Three Steps For Effective Crisis Management

The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has quickly become an environmental disaster, one that appears to have caught a few people sleeping on the job.
While Government Officials continue to point fingers, more have become extremely critical of the slow reaction and response from British Petroleum, the operator of the oil rig. Almost two weeks after an explosion sunk the off-shore oil platform, BP is now taking responsibility and beginning the process of damage control.

Has your company been given the proper training in crisis management if it happened tomorrow?

There are three basic rules to remember when controlling a crisis situation.
S: state the obvious and admit to the mistake or crisis
O: offer support and assistance to victims
S: signal the steps your company is taking to correct the mistake

As important for you to understand how to react and respond in a crisis, it is also critical for all staff members to do the same. Who is your company spokesperson?
Only the company spokesperson should be permitted to release information to the media - that means an immediate control of all messages your staff members are broadcasting to the world via social media.

Immediate and responsive actions are vital in times of crisis as they can turn a potentially damaging situation into an ability to demonstrate leadership and strength within your organization.

A few days of Crisis Management training could save weeks, months or years of embarrassment and shame for your company.


-Darren
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Tiger Speaks - A Lesson in Crisis Management

Today, February 19, 2010, Tiger Woods - one of the most recognized sports celebrities of the times broke the silence about his affairs with many women and the impact it has had on his personal and professional life.

In his 13 minute Media conference today Tiger appeared composed while reading from his prepared statement. Following his comments he did not take questions from the Media.

As a Media Coach and Consultant that offers training in Crisis Management, Tiger's appearance today was text book. However, about 3 months too late.

In the days that followed the November 27, 2009 incident outside his Florida home; the crashing of his SUV into a fire hydrant around 2:30am and his rush to hospital, Tiger remained silent only releasing short statements through his web site but never talking to the Media who were starved for answers. In the days that followed, the Media were quick to unveil some of the facts surrounding the story. Did the Media have a field day with this? You bet they did! Did Tiger lose credibility in his fans, sponsors and the Golf world? You bet.

The key to understanding how to deal with Crisis is knowing HOW to react and WHEN to react. The more proactive you are the more likely you and your staff will be able to handle the Crisis. It is your opportunity to turn a potential damaging situation into an ability to demonstrate leadership and strength within your organization.

Take care of the victims. No matter the incident, there are victims. Be sure you put their safety, security, well-being ahead of your own.

Admit to the mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. While they might not like what you have to say, the public wants to know that you are human.

Fix the problem. Now that you have admitted there is a problem, what are you doing or what have you done to fix the problem.

Inform stakeholders, employees or key public features. Depending on the magnitude of the crisis, you will want to inform key people within your company before calling the Media and releasing the information.

Respond to Media calls. To ensure you are in control of the story, it is important to return all calls to the Media as quickly as possible. The longer you stall, the longer the Media will continue to 'spin' the story based on the limited information provided and write the story based on their preconceived views.

Ease public fears. People watching or reading information from your Media conference are asking the question "Am I safe?". Be sure to address that and ease the fears.

Do you need to review your Crisis Management Plan for your Company? Contact me at Speak Media Consulting for a free consultation.

-Darren.
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Customer Service: on-line vs. off-line

How much time, effort and resources are you (your company) spending on customer service? Are you providing quality customer service, or simply assigning those duties elsewhere?

Providing great customer service starts with listening.

Your sales people on the showroom floor are customer service representatives for your company. So are the in-home installers, your receptionist, the CEO, even the brand new staff member you just hired in shipping.

In today's environment, your clients and customers are looking for information about you and your company from every level of staff member you have employed. What are your customer service representatives - your staff - saying about your company, your brand, your reputation? I am not suggesting you put a muzzle on everyone, nor am I telling you how to run your team. However, if you want to create the groundwork for great (or expectational) customer service, it must first start with a staff of great listeners. Empower your staff to be less defensive when someone provides negative feedback about your company or a product you provide. Hey, everyone has their right to an opinion. Instead of barking back a response, one of the most disarming phrase a great customer service representative can offer are the words "thank you for your feedback".

These guidelines should also be applied to your on-line customer service. In fact, social media is one of the best places to provide customer service and build positive relationships with your clients and wanna be clients.

You have probably heard how Domino's Pizza turned negative comments about their product into a very creative and successful advertising campaign. I applaud them (Domino's) for this tactic. While many were quick to point out all the negative comments that were being posted on their website and social media about their product, Domino's Pizza were able to diffuse the situation by turning it into a positive campaign.

You know it all to well. Clients either like you, do not know about you, or do not like you. What are you doing on-line and off-line to build stronger relationships with your "A" list of clients, and more importantly, what are you doing to gain the trust, respect and financial rewards from the other groups?

Providing exceptional Customer service goes a long way both on-line AND off-line.

-Darren
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How to get out of a sticky situation

We have become fixated on celebrities in the news; Britney Spears, David Letterman, Tiger Woods. Some have been successful in negotiating their way through a sticky situation - others, have not.

Are you and your employees prepared to defuse a 'situation' or crisis when it occurs in your business or organization?

In November, 2009 all eyes turned to the Tiger Woods story and his refusal to make comment other than a few statements on his website. Instead of stepping forward and using the media to his advantage and taking controlling the situation, Tiger went deeper into hiding while the story exploded around him. Read my blog posting from this event.

You do not want this to happen to you.

