Month: February 2012

A client contact passed this excellent article on to us, and author Lisa Lochridge, Director of Public Affairs for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, was kind enough to allow us to reprint it for you.

10 ways to ruin your company’s communications efforts

Rather than propose some resolutions for communicating well in 2012, I thought I would take a different approach.

Here’s a list of tips if you want to guarantee that your company’s communication efforts will fail.

1. Don’t listen to the conversation. Gone are the days when companies simply pushed out information and went on their merry way. Now, you have to be willing to engage your customers and other groups who are vital to the success of your business. Listening is just as important—if not more so—than doing all the talking.

2. Ignore negative comments on social media sites. That’s why it’s called “social” media; people speak their minds. If someone is unhappy with your company and being vocal about it, address their concerns when appropriate. If you don’t have the answer to a question, say so. And even though it may be painful, allow the conversation to occur and see what you can learn from it.

3. When bad news happens, hunker down. That’s a gut reaction, but it’s the wrong thing to do. In today’s world of 24/7 news cycles, citizen journalists and digital media, you can’t go mum during a crisis. If you’re not out there telling your story, it won’t get told (and you can be sure others will be talking). Warren Buffet, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, told a reporter once that the best crisis communication philosophy is to “get it right; get it fast; get it out; and get it over.”

4. Assume all reporters are out to get you. After all, bad news sells papers, right? If it bleeds, it leads? I worked at a daily metro newspaper for 21 years, and I can assure you those words were never spoken in the newsroom. My colleagues were journalists who were doing their jobs. That’s not to say there aren’t bad apples; there are in every profession. That leads me to No. 5…

5. Don’t bother building relationships with reporters who cover our industry. When a crisis does occur, you’re in a better position if you have at least had some contact with the local media already. It takes time and isn’t easy, but making yourself available as a credible source goes a long way in establishing a good working relationship with reporters.

6. Forget about developing a strategic plan for using social media. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms are just tools in our communication toolbox. They’re not strategies in and of themselves. Be sure to identify your objectives and make sure everything you post contributes to those objectives.

7. Don’t have key messages. A media interview is a chance to communicate what’s most important. Speaking with the media without deliberately preparing talking points is a waste of a valuable opportunity to tell your story and say what you want to say.

8. Neglect your employees when communicating about your company’s operations and products. Your workers are your ambassadors. It only makes sense to keep them informed when the news is good and when it’s bad. Doing so prevents rumors and misinformation from circulating, and it’s good for company morale.

9. Don’t worry about having a crisis communication plan. The last thing you want to do when a situation blows up is to fly by the seat of your pants. Invest the time now to assess the risks of a crisis in your operation and develop a solid blueprint that will guide you when you’re in the thick of things.

10. Keep doing things the way you’ve always done them. The media world and the communication tools we have are changing at warp speed. This is what I do for a living, and even I have a hard time keeping up sometimes. Recognize that change is good, conversation takes time but pays dividends, and don’t be like the proverbial old dog … be willing to learn new tricks.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Lisa Lochridge is the director of public affairs for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association in Maitland. She can be reached at (321) 214-5206 or lisa.lochridge@ffva.com

More than ever, your reputation relies on social media

At a time when 89 percent of consumers say they find online channels trustworthy sources for product and service reviews, new Cone research reveals four-out-of-five consumers have changed their minds about a recommended purchase based solely on negative information they found online. This is up from just 67 percent of consumers who said the same in 2010, according to the 2011 Cone Online Influence Trend Tracker. Positive information has a similar effect on decision making, with 87 percent of consumers agreeing a favorable review has confirmed their decision to purchase. But, negative information is gaining traction and is now just as powerful in tipping the scales against a recommended purchase.

If you didn’t know by now that social media holds immense potential for any business, then you’ve been living in a hole somewhere for the past several years. What this quote, from the Cone Communications 2011 Online Influence Trend Tracker report, does, is put several staggering figures in front of us.

Combine the fact that four out of five consumers have reversed purchase decisions based purely on negative online reviews with the flip side of 87% confirming their decision via favorable reviews and you get an idea of the massive power everyday people are wielding when they discuss your company online.

Even with our best efforts, consumers occasionally have negative experiences. Products break, shipping lines are disrupted, or a phone rep has a bad day, and this is likely to be reported quickly on Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, and more. What differentiates the cream of the crop from an average company is how they respond. Do a bit of crisis management, figure out the problem, FIX IT, and reply to your disgruntled customer where everyone can see. Just this small action could turn their negative post into a positive selling point.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. , an international crisis management consultancy, and author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Can you survive a crisis?

Every single business has potential problems, and the difference between whether they sink or swim in the aftermath of a crisis can often be determined in the critical 24 hour period right after it breaks.

On March 1, Jonathan Bernstein will present, “Communicating in Crisis: The First 24 Hours,” a Communitelligence webinar. Focused on this period that is full of both danger and opportunity, Jonathan will lend his decades of crisis management experience to speaking about the biggest mistakes in crisis communications, how to speak to stakeholders, the importance of holding statements, how to pick the right spokesperson, and more.

We’d also like to thank you for being readers, so enter the code, “bernsteincrisis” at checkout and you’ll receive a 20% discount.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. , an international crisis management consultancy, and author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]