Author: Jonathan & Erik Bernstein

No two crises are the same, but some guidelines apply to all types of crisis management

Crisis management is not an exact science, but there are certain steps that, when taken, are almost guaranteed to provide significant benefits. While these steps are similar in many cases, for maximum effectiveness they must be tailored to fit the situation at hand. In a recent post on the Blue Glass blog, Gina Gotthilf gave a list of practical ways to manage what is now a common occurrence: Facebook crises. A couple of my favorites:

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Sure, it’s not really a fun conversation to join but – newsflash – it will continue to take place whether or not you make an appearance. Does this mean saying “Hey guys! I know you’re pissed but let’s talk about it so we can defend ourselves?” No. Again, many other articles will state just the opposite but few focus on the practical rather than the theoretical when it comes to crisis management. The first thing that will calm down an angry mob is if you…

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Even if YOU are not personally responsible for the crisis – or if the company is not directly to blame – if this conversation is taking place on your Wall then some of it was most likely your team’s responsibility. Your fans want to hear you say “sorry, we screwed up and this won’t happen again.” Find the words you find most euphonious and appropriate – but stick to this basic message.

Neglecting to take these two steps has harmed several major organizations (BP, Toyota, need I say more?) in recent social media fueled crises. By taking action early on, you gain control and credibility in the eyes of stakeholders, enabling you to spread your message and resolve the crisis as quickly as possible.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.

There are many types of issues facing businesses, but what counts as a true crisis?

It’s not always immediately apparent when your organization is in the initial stages of a crisis. To this effect, I am pleased to bring you a guest blog submission by Michael Nayor, founder and CEO of crisis consulting firm The Rhodell Group, that investigates “What Really Constitutes a Business Crisis.”

WHAT REALLY CONSTITUTES A BUSINESS CRISIS

A business crisis can be anything that can negatively effect a company’s reputation or bottom line. Many events at first blush may not appear to be serious. HP’s firing of Mark Hurd and the subsequent entanglement with Oracle was not a big deal in the scheme of things, even though internally it must have been a shocker. However, the death or resignation of a key person in any organization could very well be serious for any company depending on just how key that person really was. Natural catastrophes, product recalls, labor disputes, computer data losses. The list is endless. Some are temporary. Some can cause the demise of a company. Most can be handled with honesty and the realization that it may be necessary to absorb losses over the short haul in order to achieve a long and healthy business life.

Two distinct categories of crisis need to be recognized. In one we lump all those events over which we have no control, such as product tampering by outside forces or natural disasters. Even in these situations there are always some actions we can take: tamper-proof packaging, liability insurance, proper protocols. But generally these events can blind-side us.

The second category contains all those events that might have been avoided had we chosen to take the actions necessary to protect ourselves and the public. Some are obvious. We look at the BP oil spill and see things that surely could have been done. Other events are not so obvious and these are the ones that can be insidious. When a management believes it is doing the right thing but in fact is fueling a potential crisis we have the makings of a catastrophe. A couple of examples will make this abundantly clear.

Market share is usually very important to a company, oddly sometimes more important than the bottom line. There is always great competition for new customers. Many times the efforts and resources devoted to advertising, marketing and selling to new customers are at the expense of a company’s loyal customer base. This can even be seen at the local level. Where I live heating oil companies consistently offer new customers a deal for the first year in order to lure them in. This, of course, is done at the expense of old, loyal customers who have to make up the slack. The result is that many savvy oil customers these days do a lot of shopping each year to find the best deal. Loyalty is a thing of the past. On a national level the problem has gotten even more serious. A recent financial story in The New Yorker last month observed that there is almost universal recognition that customer service in this country has deteriorated. Such service is considered a “cost”. Companies are looking for the customers they don’t have so they are willing to spend on marketing and advertising but are not as interested in adding to their costs of service. The article made it sound a little like cynical dating. Companies are interested in luring you in but then once they have you, they don’t quite value you as much as the next potential customer they want to corral.

Lack of service is not just a pain for helpless consumers. In this internet age they can do something about it. This is how a company can sow the seeds of its own destruction, and inexorably create its own crisis. Companies and their products and services are being rated on the internet and consumers don’t hold back. They tell it like it is. Granted, competitors may be planting some of these negative comments but for the most part product and service evaluations are being taken at face value. The moral of the story: be faithful to those who brought you to the dance, or the consequences could be severe.

