If the problem is a maze, we
must try to see it from above and not from within
In this article, Durée Ross (President
and CEO at Durée & Company, Inc.) starts talking about the quick upgrade in
every subject that nowadays we see thanks to internet. She does reference to
the news; years ago they were reporting about the last 24 hours, but currently,
they talk each and every hour about all notices that happen.
This is also one thing that all companies
should be aware of, to pay close attention to the social media so they can know
as soon as possible what the clients are doing, thinking, feeling or hearing
about their Brand.
We
see a lot of criticism to brands that acted in a wrong way so people showed by
social media this errors and punish the companies. One bad worker who treats a
client in a wrong way or a mistake doing a service are examples that can make
your company look bad to the world if you are not prepared to this kind of
crisis.
A crisis management plan doesn't work at
all times, but it can greatly reduce the impact of an error which has been
made by your company. With all the tools we use in this age for
sharing on the internet, it is quite easy to see our logo in a trouble video or
image, so it is better to have more chances to properly get out alive of the
situation.
Ms. Ross facilitates three keys to keep
the Brand well known and the clients satisfied during the company´s crisis.
1. Be prepared long before
you need to be
To solve a difficulty,
sometimes we need to visualize it in advanced, thinking in the possibilities of
coming across with an error or critics in the future. Doing a brainstorming is a
good way to start, because there is a huge range of situations in which a
company may be involved.
Thinking in every type
of client, product, service, etc. Giving solutions before it happens will
decrease the crisis time.
By doing this, if a problem explodes, the company will only have
to follow the guide plan, and not thinking in a solution, because that would
increase the time a lot, and it may already be late.
This point can be
summarized in a Ms. Ross quote “always being prepared for the unexpected”.
-Write a
guideline to be ready immediately.
-Find out what
happened, what does it affect and who should face it.
-Be fast and agile
knowing everything that envolves the event, responding in an adjusted way.
2. Don't ever try to ignore the problema To make like
there is no problem is a huge error that many companies do. The problem can
spread and get bigger very easily, so it is better to attack it as soon as
possible and in a predetermined way. Everyone knows that the media and the
social media tend to transgress events, something that most of the time is
dangerous to the company who is in crisis.
Knowing that
there are people who has lot of attention (Retweets, likes,…), TV news,…
Companies should work in the relationship with those. Normally, a crisis can be
solved in two ways:
-On one hand,
an influencer with whom we have a good relationship could help us solve the
event talking nice about us, for example.
-On the other
hand, if an influencer hasn't had a good experience with us, he will probably
make the problem worse for us by talking badly.
Summarizing,
instead of ignoring the problem, consider who can help you (normally media and
social media people) attacking the issue.
3. Stay with the story
In this point,
Rusée Ross explains the importance of staying on top of things during all the
process, especially when the event becomes a legal issue.
You need to
upgrade chiefly to the clients, day after day. Doing this will avoid every kind
of misunderstanding.
I agree with the writer that despite
having seen a lot of different cases, there will be always new crisis and new
solutions, so this tips are not for every issue, but surely it will help every
company who works on it, because thinking about possible errors and solutions
can activate creativity when facing something new.
Years before the social media became a
daily part of us, companies were used to solve a problem in a personal way with
the client. Nowadays, if a client has a problem with a brand, it is not weird
to see a critic and a community who defends it.
In conclusion, preparing a guideline to
solve a problem doesn't offer a 100% chance to end it. But surely it will make
the process quicker and so much better for the company. The importance of being
proactive and reactionary is determinant, and this can only be possible by
working in a crisis management plan.
Posted by: Eduardo Montes Villarroya
Read more about the article on:
Link:
