Frontline crisis communication for frontline staff – a practical workshopMelbourne, 29 August 2012

• This workshop is about the tools that guide effective writing for crisis management – from the point of view of frontline executors of the centralised plan

• We focus on writing because even verbal communication must relate back to the organisational messages – so think of verbal communication as scripted copy

• Increasing prevalence of email and social media as viable customer service communication channels means frontline customer service personnel are playing an increasing role in disseminating written communications on behalf of companies

What it’s about

• This is a practical workshop that you should be able to find immediately valuable when you get back to your desk.

• It is not, therefore, a demonstration in amazing presentation skills designed to wow you with stagecraft.

• The content will be provided after the course, both through SOCAP and on my Slideshare page when I remember to do it.

• As such it is text-heavy, violates many rules of best-practice presentation skills and is unlikely to end up being the subject of a TED talk any time soon.

Important to note

PR!!F

D

D

GACoal Face

BCustomer

CInfluencer

Audience

Client

Audience Audienc

e

E

E

When customer service fails

• Anything that stops a business being able to perform “as usual”– Earthquake– Product contamination– Political instability– Death of key executives

Crisis: a definition

• Criticism– Feedback from a

stakeholder that you could have done something better

– E.g. “Your new product doesn’t work as well as the old one” [replace with company-specific example]

Some other definitions

• Complaint– Feedback from a

stakeholder that you have done something that affects them personally, in a negative way

– E.g. “Your new product hasn’t worked properly, causing me emotional / physical / financial distress”

• To get people to start doing something• Call us, visit a website,

evacuate the building

• To get people to stop doing something• Eating a product, driving

a car, investing in ostrich farms

• Immediate, measurable, binary

Crisis communication: why?

• You are completely unique. Just like everyone else– Every crisis is unique– Every person affected

by a crisis is unique– Every communication

must be tailored to the individual recipient

– = incredibly labour-intensive

A word on individuals

Lower Concern/Fear

1. Under my control

2. Trustworthy sources

3. Fair/large benefits

Risk Perceptions (Fear Factors)

Higher Concern/Fear

1. Controlled by others

2. Untrustworthy

sources

3. Unfair/few or unclear

benefits / Involuntary

Copyright, Dr. V Covello, Center for Change/Risk Communication

• Despite all our differences, deep down we’re really all the same– People want to know you

care– People want you to fix

what you break– People want to know

you’ve learned your lesson

– People don’t want to keep complaining

Commonalities

• Rule 1: Information breeds confidence, silence breeds fear

• Rule 2: Empathy is more powerful than a solution

• Rule 3: Know your audience

Three rules and three tools

• Tool 1: Know, Do, Go

• Tool 2: CAP

• Tool 3: Ask TOM

Rule 1: Information breeds confidence

(Know, Do, Go) Key Message 1:What is most important for people to know

Key Message 2:What is most important for people to do

Key Message 3:Where people can go to get credible

information

Tool 1: The KDG Template

Copyright, Dr. V Covello, Center for Change/Risk Communication

• Thanks for calling, and let me first start by saying I absolutely understand that you’re concerned.

• My name is Grant and I’m here to provide you with the information you need to know about this product.

• What we know is that only a few batches of the product were affected, and if you have the packet there I can tell you how to find the necessary information on the pack. Do you have it handy?

• Ok, if you turn the pack over so you’re looking at the bottom of the box, underneath the Best Before date you’ll see a series of numbers. Can you find that? And what’s that number?

• Great, thanks for that. The good news is that your product is not affected. Now, if you have any other product and that number is XYZ, then you should definitely call us back / return it to the supermarket, etc. If you would like to know more about the situation, please feel free to visit our website at www.findoutmore.com.au.

Example: product contamination

• Thanks for calling, and let me first start by saying I absolutely understand that you’re concerned.

• My name is Grant and I’m here to provide you with the information you need to know about this product.

• What we know is that only a few batches of the product were affected, and if you have the packet there I can tell you how to find the necessary information on the pack. Do you have it handy?

• Ok, if you turn the pack over so you’re looking at the bottom of the box, underneath the Best Before date you’ll see a series of numbers. Can you find that? And what’s that number?

• Great, thanks for that. The good news is that your product is not affected. Now, if you have any other product and that number is XYZ, then you should definitely call us back / return it to the supermarket, etc. If you would like to know more about the situation, please feel free to visit our website at www.findoutmore.com.au.

Example: product contamination

Rule 2: Empathy > solution

Listen-ing /

Caring / Empa-thy / Com-

passion

50%

All Other

Factors15-20%

Hon-esty / Open-ness

15-20%

Compe-tence / Exper-

tise15-20%

Trust Factors in High Stress Situations

Copyright, Dr. V Covello, Center for Change/Risk Communication

Assessed in first 9-30 seconds

• CONCERN – humanise

• ACTION – what’s the

fix?

• PERSPECTIVE –

containment

Tool 2: CAP

• CONCERN – humanise

– What people need to know is...

• ACTION – what’s the fix?

– What people can do is...

– Where people can go is...

• PERSPECTIVE – containment

Tool 2: CAP

• Thanks for calling, and let me first start by saying I absolutely understand that you’re concerned.

• My name is Grant and I’m here to provide you with the information you need to know about this product.

• What we know is that only a few batches of the product were affected, and if you have the packet there I can tell you how to find the necessary information on the pack. Do you have it handy?

• Ok, if you turn the pack over so you’re looking at the bottom of the box, underneath the Best Before date you’ll see a series of numbers. Can you find that? And what’s that number?

• Great, thanks for that. The good news is that your product is not affected. Now, if you have any other product and that number is XYZ, then you should definitely call us back / return it to the supermarket, etc. If you would like to know more about the situation, please feel free to visit our website at www.findoutmore.com.au.

Example: product contamination

Real-life example

Real-life statement

Rule 3: Know your audience

• Target Audience• Who am I talking to?

• Objective• Why have they

contacted me?• What are they looking

for?

• Message• What am I going to

say?

Tool 3: Ask TOM

Who’s getting in touch?

Who’s getting in touch?

• Understanding who we’re engaging with:– Helps us determine if we’re dealing with criticism or

complaint– Helps us provide a more effective solution / resolution– Helps us reduce repeat contacts by more effectively

handling first encounters– Reduces the risk of us making it worse

The importance of knowing

• Frontline personnel can be the difference in a crisis

• Understanding what happens in the crisis control room can help inform your teams’ role

• Being a containment point for the crisis adds immense value to the crisis management strategy

• It’s all communication – you can help drive change within your organisation

• Someone, somewhere in your organisation is probably already doing this stuff

Summary

Edelman MelbourneLevel 5

287 Collins StreetMelbourne

www.edelman.com.au

Thank you

Email grant.smith@edelman.com Tel +61 3 9944 7626Twitter @grantsmith8

Slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/grantsmith8