Life Buoy?

Publish date 13/06/2011 Angharad

When things get tough, its sometimes difficult to remember all the good things you’ve learned over the years – a good friend of mine had a great poster at University that said “When you’re up to your neck in alligators it’s difficult to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp”

What will save you in a crisis?

At some point most businesses will face an emergency – whether it’s an incident that barely warrants attention or a major event that makes headlines across the country. How you deal with the media coverage of the incident will affect your business – so you need to be prepared – it’s the key to your business survival.

Your business life buoy is your media plan, which is part of your business contingency plans. Without a plan you’ll be dealing with matters on the hoof and that will inevitably affect quality. The plan needs to identify the company spokesperson and have a paragraph profiling your business – don’t assume the media understand who you are and what you do. It also needs to include all the details of your local press – so you can anticipate who might be interested. If the crisis involves the emergency services or is on-going – such as a major fire – you’ll need to set some space aside for briefing attending media. They’ll want regular updating and will need to know the facts – be honest, open and truthful.

Bear in mind the need to communicate to all your stakeholders– they do not want their situation updates from the media. Consider your customers, suppliers and investors. Also make sure you include social media in your plan – many staff/customers/suppliers will first learn of the crisis through Twitter and Facebook – so these must be part of the response plan.

Of course, making an investment in a professional crisis contingency plan is the best possible way to ensure your business survives intact. Like you, we hope it will never be used – but if it is, it can mean the difference between survival or not.