ten tips to manage a crisis
TRANSCRIPT
Ten Tips to Manage a Crisis
A presentation for HRANET By Mary Ellen Miller, MBA
MarketingMel April 9, 2015
Why are we here?
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“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are
useless but planning is indispensable.”
General Dwight D. Eisenhower Quoted in Six Crises
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So what defines a crisis?
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Crisis:
“An extremely dangerous or difficult situation” American English Dictionary
“A business crisis can be anything that can negatively effect a company’s reputation or
bottom line.” Michael Nayor, Attorney & Crisis Consultant
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Ten Tips to Manage a Crisis
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1. Call in a Crisis Communications Expert
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Help you Craft Key Messages
Assess the Situation Quickly Communicate Well and FAST
Media Response Ready Media Savvy
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2. Employees Will Call the Media. Count on it:
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Media Training, Press Release
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3. Consider Internal Publics:
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What is the best way to communicate with your
employees?
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4. Remember External Publics:
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External Publics
Who are they? Where are they?
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Customers Vendors Patients
Stakeholders/Stockholders
Followers Regulators
Web site Social Media
Email In your office
5. Monitor the Online Conversation:
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Feel the pulse beat of social media
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6. Be Authentic:
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MarketingMel says: NEVER say “No
Comment”
“Don’t say what you don’t know-
If you don’t know, tell them so.”
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7. Be Careful Not to Implicate Others:
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You have no idea of future legal status. Don’t throw others under the bus.
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8. Get it Right the First Time.
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The press release you issue will be picked up and repeated over and over and over again by other media!
9. Time is of the essence.
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Construct a Timeline MarketingMel’s Recent Case Studies: Case 1, Brought in Friday afternoon. Key messages developed through weekend. Issued press release Monday morning. Results: Gained valuable news coverage for client’s position. Case 2, Brought in at 2:30 PM to respond to media inquiry. Key messages, press release developed. Story aired on 5 PM news. Results: Matter was kept fairly low profile because client was proactive with media.
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10. Be prepared:
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Practice, Practice!
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Have a Plan Rehearse Scenarios Have emergency numbers and contact list Know who is the designated company spokesperson/backup Have those persons media trained
Your Turn
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Your Crisis Scenario You are HR Director for Lara See Bakery, one of the
country’s largest producers of cupcakes, based in Johnson City. Your IT person informs you that several consumers contracted salmonella after eating Lara See cupcakes. He first heard about it from his social media monitoring. You think the vanilla supplied by one of your vendors may be the culprit. The media called after an employee gave them a tip that people are getting sick from Lara See cupcakes. A message was just handed to you with a local TV news reporter’s phone number. It is 2:30 PM. News airs at 6 pm. What do you do?
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To Review:
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www.marketingmel.com
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