Another form of self-inflicted crisis involves weathering the storm. Whether in politics, professional sports, or in business, “players” still believe that because of their importance they can ride out any issue or problem. They can’t. We can all easily tick off a dozen or so examples, but the latest is surprising. Johnson & Johnson has recently gone through a spate of recalls of tainted children’s Tylenol and Motrin. The Company has generally kept a low profile and even contracted with a third party to buy up Motrin off retail shelves rather than announce an actual recall. And for the last decade it has been settling with claimants for a variety of injuries and death allegedly due from Ortho Evra, a contraceptive patch made by its subsidiary, Ortho McNeil. It appears clear that the current management of J&J has not followed in the footsteps of the management that handled the Tylenol crisis of 1982 which is often cited as the quintessential example of crisis management in modern corporate history. Back then cyanide had been found in bottles of Tylenol in the Chicago area. J&J immediately issued public warnings, issued a product recall, created tamper-proof packaging, and before long was back in business. The Company was up-front and willing to bite the bullet in the best interests of the public. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the philosophy today. There is clearly a danger in believing one’s invincibility. The trust and respect of the public is at stake, and once lost, is very difficult to retrieve.

A crisis is not just the obvious explosion at a plant or a mine. Companies can and do create their own crises. Companies must evaluate their philosophy, their strategy and their honesty. They must take action to minimize their vulnerabilities but at the same time be prepared to take action in the best interests of the public if they value company longevity.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Michael Nayor (Cornell University (B.S., M.B.A.) and New York University School of Law (J.D.)) is founder and CEO of The Rhodell Group, LLC, a consulting firm that advises domestic and foreign companies and industry trade associations on crisis and reputation management issues. His LinkedIn site is http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-nayor/a/861/17

He has taught economics, and written and presented seminars on a variety of business topics. He can be reached at michael_a_nayor@sbcglobal.net or 203 222-7700.

Proactive social media monitoring by H&R Block stops a potential crisis in its tracks

We’ve seen several examples of employees sabotaging their employers via social media, the most infamous of which may have been the YouTube video showing a pair of Dominos employees doing various disgusting things to customer’s food. Perhaps as a result of witnessing such incidents, H&R Block has a very proactive Social Media Policy in place, as former employee and self-styled Internet phenom “Kid Fury” discovered after a Tweet asking his followers to call in and ask for him by his Web moniker brought a swift reaction from H&R management. This quote from David Meerman Scott’s WebInkNow blog explains:

“Our Client Services organization, with guidance from our Social Media Team, are actively responding to customer service questions, issues, and comments via Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites,” Zena Weist, director, social media at H&R Block told me.

“What Kid Fury didn’t realize was the impact of his tweets. People searching online for H&R Block help came across his ‘just for fun’ tweets in their search results.”

Because Weist and her social-media team actively monitor tax-related comments online, they knew the moment he began posting. “We had a team monitoring and responding to customer-service inquiries on social networks,” she says. “Within 10 minutes, our social-media outreach team had identified and contacted him and his manager. About an hour later, he had deleted his tweets.”

The speed at which the situation was resolved speaks volumes for the values involvement in social media holds for crisis management. Had H&R’s team not made it a habit to monitor for specific keywords that would concern or involve the company, it would all but guarantee the flood of calls would have lasted longer and cost far more money than it did.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.

Controversial topics can easily lead publications to the need for crisis management.

A Marie Claire writer has sparked a social media crisis for the magazine after a seemingly negative article about the “Big Six,” a group of leading women’s health and fitness bloggers, drew thousands of fans to their defense. Ragan’s PR Junkie blog has more details:

These “Big Six” bloggers write about their sometimes extreme exercise routines and strict eating habits–habits that the article’s author, Katie Drummond, suggested border on eating disorders. They might be a bad influence on their readers, the story said.

“But behind the [bloggers’] cutesy titles and sloganeering lies an arguably unhealthy obsession with food, exercise, and weight,” Drummond wrote.

A BlogHer post referred to the story as a “mean-spirited attack” on the Big Six.

That’s the overwhelming sentiment across social media platforms, where the backlash to Drummond’s piece has proven fast and furious. In only a handful of days, the story has sparked outrage in blogs, on Twitter, and on Marie Claire’s Facebook page.

If you look at Marie Claire’s Facebook page, it is absolutely covered in negative postings about the article, but any response from the magazine is suspiciously absent. The case is the same for Twitter. As we’ve seen in many other social media crises, declining to respond is one of the worst choices an organization can make. By delaying the inevitable mea culpa, Marie Claire is allowing reputation damage to pile up and increasing the likelihood of traditional media sources taking notice of the story.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

How poor preparation led to a reputation damaging viral video.

Swedish automaker Volvo is under fire this week after demonstrations of their much-hyped safety systems backfired several times in front of a crowd of journalists. Compounding the issue is the response from the Volvo spokesperson, who violated Crisis Management 101 rules big time with his response after a particularly jarring incident. Check it out:

By (apparently) neglecting to prepare its spokesperson for the fairly predictable possibility of mechanical issues during a demonstration, Volvo has unleashed a viral video that’s drawing loads of negative attention world wide.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

A working plan is often the difference between success and failure in crisis management.

The scary thing about a media crisis is that it can happen to anyone at any time. It isn’t always about big business. Even mom-and-pop operations can feel the pain. You almost never see it coming, and it is rarely something you could have predicted. One day, you get a terrible questions like:

* “Is it true your mechanic installed the tire improperly and your service station is responsible for the accident that killed three people?”

