Make media and the public your allies against crisis
It is vital to keep the media and public on your side. Ideally, this process will have started before any crisis occurs, through fostering relationships with journalists, bloggers and, of course, your customers.
Once the crisis has occurred, you keep them on your side by being helpful and giving them the information for which they ask. Let them know what you are doing to fix the situation and how long it will take.
What this quote, from a PRDaily article by Dan Harvey, is saying seems to be common sense, but ignoring this advice has caused (and continues to cause) more crises than I can count.
As far as customers, you can have the most dynamic, awesome Facebook splash page on the planet, but if you aren’t giving top-quality service then you’re going to have trouble. Amazing customer service will provide you a bank of good will that is guaranteed to cushion the blow of any crisis that may rear its head.
The media needs stories to give its customers, just as you need products or services to give yours. If you find yourself the focus of the “gone wrong” story du jour, share as much as you can, without violating legal or ethical rules of course, and grateful reporters are likely to listen up when you’ve got positive news to tell.
It’s a proven fact that the effectiveness of crisis management is greatly increased when you have positive relationships formed beforehand. Use the many social media tools at your disposal to not only advertise and market, but seek out these relationships before a crisis hits, because if you wait until you’re in trouble you aren’t likely to find many friendly faces.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/