Breathe slowly and deeply is the advice given to women in child labour – often met with ear-poppingly colourful language from soon-to-be-mums, is just as appropriate for managers facing a public relations crisis.
It’s certainly a lesson the public relations team at United Airlines learned the hard way after two recent ‘hiccups’ that sent social media into overdrive.
First there came #legginsgate crisis, swiftly followed by a global backlash after a passenger was removed from an overbooked flight.
Although an apology from the airline was forthcoming, it was too late for damage limitation.
Crisis management requires more than an apologetic press release or a sheepish chief executive appearing on TV.
A warehouse fire, redundancies or a product recall can all do damage to a brand’s reputation, so PR managers need to respond rapidly.
Thankfully, there are steps PR professionals – from managers to executives, communications officers to content managers – can take.
Think ahead
Have a crisis plan in place. Run through possible nightmare scenarios and likely responses. Identify a company spokesman to avoid having mixed messages from staff.
Stay calm
Before you do anything at all, take a few deep breaths. If you’re calm and in control you’re likely to make better decisions. It also stops everyone running around like headless chickens.
Get the full story
You need to determine exactly what’s happened and why. Once you have a clear picture brief other PR/social media/customer facing staff and give them a timeline for reaction.
Understand the impact
Ask yourself what effect this crisis is likely to have on the business, revenue and brand reputation. See the situation from a customer or client’s point of view.
Get monitoring
You need to know what’s being said on social media by your employees, customers and stakeholders. Monitoring public responses allows for a change in tactics if necessary.
Hold your fire
Having a holding statement in place can buy you time until you’re ready with the facts. If the media are circling, it pays to throw them a morsel as there’s nothing a journalist hates more than ‘no comment’.
Get the word out
Ensure your message gets to the public through every possible channel. But don’t go for a lie down just yet – keep monitoring the situation.
Learn lessons
Once the storm has died down use what you’ve learned from this experience to tailor future responses.
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