Kelly Fujino
Marketing & Industry Awareness Committee Member
Lubbock Electric Co.
Regardless of size or legacy, your business may face a crisis. It could be a natural disaster, data breach, workplace fatality or even publicized misinformation about your company. Responding swiftly with complete and accurate information and a plan of action will help you come out on top.
Here are 5 things you should do to create your company’s crisis communication plan.
- Appoint Spokespeople and a Crisis Communication Team: They will be responsible for collecting information and disseminating key messages internally and externally. From this team, identify a primary and secondary spokesperson for all media inquiries. All other employees should be prohibited from communicating with the media during a crisis. Be sure to inform employees who the designated spokespeople will be.
- Identify Stakeholders: Stakeholders are parties who need prompt information from your company during a crisis. This may include employees and their families, customers, suppliers and the public.
- Develop Internal Communication Procedures: Information must be disseminated to employees first before rumors spread. Determine how employees will receive key messages, whether through department meetings, emails, text alerts or a combination of these or other options.
- Develop a Contacts and Media List: During a crisis, there is no time to search for phone numbers. Gather contact information for your stakeholders, local government offices, public health departments, police and fire departments, as well as the newsrooms of local, national, and trade press. This list should be reviewed annually at a minimum.
- Develop a Social Media Plan: Social media has enabled anyone to publish information about your company online. So, your crisis communication team should be prepared to monitor mentions of your company on social media and respond quickly to negative content.
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