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At 3:00 a.m. you get the call. Your factory is up in flames, with millions in inventory at risk.
As you rush to the plant you think of the years it took to build your business, win loyal customers, and gain a reputation of integrity.
Casualty insurance will cover your monetary loss, but how will you recover the reputation you worked so hard to build?
At the plant, the press is waiting with questions: “Police report two fatalities inside your plant, what can you tell us about that? What is the extent of the damage? What about your customers who are waiting for shipments? Will employees still have jobs?
Be ready for such a moment with a Crisis Communications Plan. A well-structured plan includes procedures for answering such questions, and specific, hourly instructions to address the press, employees, employee families, and worried customers.
With your plan at your side, you (and key managers) are able to control information flow, and provide facts to the press as they are needed, until the crisis ends.
Reporters meet their deadlines, and you breathe easier, knowing their stories will shore up the confidence of employees and customers, and will protect the assets of the company you spent years to build.
Because of its potential impact on your firm’s future, the plan should be prepared by someone skilled in crisis communications’ planning, though you and your staff will participate.
Once the plan is ready, keep it nearby. Review it each quarter, and rehearse it as if the future of your company depends on it. It could.
Credit: Steve Cohen, Steve Cohen Public Relations
....................................................................................................................................... As you rush to the plant you think of the years it took to build your business, win loyal customers, and gain a reputation of integrity.
Casualty insurance will cover your monetary loss, but how will you recover the reputation you worked so hard to build?
At the plant, the press is waiting with questions: “Police report two fatalities inside your plant, what can you tell us about that? What is the extent of the damage? What about your customers who are waiting for shipments? Will employees still have jobs?
Be ready for such a moment with a Crisis Communications Plan. A well-structured plan includes procedures for answering such questions, and specific, hourly instructions to address the press, employees, employee families, and worried customers.
With your plan at your side, you (and key managers) are able to control information flow, and provide facts to the press as they are needed, until the crisis ends.
Reporters meet their deadlines, and you breathe easier, knowing their stories will shore up the confidence of employees and customers, and will protect the assets of the company you spent years to build.
Because of its potential impact on your firm’s future, the plan should be prepared by someone skilled in crisis communications’ planning, though you and your staff will participate.
Once the plan is ready, keep it nearby. Review it each quarter, and rehearse it as if the future of your company depends on it. It could.
Credit: Steve Cohen, Steve Cohen Public Relations
Haynes Marketing Network is a full-service marketing and advertising agency
in Macon, Ga. 478-742-5266 http://www.haynesmarketing.com/
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