Can you fix the pickle you’re in?
No two situations are the same. Neither are the solutions. Using a carbon copy response is the quickest way to cause more damage.
Did your non-profit or company make a mistake, or did someone else cause this? Who already knows? What have you and haven’t you done about it so far?
For more tips like these, check out A Board Member’s Guide to Crisis PR: Protecting You & Your Organization’s Reputation.
Follow these crisis management steps, and you’ll have a better chance to succeed:
Come to grips with the facts. Is the company or non-profit innocent or guilty? Be honest. Either way, you have options.
Ignore the voice in your head. It’s probably whispering how you’d prefer the story be told in an ideal world. That’s a fairy tale. Be realistic in what you hope for, and you won’t be disappointed.
Be credible, or you won’t be convincing. Your reputation is based on the facts and your believability. Your storyline must be plausible and pass the sniff test. If something smells fishy, it probably is.
Seize control and keep it. You must define the tone of the story first. Recognize the inevitable and deal with it. If a story will be published, you want your version to be the one that’s told. If the other side gets out first, you’ll be struggling to play catch-up.
Seek an outside perspective. You know when you’ve been toiling over a problem for months and a friend comes out of nowhere and drops a truth bomb or insight with ease? It’s frustrating to wonder how you could have missed it for so long. When you’re too close to a situation, it’s easy to get buried in details. If this happens, you run the risk of making it worse and then facing an uphill battle trying to fix it.
Can clients learn by observing? Yes. But watching is one thing. Executing is quite another. It looks easier than it is. As a friend observed, “You can diagram how to swing a golf club. That doesn’t mean you’ll be able to hit the ball.”
Gillott Communications is a Los Angeles-based public relations firm that specializes in high-stakes Crisis & Reputation Management with more than 50 years of expertise in strategic communications, corporate public relations, and working with the media.
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