A PR crisis can occur anytime. How a company responds to a crisis will determine the impact the crisis has on the company’s reputation. The last couple of years have made businesses experience how a crisis can affect operations. Preparation for a crisis involves assessing the crisis, and readying the tools and resources that need to be used. Given below are steps that should be followed to maintain a company’s reputation while navigating a crisis.
Build a team – Having a team that knows how to handle a crisis effectively will save a business from ignominy. Ideally, a crisis communications team should be diverse. A diverse team will help by offering different perspectives. Crisis response messaging should pass through them so that they can answer hypothetical questions. Even if the members of the team don’t end up being the public face of the crisis, they should be trained in the different facets of a crisis. This would include learning the theory of crisis communication and participating in simulated activities like creating statements and rehearsing press conferences.
Monitor trends – A proper social listening strategy is needed to monitor what is being said about a business during a crisis. Social media, review sites, the press, customers, influencers, and various other channels and audiences should be monitored. Seeking the help of influencers during a crisis can also be very helpful. In the scenario of a crisis, they can sway public opinion. To monitor how a crisis is unfolding, tracking relevant keywords can also help. Monitoring feedback helps create an effective response strategy.
Determine what happened – Getting the full story and determining what exactly happened to cause a crisis is crucial. The internal perspective is as important as the external one. Getting the entire story can be time-consuming, but it is extremely important. It is not possible to respond to a crisis if one does not know exactly what happened and the reason why it happened.
Frame a response – Once the facts about a crisis are known, it is easier to frame an appropriate response. Sometimes an apology can be effective. An apology also indicates that a mistake has been made. It is important that an apology is worded carefully, with the help of a company’s legal team. A transparent response would include what had happened, what was being done about it, and what a business did to ensure that it would not be repeated in the future. The sooner a response is given, the sooner people will stop thinking negatively about a business. Promises that will not be kept will make the situation worse. A response should always be empathetic.
Learn from the crisis – Learning from a crisis is as important a step as the others. It is important to analyze a crisis in order to prepare for e future challenges like a pro. The performance of a crisis response team can also be assessed. Do the members need more training? Do they need to change their roles? A crisis can help bring about necessary changes and improvements in an organization.