Crisis Management Guidance

Every crisis management expert has their own guiding tenets - principles and ideas they use to shape their strategies and responses. Leadership coach Dan Greer today shared some advice gleaned from legendary GE PR man Jack Welch's book "Winning," on his top five guiding assumptions. One of my favorites:

There are no secrets in the world, and everyone will eventually find out everything—Information that you try to shut down will eventually get out, and as it travels, it will certainly morph, twist and darken. The only way to prevent that is to expose the problem yourself and tell the truth.

Transparency is the name of the game these days. Between traditional journalists and the new breed of I-Reporters brought about by the Internet era, nothing stays secret for long.

The next is Welch’s most positive assumption:

The organization will survive, ultimately stronger for what happened—There is not a crisis you cannot learn from, even though you hate every one of them. After a crisis is over the tendency is to put it away in a drawer. Don’t, teach its lessons every chance you get.

Strong organizations find ways to use crises to better themselves; even in the worst situations there are opportunities to be seized.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Crisis Simulation

One of the best ways to learn how to handle a crisis is to simulate it. This way, you can identify gaps in crisis preparedness and work to close them before a real event occurs. To this end, the Kansas Emergency Management Agency has built "Crisis City," a serious staging ground for some hands-on crisis management training. A Chicago Tribune article describes the facility:

Crisis City covers 40 acres and was built by the Kansas Emergency Management Agency near the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Weapons Range, with $9 million in state funds and $30 million in federal...In the coming years, there will be venues at Crisis City for responding to agriculture accidents, a permanent rubble pile, vertical tower, urban village and tanker truck.

Although it certainly helps, you don't need a facility worth $40 million to walk through crisis management simulations. One your organization has crisis communications and business continuity plans, putting your plans to the test should be a no-brainer.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Solving Online Crises

In allowing people to easily make their opinions extremely public, the Internet has created an entirely new type of crisis management. The problem with this is that many execs, secure in their ways, have a hard time taking this to heart. The latest Crisis Manager features an article by guest author Will Critchlow, online reputation management expert, who shares the critical elements he uses to choose response strategies and hammer home their importance.

The board wanted to know what was being said. The corporate communications guys wanted to know what was being said. But they couldn't read it all - there was a large volume of discussion and they had important decisions to make.

Often, the people in charge don't have time to sift through the discussion. They need to know which information is important, and what your crisis response plan is, as fast as possible.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Surviving Attacks

Penny Sansaveieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. In the latest Crisis Manager newsletter, she shares with us how to survive an online attack on your reputation.

With all the ways to get media these days, you want to know what people are saying about you. Keeping track of the conversation will not only help you ward off an attack if one should ensue, but it will help you get to know the people who are important to your message.

Her article is full of crisis management strategy for the online arena, including tips on relationship building, word choice and making your voice heard. With more and more people using the web to voice their opinions, Internet reputation management should be a daily task.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

All New Crisis Manager

We've just finished uploading a new issue of the Crisis Manager newsletter to the website! Thanks to feedback from you, the readers, our focus on online crisis management continues in this issue. As usual, the main features are a couple of articles from some incredibly talented guest writers. Our first piece is a great guide to surviving an online attack on your reputation, written by marketing CEO and internationally acclaimed author Penny Sansevieri. In our second, Will Critchlow, director of London-based online reputation management specialists Distilled, shares some tricks of the trade used to monitor and respond to breaking Internet crises before they get out of control.

Want to have Crisis Manager delivered straight to your inbox? All you have to do is click here!

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Trouble at the TSA

The TSA has been doing a pretty good job of keeping airline passengers safe by instituting new security measures and protocols throughout the nation. They are about to be doing some serious crisis management, though, after a major misstep involving presidential campaign funds, an iPhone and the U.S. Constitution.

Steve Bierfeldt, director of development for the Campaign for Liberty, a part of the Ron Paul presidential campaign, was returning from a conference when TSA screeners detained him. They had spotted a metal cash box containing over $4,700, all proceeds from the sale of political merchandise such as books and T-shirts. Although there are no restrictions on carrying large sums of cash on flights in the U.S., Bierfeldt was quickly taken to a locked, windowless room for questioning.

The problem for the TSA? Bierfeldt managed to secretly activate the voice recording function on his iPhone and captured their (allegedly) harsh questioning quite clearly. The following is an excerpt taken from a CNN.com article.

Officer: Why do you have this money? That's the question, that's the major question.

Bierfeldt: Yes, sir, and I'm asking whether I'm legally required to answer that question.

Officer: Answer that question first, why do you have this money.

Bierfeldt: Am I legally required to answer that question?

Officer: So you refuse to answer that question?

Bierfeldt: No, sir, I am not refusing.

