86% Of People Would Pay More For Services From A Company With Higher Ratings And Reviews
25% Of A Company’s Market Value Is Directly Attributable to Its Reputation
According to a study by the World Economic Forum
87% Of Executives Rate Managing Reputation Risk As More Important than Other Strategic Risks
According to a study by Deloitte
Face it your reputation matters. Not if, but when faced with a crisis your brand need tried and true experience.
1. “Prevent” it: This is a pre-crisis step, of course, and it requires the ability to visualize how things could go wrong. Although seemingly a basic skill, those who fall in love with a project or plan often have a “blind spot” regarding its flaws or weaknesses. Accept that nothing is perfect and plan accordingly.
2. Stabilize the situation: The crisis has arrived. Now you need to assert control, isolate the crisis, and minimize the damage. Always get in front of the story; do NOT leave room for others, particularly your competitors or critics, to dictate the narrative, your story.
3. Notify leaders of the organization, pronto: generally, bad news will not seem less unsavory an hour or two from now. In fact, the opposite is to be expected; the longer that nothing is done and stakeholders are left in the dark, the more is will the crisis will stink as far as how it is perceived.
4. Control your worries. You want to effectively respond, but not overreact; a measured, logical response is the best way to handle any emergency or crisis. Don’t let your worst imaginations propel you into inappropriate, fear-based responses. Always tell YOUR story, but stay clam.
5. Consult and coordinate. Bring in help, both in terms of resources and perspectives. Make sure that those who need to know and can bring a positive resolution to the crisis are consulted.
6. Don’t act in haste. “Haste” is relative to the severity and potential severity of the threat. To the greatest degree possible, you don’t want the speed of your response to detract from its effectiveness. It is better to take an hour to execute a proper response than to act improperly in ten minutes, requiring hours or days to fix the resulting backlash, only exacerbate things.
7. Establish a core team to handle the matter. You don’t want a crisis event to consume the attention and energy of your entire organization; your goals and objectives must still be pursued. If you have retained BGrace as part of your team, lean on our expertise to help handle it. We promise to offer advice and will engage in a crisis mitigation plan, with your approval and authorization.
8. Have a primary contact person or team for information. This can help maintain consistency in your message, reduce rumors, while also projecting a coherent view of what is transpiring. Only one person should be tasked with speaking to the media. Also, never hold a press conference where there is only opposition in attendance. An antagonistic setting will make it very difficult to tell your story; “friendly” press will help ensure that the opposite occurs.
9. Rotate crisis team participants: if you keep the same team in place for a long period of time, members will become less effective. Have a relief team and alternate “first” and “second” team schedules to keep everyone up to speak and poised to effectively respond should the need arise.
10. Maintain, pay attention to your organization’s core values. Stress, conflicts, or even success may lead you astray. Keep your mission and objectives in mind, staying alert for short-term wins that may cause long-term anguish. Long-term success is like chess, not checkers. Always keep the main thing the main thing. Problems will inevitably arise, but with planning you can always keep everyone’s eyes on the prize.
