As a small business owner, crisis communications planning is a marketing
and public relations function to which you may not have given much thought. After all,
it's tough enough to stay on top of running your business, keep all your
marketing initiatives on track, and assure that your clients love you. For
some small business owners, planning for a crisis holds all the allure of
putting together a will. But crisis communications is a vital
part of any marketing and PR plan. Crises come in many guises and levels
of severity, from a fire that destroys your office, to conflict with
employees, to troubles with vendors that affect your ability to supply services on
time.
Garrand and Company, a marketing and public relations firm with offices in Lewiston, Portland and Bangor, Maine, assists clients in preparing crisis communication plans. Based on their experience with clients across a broad-range of industries, the following will help you
understand the steps necessary to putting together your own plan:
The planning process:
- Establish a planning team -- Form the crisis management team, establish
authority, develop a mission statement and develop a work schedule and
budget.
- Analyze your capabilities and vulnerabilities -- Review all current
documents, meet with outside groups, identify regulation/insurance requirements,
identify critical products and operations, identify internal and external
capabilities. Know where you're vulnerable as far as potential emergencies, human,
property and business impact.
- Develop your internal and external plans -- Your internal plan should include
policies and procedures, implementation steps, key contact lists, employee
instructions, reporting checklists, operations checklists and external
communications. Your external plan should include your general policy
statement, guidelines for working with the media, contacts list, emergency
communication channels, and tracking forms.
- Test and evaluate your plan -- provide orientation for all staff,
walk-through practice, systems practice, evacuation practice and a full-scale drill. Ensure your plan includes a clearly-defined management team and emergency operations center, appropriate security and coordination with outside
response. Plan to protect your facilities and your operations, and know
how you will communicate with the community through the media.
As you are going through your planning process, make sure that you have
considered all possible crisis events: Natural disasters, technology and
equipment failure, supplier disaster, accidents/fatalities/major injury,
hazardous materials incidents, protests, allegations of discrimination or
harassment.
If you have a crisis, it is likely that you will be working with the
media. Garrand and Company offers the following suggestions on making the process
as smooth as possible:
- Establish the topic, and know what information the reporter seeks
- Provide background, and ensure the reporter knows the context of the issue
- Formulate your agenda, and know your top key points
- Be aware of how you look-smile and make eye contact
- Keep your answers brief, and avoid jargon and technical answers
- For TV, try to choose the site where you will be interviewed
- Start over if you need to, don't be rushed
- Never, ever go off the record
A crisis plan is like an insurance policy-you hope to never need it, but
if you don't have one in an emergency, you're in deep trouble. Even if you
have a solo shop, take the time to put together a proactive plan on how
you will react if all hell breaks loose.
Kimberly McCall is the president of McCallMedia & Marketing, Inc., a
marketing, public relations and business communications company in Freeport,
Maine. She is the monthly marketing columnist for Entrepreneur's
Start-ups magazine, and an inc.com contributor. You may reach her at:
Kimberly@MarketingAngel.com. Web site: www.MarketingAngel.com.
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