Officer: Well, you're not answering.

Bierfeldt: I'm simply asking my rights under the law.

The officers can be heard saying they will involve the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and appear to threaten arrest, saying they are going to transport Bierfeldt to the local police station, in handcuffs if necessary.

The officers let him go once they determined the funds to be campaign contributions, but the damage was done. The ACLU has filed suit on behalf of Bierfeldt, and he's been making his case in the press.

"I asked them, 'Am I required by law to tell you what you're asking me? Am I required to tell you where I am working? Am I required to tell you how I got the cash? Nothing I've done is suspicious. I'm not breaking any laws. I just want to go to my flight. Please advise me as to my rights.' And they didn't."

If anything, this speaks volumes to the power of the cell phone. The average person carries a high-quality voice recorder and camera in their front pocket that they are extremely eager to use. We will see the TSA's crisis response strategy unfold over the coming days, they've already taken "disciplinary action" against one employee for inappropriate tone and language, it should be very interesting to see what follows.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

The Year in Crisis Management

The Institute for Crisis Management released their 18th Annual Crisis Report recently, which includes the important caveat that "This does not represent every crisis, but those business news editors determined of interest to their readers."

Compared to 2008, crises were up slightly. The most significant increase was in negative news coverage. This has been attributed to many things, but the one that stands out is the emergence of social media as a news source. Workplace violence was also up significantly, perhaps due to frustrations from the sagging economy.

Of course, nobody's forgotten the numerous food recalls. From beef to baby formula, these really ran the gamut, throwing businesses across the globe into crisis response mode and deeply shaking consumer confidence.

What this last year has really shown is that crisis can bring any organization to its knees. The only way to survive is through solid crisis prevention and response planning. That, along with a strong reputation management strategy, will allow your business to thrive, even when others falter.

But, at the same time, I hope that the folks at ICM start to expand their report beyond what business editors consider to be important, as the traditional media is becoming steadily less impactful, and because crises affect many organizations that are not businesses and hence not usually covered in "the business pages."

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

They Lost What??

Airlines sometimes send luggage to the wrong city, but in this case one airline sent a child to the wrong state.

This is not how you want the first line of a major news report about your company to look. Continental Airlines recently "lost" a ten-year old girl who was flying alone to visit family via their unaccompanied minor program. She was re-booked and rerouted the same day, but her family suffered, panic stricken, for over 45 minutes as the airline struggled to figure out what had occurred.

Now, you would think that as a major corporation operating nation-wide, Continental's crisis management planning would have included such a possibility, but you'd be hard pressed to believe that from their response. Their offering, which should have gone above and beyond to not only restore the family, but also the public's faith in the safety of their programs, was nothing more than a refund of the $75 fee the family had paid for the unaccompanied minor service. And even though this happened a couple of weeks ago, you won't find a word about it at Continental's website, where an apology should have been published. Trial lawyers are probably falling all over themselves to get the family's business.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Pick Your Fights

It's no rare occurrence for a comedian to take some cheap shots at a politician, but when David Letterman compared Sarah Palin to a "slutty flight attendant" and insulted her daughter, she took exception. Palin made her anger known in several national TV interviews, throwing Letterman into crisis management mode and even bringing rumblings of an advertiser boycott.

Jerry Brown, of pr-IMPACT.com, has some advice for Governor Palin to ensure that her (very public) success does not turn into a reputation management disaster.

Palin made her point and her anger, any political motives notwithstanding, was appropriate. But, now that she’s made her point, she should move on to something else. If she keeps pushing her feud with Letterman, it’ll quickly become counterproductive.

Drawing out a battle with someone who commands a national TV audience is dangerous, especially when their specialty is making fun of people. Letterman was certainly in the wrong, but it would still benefit her to follow Brown's advice and take the steam she's gathered on to a new project.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Creating Faith

After the stock market and financial fiascos of the past couple of years, many investors are still extremely reluctant to trust any business with their money. They have shown their lack of faith often by simply not investing, other times by forcing out the CEO's who mismanaged their money. A BusinessWeek.com article has some sage advice for any company looking to repair its reputation and gain investor trust back.

Still, all agree that companies, innocent and guilty alike, must do more to restore the confidence of investors. Many are already taking first steps, say investors and corporate governance experts. The first order of business, they say, is for companies to upgrade the way they communicate to shareholders. The key is brutal honesty, says Rich Myers, head of the financial communications practice at giant public relations firm Edelman. "Investors no longer have any tolerance for anything other than the candid truth," he says.

