You can’t anticipate all potential disasters or crises that can befall your organization. There is, however, a way to minimize the damage caused by those disasters, by preparing a safety-net strategy, one component of which has to be PR for crisis communications.
Safeguarding your company’s public image is one of the most important things when a crisis hits you, because not many things are as difficult to salvage as reputation. Here is a list of 5 tips that can improve your PR for crisis communications when dealing with your next PR nightmare.
Prepare a backup for communication. If you lost your phone line, internet connection and power, there has to be a channel through which you can reach the media and your own employees. Maintain an auxiliary power source and a mobile hot-spot in case your communication lines flop.
Prepare a spokesperson for the occasion. If your company is spread out in multiple locations, having a team of media-trained spokespeople is advisable. Make sure you can rely on them to deliver a meaningful message to the media on your behalf.
Pay it forward. Establish your business as a member of your community and offer help when it is needed. Offer free perks to the rest of the community and you will be treated nicely by it when a disaster strikes.
Engage your employees. When a disaster strikes, your employees may be able to make a difference in the community, helping those in need. Collecting donations and much needed items is easy and can help a lot.
Listen before sharing. Take heed of what’s happening on social media and news networks. Keep your finger on the pulse, and see what people are saying about your company online, before you come out with your own statements. Being attentive to this may make you aware of potential dangers, allowing you to minimize their impact on your company by addressing them before they manifest themselves.
Bonus Tip - take responsibility. If you are dealing with an outage, safety issue, or recall, taking responsibility will cause much less damage than an attempt to wriggle out of it. Taking ownership of a crisis is the strong approach and people tend to respect that.