People make mistakes and accidents happen, so crises are inevitable in business. Where there is a crisis, there will be negative publicity.
We do not subscribe to the notion that “All publicity is good publicity,” but believe you can turn negative publicity positive through a strategic process.
Here are five tips to help you manage and transform a challenging situation.
- Acknowledge and apologise – Acknowledge the issue, apologise to the injured party and show how you are resolving the issue. This is the first step in crisis communication, and it will help your organisation regain public trust.
- Anticipate potential issues – While a crisis can begin with one issue, it could have several dimensions. Anticipate any other issue that could rear its head and prepare a response.
- Correct misinformation – You know what they say about bad news; it travels fast! With that speed, misinformation could arise. You can nip it in the bud by communicating the facts.
- Promote positive aspects of your organisation – No one can tell your story better than you. Share stories about your business ethics, community relations, and customer and employee stories to douse the negative publicity.
- Hire a professional PR consultancy – If you are overwhelmed with handling the crisis in-house, it would be wise to hire a professional PR consultancy skilled at crisis communication.
If you found these crisis communication tips helpful and want to know how to proactively manage issues to avoid a crisis, contact us.
