Creating Your Crisis Response System

What should you do when a crisis occurs? Just as with anything else, having everything organized ahead of time saves an enormous amount of effort later. Establish who on your executive team will respond during a given time frame. Make sure somebody is always on call just in case a quick crisis response decision or video needs to be made. I tell you more about this in Chapter 15, but now is a good time to get your schedules coordinated.

Here are some scheduling considerations that will cover all your bases in the unlikely event that you will actually be called upon to create a video response on the spot. Only you know what kind of scheduling system will integrate within your organization but be sure to address these time intervals in the crisis response on-call rotation that you create. If a social media meltdown starts to brew off hours or over the weekend, you can have peace of mind knowing that you have a strategy in place for dealing with the issue effectively.

During the workweek (creating your “on-call” schedule)

After hours (why it’s important)

During weekends: More issues escalate over the weekends because

• People tend to have more time to share on social networks

• Companies tend to have less coverage over the weekends

When crisis strikes online, whether it involves only one person or it’s the latest firestorm of public opinion, silence most certainly is not golden! People often perceive silence as a tacit admission of guilt. Be sure your everyday social media teams understand that they always need to respond as quickly as possible, even if it’s only to say “we’re looking into it and will let you know more as soon as possible.”

It’s always best to handle complaints with honesty, so you aren’t seen as dodging criticism. Even when customers are angry, always remain level-headed and address their problems as honestly and directly as possible.

Use facts to squelch rumor.

Don’t depend on the legal system to maintain your online reputation management. Your chances of success in a lawsuit are probably slim to none because the decks are stacked against you. Use the system you create here and keep refining it as trends change.

Crisis response breaks down into the following steps. Almost every case study I look at tells the same story. This is what the winners do:

1. Detect issues early via effective monitoring. (See Chapter 5 for more on monitoring).

2. Respond quickly.

3. Acknowledge any problems on your part quickly.

4. Follow up the moment you get more information.

5. If the press is involved, be sure you get to have a say in the story, even if it’s just a quote.

People will perceive you much more positively if you demonstrate that you’re taking responsibility for your brand’s actions and that you’re being transparent.

The people who lose millions of dollars and months of sleep are those who take too long to respond.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You can always refine as you go. Online reputation management combines both art and science. As long as you’re doing something about it, you’re better off than waiting until you feel like you understand everything perfectly.

Document every detail of a crisis resolution as soon as you learn about it and keep records of all communications from related parties.

I’m not sure why, but it’s often true that simply being prepared keeps lots of bad things from ever happening. I call it being “loaded for bear.” Your brand will be perceived as having it together and not an easy target.

With online reputation management, failure to plan is planning to fail!

Brainstorming: “What’s the worst that could happen?”

By now, you’re probably thinking that online reputation management isn’t all fun and games. Not so!

I want to introduce you to the “what’s the worst that could happen?” game. Here’s how you play:

Round up all your public relations, human resources, legal, and executive crisis response team members.

Take them all out for a meal, preferably dinner with drinks.

Get them brainstorming about possible worst-case scenarios. Appetizing, right?

Serve more drinks.

Really start concocting worst-case scenarios that actually could happen.

This next step is where it gets really interesting and when it’s time to start serving coffee. Get everybody to look at it from her own professional perspective. You need everyone to

Analyze what possible outcomes need to be avoided.

Share informed suggestions for how this can be done.

Make educated guesses about crisis keywords to tell monitoring teams to watch so that you can have advance notification.

Consider where the silver lining may be to every rain cloud that’s being discussed. I’m a firm believer in looking for this in every instance and taking advantage of the momentum of public opinion to move your goals forward.

You will get the best results with this heavy subject by pulling people out of their usual elements and into someplace refreshing and light. I promise it works! You want people to be able to brainstorm freely, and concoct scenarios that just could happen (even though you hope they don’t!).

A “good enough” fast response is better than a “perfect” response.

Creating a response video

You may discover one weekend that a member of your executive team needs to record a video with a smartphone so your team can quickly distribute it to all networks. Videos are a great way to add to your more traditional kinds of responses, such as press releases, media interviews, tweets, and Facebook status updates. People are much more likely to share videos, and there’s something personal about seeing and hearing the authenticity in someone’s demeanor that carries more weight than a faceless statement.

It’s often more effective to record something quick and casual instead of flying in a Hollywood team and going the professional route. Just get it done. Casual works, but please avoid filming

In front of a burning building.

In front of something controversial.

In the presence of a noisy background.

Wearing red or dark colors. The colors you wear actually trigger emotional cues. Wearing light colors portrays innocence and likeability. I tell you more about response strategies in Chapter 15, where I go more in-depth about managing social media emergencies.

Be prepared to offer help in whatever way your organization can to make the situation better.

Responding when there’s nothing to say

In a crisis, information is in great demand, but it’s almost always scarce. When formal announcements are given, people tend to hang on every word. Choose your words carefully. Try not to use words like always, never, definitely, for sure, and so on, which are usually exaggerations and are easily contradicted. Here are some safe alternatives until you can follow through with a clear and direct statement:

I don’t know, but I hope to be able to tell you more soon

We’re doing ____ and hope to announce something soon

Normally

May

Often

Typically

In most cases

It’s possible that

It’s planned for

Usually

It’s likely

It’s scheduled for

Looks like

Prefer to

During a crisis, limit your statements to the immediate problem.

Deciding on an effective response time interval

You need to be realistic here, but I can’t emphasize enough how glad you will be that you acted quickly to a rising social media crisis. It’s the number-one reason why online reputation management plans fail or succeed. Stack the deck in your favor by agreeing in advance on what’s appropriate.

If you’re serious about making sure your organization’s prepared for any crisis online, I highly suggest holding fire drills to put your teams to the test. Hey, it works for the fire department!