Crisis management pros know that full, and rapid, disclosure is the name of the game. If your crisis prevention plans do not include a way to keep a constant stream of reliable information running to shareholders, then you're behind the curve.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

iCrisis

Once again a household brand is finding itself in need of some serious crisis management. A growing campaign, spreading via Twitter and other social media, is aiming to stop cellular provider AT&T's plan to charge subscribers an additional $200 to upgrade to the newest iPhone if they are not finished or nearly finished with their current contracts. With the number of names on the Twitter petition almost doubling in the past 24 hours, a rapid crisis response is crucial. ComputerWorld.com interviewed an expert about the situation and he had some good advice for the cell carrier.

"They should forget the immediate gratification [of higher revenue] and invest in the longer term to keep iPhone users," he said.

In his view, AT&T has a very small window to react to the online criticism. "The community will only get angrier and angrier," Lawrence said. "If AT&T acts fast, it will make the decision on its own, but past that 24-to-48-hour tipping point, it will look like they've been forced into it."

With the looming danger of Apple allowing other networks to carry the iPhone, AT&T would be wise to gather, and retain, as many customers as possible it has sole possession of the most sought-after smartphone on the market. Whether the extra charge is essential to their bottom line I don't know, but if it isn't I wouldn't be surprised to see a very public policy change in the near future.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

The Do's and Don'ts

One aspect of crisis management that has really come to the forefront in the past few years has been online reputation management. The reason this field is growing so rapidly is due to the nature of the Internet. It is most certainly a double-edged sword; communication is so fast and widespread that, if you satisfy your customers, many, many people will be able to see that. The negative is that, of course, if you upset someone, even through no wrongdoing of your own, a lot of people are going to hear. In a recent blog post Jeremy Martin, Internet Marketing Consultant, offered his "Do's and Don't of Online Reputation Management," and one caught my eye.

Do: Create a plan of action. If you notice a couple of negative reports or complaints listed on the first page of search results you have got to find a way to push them off the first page and get them as far down the results as you can. A few really great ways you can do this are by submitting a Press Release to various PR distribution sites such as PRWeb.comm, PR.com and PRnewswire.com.. You can start a new blog that is about your company’s products or services. Make sure you share the good information about your business such as favorable stats or testimonials. Join forums related to your niche and contribute useful, relevant information.

This is great advice, but I would go a step further than Jeremy and say that you need to have that crisis response plan ready before you even begin doing business online. The faster your response, whether it be directly contacting the customer, creating sites to get your own story out, blogging, or some other means, the more effective it will be.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

CARE-ing

We often think of crisis management as used in the work environment, but really it can be applied almost anywhere. The volunteers from the Fountain Hills-based CARE/FH team, a crisis response unit for traumatized victims, are more than familiar with the term. A quote from an interview with co-founder Victoria Caltabiano in the Arizona Republic sums it up.

Caltabiano and a team of 10 volunteers try to soften the blow. They provide phone numbers to call and places to visit to boost a victim's chance of recovery.

"They have to make decisions at a time when not only can they not function to make the decision, but they're not ready for it," Caltabiano said.

The volunteers, who utilize an operations "bible," a manual full of operating procedures for any possible situation, credit much of their success to preparation and training. Now celebrating their second successful year, the CARE team is a fine example of crisis management being put to good use.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Data Disasters

Retailer TJ Maxx holds the dubious honor of having the largest data theft ever, with over 45 million credit and debit card numbers stolen from their IT systems back in 2007. Crisis management experts know that data breaches can be one of the most devastating types of crises to deal with because nearly every aspect of business is involved. An article published today on the PRWeek website explains:

Companies must balance the needs of many internal and external stakeholders, yet the goals of each of these parties might conflict. Internally, legal, risk management, and privacy officers, as well as marketing and even security executives, must be involved. External stakeholders with their own agendas can include partners, customers, shareholders, vendors, and law enforcement. The involvement of so many departments can make it difficult for communications pros to respond to media, investors, and other stakeholders in a timely manner.

Although these incidents are devastating, the effects can be lessened by developing a crisis response plan and rehearsing it with everyone involved. When a crisis does strike you will be able to skip the planning stage and leap right into action, saving your business and its reputation.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Food Gatherers

Food Gatherers, a food rescue and distribution group, supplies food to subsidize the poor and jobless throughout Washtenaw County, Michigan. They supply food to 150 different organizations which provide over 7,000 meals a day to local families, all through the generosity of a meager 300 donors.

Now, as you can see from your local markets, prices on food have gone up. Combined with the struggling economy, that left Food Gatherers in need of some crisis management, and fast. After a study, funded by the United Way and several community foundations, they determined some effective ways to subsidize the programs. A recent University of Michigan web article gives a couple examples:

* A Summer Feeding Program for kids that was funded by the USDA through the Michigan Department of Education, Con-Agra, and Idol Gives Back (yes, that “idol,” as in American Idol’s charitable foundation);
* A “Shopper’s Pantry” where nonprofit agencies that partner with Food Gatherers can pick up food for their programs, and either turn it into meals that they serve to their clients or distribute it directly to households that create their own meals;
* A local women’s correctional facility that grows beautiful produce, such as tomatoes and cantaloupes, that can be distributed to the needy on the day they’re picked (other “grow your own” plans are in the works).

