Managing a communications crisis
Small to medium enterprises dominate the business landscape in Aotearoa including a budding community of startups doing exceptional things. While we often see uplifting success stories of local businesses, occasionally a SME can be unwittingly dragged into the spotlight and confronted with an issue that has gotten out of hand.
“Crisis communications” can trigger a healthy dose of cynicism in the best of us. The reality is however that most NZ businesses are out there trying to do the right thing every day, and sometimes they can trip up. Without the luxury of a communications team that corporations can draw from, one thing that can derail a SME is a genuine oversight or misunderstanding that gains momentum among customers, the media or other key stakeholders. It could be as simple as saying something that is shared out of context, a complaint not being responded to, or a stakeholder feeling side-lined.
If a communications team does exist within a SME, their focus may be more on marketing and commercial goals as opposed to crisis communications. Ironically, a crisis is one of the things that can quickly jeopardise these areas of business.
Whether an unexpected issue highlights genuine concerns or promotes mistruth, the way a business reacts to a crisis reflects its integrity and has far reaching implications.
An example arose recently when we were approached by a SME who were the subject of a media story that had whipped up an industry backlash. The company recognised the risk this posed to their reputation and without a communications team, sought counsel to move through it.
In working with our new client, we quickly formed a plan to focus efforts in areas from which the most value could be drawn both up front, and longer term. While every business and each crisis is different, together we worked through the following principles - all of which should be considered in the face of a communications crisis.
Focus on your key stakeholders.
It can be easy to get pushed and pulled towards journalists however, the media is just one of many stakeholders on a business’s radar during a crisis. So, before doing anything, scan your environment. Who is most important to you and your business at this time? Often it will be your investors, suppliers, team members, and customers. Proactively reach out and communicate the situation, and provide assurance that you’re committed to navigating it.
Draft your position.
Take the opportunity to craft your story in your brand voice. A helpful suite of tools includes a set of key messages that articulate the core aspects of your business (identity, mission, solution etc.), a list of likely FAQs and succinct responses, and a statement of your position in the context of the crisis at hand. A short and long version of this will come in handy to draw from when responding to queries.
Understand what your partners are saying.
These may be investors, a funding government agency, business association, or relevant NGO. Do they have a stake in this communications crisis and if so, how are they preparing to respond? Take the time to work together to align strategies and complement each other’s messaging. Keep in touch throughout the situation as things change, and adapt together. And if you have a champion who is willing to back you up and openly support you - this can be invaluable. Someone else singing your praises is far more powerful than singing your own.
Keep track of the situation.
Regularly scan media outlets and set up Google Alerts for the search terms relevant to the situation so you are notified of any further media coverage. Compile a running list of media and stakeholder questions. Monitor social media platforms and take note of what is being said. Where any of the above fall into the category of FAQs, or contain claims or perceptions you’d like to address with your communications moving forward, take note and incorporate these into the materials you draft.
Communicate!
There will be instances where you choose a minimal response - even if it is to explain why you can’t respond in full (privacy considerations, legal proceedings underway to name a few). But if you are in a position to tell your story, this starts with having identified and armed your spokesperson - this could be the founder, general manager or CEO and ideally they would have had some media training. Exactly which messages and the level of detail that is shared is not a blanket exercise, but monitoring the queries and issues raised throughout the crisis gives you the ability to assess this in an orderly way.
In the case of this particular client, a suite of communication was prepared and agreed upon by the core team. They worked with their relevant partners to align messaging, and articulated their narrative which was shared directly with key stakeholders and made available online. Their social media plan was implemented without a hitch and most importantly, the founders emerged equipped to not only resolve the crisis at hand, but also quickly deal with issues that might arise in future.
They have since received BAU media and stakeholder queries, and using the suite of tools created as a result of the initial crisis have been able to quickly and meaningfully respond. Doing this in a consistent way moving forward allows their strong messaging to be promoted with ease, through day-to-day interactions. Subsequent media training has also equipped their spokesperson to tackle media attention with confidence, and stay on the front foot in case of future flare ups
Dealing with the pressures of a thin bottom line and the perpetual challenge of putting limited resources to the best use, preparing in advance for a crisis that may never occur is a difficult task for small businesses to get to. Without a plan however, confronting a communications crisis is more stressful than it needs to be, and scrambling to navigate it can hijack subsequent days or weeks for those in charge.
Not only can planning for a crisis get a business through one, but when done well, it equips a SME with tools and processes that help build awareness and credibility throughout their business journey, empowering them to emerge stronger for it.