John Baldoni is a leadership consultant, coach, and speaker. He is the author of eight books, including Lead Your Boss, The Subtle Art of Managing Up. And John writes a blog for Harvard Business Review.
Click here to read his blog on how you can recover from bad communications.

When crisis occurs at your business, use the media to your advantage and acknowledge the problem. Hiding from the truth will only delay the agony of the truth.

-Darren

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Tiger Woods not on par with Media

Tiger Woods is undoubtedly one of the worlds greatest athletes. He is worth millions and is adored by even more around the globe. Now all eyes are on this fearless legend not by his actions on the golf course but because of his actions, or lack there of, following his car crash early Friday morning, November 27, 2009.

Allow me to quickly provide you with the timeline of events:
Friday around 2:25am; Tiger crashes his SUV into a fire hydrant and then a tree while attempting to leave his Florida home.
Friday afternoon around 3:30pm; some 13 hours later, news of this crash hit the media. Not many details of the crash were available and no comments were made by Tiger Woods.
Saturday; no comments from the great one, only a flurry of speculation by the media.
Sunday afternoon; Tiger releases a statement on his website stating the accident was his fault, his wife Elin was not to blame, and that this was a private matter and wanted to keep it that way. He even declined to be interviewed by the local Police.
Monday morning; Tiger announces his withdrawal from his own golf tournament this week and does not plan to play golf until the New Year.

Where did Tiger go wrong? Silence.
Recently, many celebrities including David Letterman have learned the easiest way to control a situation is to come clean, tell the truth and admit the mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Own up to them and move on. Instead, Tiger's silence has opened the doors for more negative comment and more harm to his squeaky-clean good name. We are living in the 'now' generation. We do not want to wait for answers, we want them now. If we do not get the answers we are seeking, we will look to any source to provide the information. This is how rumours grow rampant.

In a time of crisis, follow these 5 steps and control the situation:
1) Use the media to your advantage
As soon as you are able, call a media conference and explain as much information as you can without getting into private details.
2) Prepare a statement
When giving your account of the crisis, you will be glad that you have prepared a statement in advance. Camera flashes, microphones and the excitement of the moment will be overwhelming. Be prepared.
3) Admit the mistake
If you are at fault, tell the truth and admit the mistake. Enough said.
4) Focus on your message
After giving your statement, be prepared to answer several questions from the media. Focus on your message and do not deviate from that message. Once you go 'off the script' you will be open to more questions and speculation (not to mention more expensive Lawyers)
5) Correct the un-truths
After you have provided the truth about the crisis, be sure to correct media operations that continue to publish incorrect information. Try first with a phone call. If that is not successful, have your Lawyer intervene.


Are you prepared to face the music when crisis occurs at your company or organization?

-Darren

H1N1 Pandemic; Fears before Facts – what you needed to know

I am not a Doctor. I am not employed by any Medical company.
But because of the fears of the H1N1 ‘Swing Flu’ pandemic, I have had to do a lot of my own research to ensure that I remain healthy. And I’m sure you and many of your friends and families have done the same.

Why? Because the people who we elected to ensure the health and safety of the citizens of our country failed to do their job. They failed to control the message, they failed to provide reliable information on the flu strain, and they failed to inform me (the public) on the safety or effects of getting the flu shot. They simply failed.

Where could this have been corrected? Let’s start at the beginning.
The WHO (World Health Organization) has been talking about a Global Pandemic for years, but it was about 18 months ago when their tone changed. No longer were they talking about ‘if’ there would be a concern but ‘when’ there this would be a concern. And what were our Governments doing to prepare for this Global infection? From what we’re seeing now in many parts of Canada – nothing.

Surely someone started to prepare an Emergency Crisis plan. Surely, emergency meetings were called to discuss a crisis management strategy. What are we going to say? How are we going to get the messages out? How are we going to ensure that one message is being delivered at all times? How are we going to ensure the public will not panic? Was this done? Perhaps to some degree, but not to the extent that I needed to be.

As a Media Coach, my message to my clients is simple; communicate a message and do not alter from that message. Use every method possible to ensure your message is being delivered accurately and correctly. How do you think they, the people responsible for ensuring the health and safety of millions of Canadians performed? Failure.

From the moment the H1N1 ‘Swine Flu’ became a Pandemic concern, they needed to broadcast timely and consistent messages to everyone, everywhere. We’re talking about the lives of Millions of innocent people. Many of these people are also very web savvy and, like me, have had to look to the net to find useful, up-to-date information because it is not being provided by the traditional Media outlets. Think about it.
A newspaper only publishes daily in large markets – weekly in smaller markets.
TV stations only air Newscasts in the Morning, noon hour, supper hour and late evening
Radio stations run short news casts during the morning shows and very few through the rest of the day.
The internet provides content that is refreshed every second.

So how can you prevent panic when you’re only providing minimal updates to the conventional media when we, as citizens, want updates NOW?

You have to be willing to think outside the box – re-invent the box if you have to, but you can do so while still controlling the main message. First of all, you have to build a team of people that understand the importance of message development and message delivery. Once you get a plan in place, you can then begin broadcasting your message to the ‘web’ of Media that will turn to you for comment. Remember, if you don’t provide the information the public wants when they want it, they will find anyone standing on a street corner to give them the information they are looking for at that moment.

So before Crisis strikes your organization, are you prepared?