserved for PR professionals, who work in conjunction with management. It's helpful to have an in-house point person on board who is trained to deal effectively with the news media. Since journalists want hard facts, continue to develop a Rolodex of expert sources they can use. Be prepared to approach them first with accurate facts and figures so that the problem is more controlled.
Action Steps
When a crisis first arises, it's important to define the problem for those who have been or will be directly affected. For instance, if there is a damaged food product that has already undergone distribution, state what the effects are. Will it make a person sick? What are the symptoms? If the company was in the wrong, it's important to admit it and quickly focus on what's being done now rather than what went wrong.
Second, give advice on what specific actions should be taken and what the company is doing to fix the problem. A food company might advise consumers not to purchase items X, Y, and Z if seen at the market, or it might advise them to discard the product immediately.
Third, identify the cause of the problem. This will assure the public that the company is in control of the problem and knows what to do.
Fourth, take immediate action to eliminate the problem because the public will be watching.
Tips
During a crisis, maintain a clear and straightforward position while continuing to update the public and measure whether the messages that were put forward are working. Remember to inform the employees as well so that they can help the situation flow well. Otherwise they will just turn into suspicious outsiders.
Additionally, keep the top management involved and close to the crisis. For instance, if a food company has a plant that is going through a problem, a person in management should go to the site and appear involved and not distant.