Or:

* “Did the employee of your landscaping company really apply the wrong chemical to the lawn that resulted in the death of the child who played in the grass?”

Crisis management is the most important public relations function. Poorly handled, it can cost a company its reputation and perhaps even drive it out of business.

As this quote from an OCALA Business Journal article, written by Ed Gorin, makes clear, every business runs the risk of becoming involved in some type of crisis. While some things are simply unpredictable, the difference between a successful resolution and major reputation damage is often in the planning. By maintaining a workable crisis management plan, your organization is more prepared to resolve issues in a responsible and timely manner, minimizing negative media interest and allowing you to get back to business.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

A rogue Twitter user is making waves in South Africa by posting alerts about speed traps set by police. The user, who posts under the name @PigSpotter, has angered local authorities so much that they have charged the person responsible with “defamation, impairing the dignity of another person and ‘defeating the ends of justice.'” CNN was able to land an interview with the author, who had this to say about his motives:

“I am surprised by the amount of media attention. It was never the reason for starting PigSpotter,” said the man, who has more than 17,000 Twitter followers. “Now that police corruption is in the limelight, maybe we can turn the negative into a positive, by working with the police, rooting out the bad apples/corrupt members, we can restore faith into the police of South Africa.”

The police are not making things any easier on themselves, responding with a quote that’s a classic example of repeating negative allegations in the context of denying them, a crisis management no-no:

Mnisi (spokesman for the Ministry of South African Police) denied the charges of police corruption. “We are not out there to punish people,” he said. “We are not being hard or inhumane.”

One person’s campaign can be another’s crisis, and in this case the person (or people) responsible for the @PigSpotter account is causing serious headaches for police with this quest to expose corruption in South Africa. If anyone actually needed more proof, this case is a perfect example of just how much Twitter can amplify a single voice.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

Chief financial officers have dealt with auditors since the days of the abacus. Smart chief technology officers bring in friendly hackers to test the ability of firewalls to withstand cyber attacks. Facilities managers conduct evacuation drills.

However, aside from airlines and a few industries susceptible to high-profile incidents, it is rare to see mandated, periodic reviews of a company’s crisis communications plan.

This quote, from a PRSA article by Dave Armon, is an excellent way to explain a phenomenon that confounds crisis managers everywhere. Although businesses see the need to test or double-check themselves in many areas, crisis communications plans often sit untouched long after crucial details have become outdated, greatly reducing or completely negating their effectiveness.

As communication options evolve, not only must plans be updated, but employees also need to be trained to take advantage of new platforms and techniques. These days the name of the game is Web-based and social media, and you’d better believe that any organization that has neglected to adapt their planning is taking a hammering when it comes time for crisis management.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

Twitter continues to prove its worth as a crisis management tool, often surpassing traditional media sources because of its flexible and easily accessible nature. In a recent blog post, Jessica Ziegler, social media strategist and Vestor Logic’s Director of Social Web Design, described how Twitter took the lead during last week’s Colorado wildfires:

From where I sat it took a while to get any of that information. The TV station websites were on it pretty quickly, but it was bare bones info, a few sentences. The newspaper sites had nothing until much later.

Enter Twitter. Immediately the hashtag #boulderfire was pumping out up-to-the-minute information and photos. The Twitter community in Boulder immediately rallied and began putting residents in contact with people who could help. They kept the information flowing in a constant stream.

By the next day local businesses began using Twitter to offer goods and services to residents displaced by the fire: offers of meals, places to temporarily house pets, hotel rooms. Soon messages of encouragement and thanks to the local firefighters and police began appearing.

Examples like this can be found with nearly every crisis and disaster these days. Whether the incident is local or worldwide, someone has started a hashtag and volumes of information, first hand reports and images are being distributed via Twitter long before traditional media can get on the story.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

If I were to ask you if your company or organization had a crisis plan, more than likely you would answer, “Yes.” That’s because managers are increasingly becoming aware of the need to be prepared when something goes wrong.

On the other hand, if I were to ask if your crisis plan stipulates detailed steps to be taken in each of a number of very specific situations at various levels of severity, I’d be willing to bet your answer would be “No.” That’s because far too many crisis plans are generic rather than specific in nature, that is, the plans refer to what to do in a crisis or emergency in general, as if one size fits all. Well, it doesn’t.

This quote, from an article by Carole Gorney of The Cline Group, describes a commond finding when a crisis manager begins work with an organization. As the article states, every organization is vulnerable to many types of crises, and they are often varied enough to require customized crisis management plans. Although there will always be disasters that you simply could not have seen coming, taking the time to sit and brainstorm not only on every likely possibility, but also detailed ways to handle those possibilities, will make your crisis planning infinitely more effective.

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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 Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]