This type of effective crisis response is critical in hard times. If Food Gatherers had let things be, thousands of families would be going hungry right this moment. Now, an issue like this could strike any business. Supply lines can be interrupted by the economy, weather, or a myriad of other factors. These risks mean that alternate and supplemental supply sources should be an integral part of any crisis prevention plan, otherwise a disaster could bring your business to a standstill.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Ba-Da Bing!

Whether your business is crisis management or something else, a search engine is probably your most frequently visited site. The latest entry to the market is Bing, brought to you by a name few would have difficulty recognizing, Microsoft. Touted not only as a search engine but also a "decision engine," it offers a set of user-friendly tools on top of the standard search box. Additionally, it has some very handy built-in features, including the Price Predictor, a tool that'll tell you the best time to purchase plane tickets or hotel rooms in order to save money!

We'll see if Microsoft can make any dent in the overwhelming market share held by Google. Others have tried and failed. But it's a beautiful interface, graphically, and I'm going to enjoy experimenting with it. And, most importantly (of course), its algorithm very accurately ranks my consultancy higher than any of my competitors :-)

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

New Crisis Manager Newsletter!

The latest edition of Crisis Manager just hit the BCM website! In this issue, I share some of the many tools I use for Internet reputation management - everything from custom Twitter apps to full on media monitoring programs. In addition, this week's guest article features some lessons learned from a crisis management table-top exercise from Lawrence Dietz, Research Director for The Sageza Group.

Of course, if you had subscribed to Crisis Manager, this would be old news to you! If you want to see what you've been missing, you can find all of our back issues, here!

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

Rover Revenge

Range Rover has marketed themselves as the ultimate in SUV's, and with a price tag that would make most people's blood pressure skyrocket they should be backing that claim up 100%. Judging from a UK Telegraph article published today, it appears one of their dealerships hasn't been making customer satisfaction top priority, and as a result they'll likely be scrambling to do a little crisis management. A customer, frustrated with their (allegedly) unreliable car, covered the vehicle in gigantic vinyl stickers and parked it directly in front of the dealership.

"Along the side panels, the owner spelled the following in large yellow letters: "If you want trouble free motoring do not buy one of these!!!"

On the windows, they listed: "Problems with... 6 front ball joints, 4 front arm bushes, new seat base, front and rear n/s struts, full n/s suspension unit, anti-roll bar bushes, air con."

Given the fact that the car's parked on public property, it's going to be up to Land Rover to convince this disgruntled customer to move it themselves. I don't envy them the task! If they're smart, they'll publicly apologize for any misunderstanding and make this customer's woes their top priority.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

The Golden Rules

Social media is a valuable tool, but misuse it and you could be in trouble. Whether your purpose is crisis management, marketing, reputation management, or simple conversation, if you don't mind your manners you could find yourself or your business ostracized from these online societies.

In order to help avoid that, Web Worker Daily has posted their "10 Golden Rules of Social Media." My favorite was number four, Respond.

The burden of response can be great, but it can be lessened by using the right tools and crowdsourcing answers. A quick response is more important than ever, and thanks to search tools, alert apps and other services, it is possible to achieve. Don’t be a dam in a conversation flow.

We've all seen this in action; from the bad, as in the massive #amazonfail campaign, to the good, like Domino's smooth handling of their YouTube debacle. Even if you have zero clue as to what's gone wrong, a simple acknowledgement will buy you both time and respect.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

The Travel Bug

As the H1N1 swine flu rapidly spreads from nation to nation, many companies are taking advanced measures to prevent further spread. One major concern is business travel. Many crisis management plans call for employees' travel to be tracked, as an interview from this New York Times web article states.

“So we can tell a company, you had 35 people in Mexico City last week, and this is where they were, and these are the specific days when each of them arrived back at whatever location,” Dr. Druckman said. “The incubation period is X number of days, and this is when they were potentially exposed. Now and in the future, the issue in these situations is going to be, ‘Well, John just got back from Mexico City on this day, and we need him to stay home for a couple of days.’ ”

Between this high-tech approach and more traditional measures such simply sharing information between branches and organizations, most crisis prevention plans are holding up fairly well. The next step is to cover all the angles. What if an epidemic strikes and the bulk of your workforce can't come in to the office? Who's in charge if your entire executive branch falls ill after a retreat? These are the types of questions you absolutely must have answers to before they arise.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com