Are you prepared to communicate in a crisis?

By Thomas Becher, APR

Too often I have seen businesses large and small face a crisis -- and blow it.

Think about the beating Peanut Corporation of America took recently after one of its plants knowingly sent out peanut products that may have been tainted with salmonella.

As that crisis evolved and people were dying as a result, we never adequately heard from the company. The public wanted to know: What happened? What steps were being taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again? Was it safe to eat peanut products again?

With a lack of comment from the company, the public – harnessing social networking technology – was quick to take sides and bad-mouth the company. The story, in other words, got away from the company. Fast.

In a crisis, it’s imperative to communicate early and often. Stakeholders in a company – customers, shareholders, employees, vendors and so on – need to know what’s going during a crisis on and, more importantly, what the company is doing to repair damage afterward, whether or not the crisis was the company’s fault.

This need for speed is particularly critical now that social media – not the media – are becoming the main vehicles to share information and opinions. When a crisis happens, companies have very little time to get it right.

So how do you prepare to communicate in a crisis? Plan it and practice it.

• Establish a crisis communications plan. In the event of a crisis, this plan will determine the types of crises that can occur, who is authorized to speak in a crises, when to communicate, what to say and so on.
  
• Practice the plan. Don’t let a plan sit on a shelf. Key people in a company should practice their crisis plan regularly so they know what to do no matter what the next crisis.

Having worked on crisis plans in the airline industry, I have seen the benefits of fulsome plans and regular drills.

Don’t wait for the next crisis to happen. Prepare now.

As president-elect and program chair for the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, I had the pleasure host Pat Philbin, former head of public affairs at FEMA, at our April 16 luncheon. You can read more about his take on crisis by clicking here.