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When you're the film at
11:
Planning for a PR disaster
By Jay
MacDonald • Bankrate.com
 Pop
quiz: You're a successful restaurateur. Shortly after noon, your
head chef rushes in to inform you that the blue-plate special just
killed a customer at table six.
Your phone lights up like a baked Alaska, three
TV crews are unloading their gear in your parking lot and your pager
is giving you a Swedish massage. What do you do?
If you're like most small-business owners, you've
never thought about handling a business-threatening public relations
disaster. As a result, when the flambe hits the fan, your chances
of weathering the crisis unscathed are slim to none.
It
can happen here
"You've got a problem if your attitude is, 'It can't happen
to me, I don't need to plan for it,'" says Norm Hartman, president
of Hart
Media consultants in Sacramento, Calif. "Having a plan is just
like having a flashlight when the electricity goes out. It's not
going to get you out of trouble, but it's going to lead the way."
Hartman has seen firsthand how the unprepared
proprietor can make a bad scene worse. One manager locked himself
in a broom closet. Another got so flustered "she put her hand in
front of the lens of the TV camera and cried, 'Get out! Get off
the property!'" Hartman recalls. "Of course, that wound up on the
news that evening."
OK, maybe you wouldn't do that, but what would
you do? Who would -- or should -- speak for your business? What
are the critical messages you will want to get across? How will
you handle the tough questions? And what steps will you take to
retain your customers? Planning ahead can put you back in control
when the unexpected happens.
Frank Chiaravalloti, president of Public
Image Corp. of Boston, notes that small companies actually have
more reason for concern than large ones. "One bad, highly publicized
case and that could be the end of your business," he says.
Steve Albrecht, author of Ticking Bomb
and Crisis Management for Corporate Self-Defense, agrees.
"Typically, people don't want to think about the worst-case scenario,"
he says. "We try to get them to do some hard thinking now, when
times are good. Then, if that situation ever comes, you pull the
plan off the shelf and you activate it."
Stay
cool under pressure
In the heat of a crisis, even a simple plan can prove invaluable.
Keep in mind that you are going to need to communicate very quickly,
and in a number of directions -- with the media, employees, neighbors,
vendors, customers, shareholders, the board of directors, and municipal,
state and federal government regulators, depending on the nature
of the disaster.
How much lead time will you have? "About an
hour," says Hartman. "That's about how long it takes the media to
find out about it, and that's about how much patience they have
waiting for some official statement from you."
Your business will fare best by observing a
few rules of engagement with the media. Here are 10 steps you can
take to keep the lid on a PR crisis:
- Choose a representative one rung down from the top
Offering up the CEO sends the crisis to the
top level immediately. Also, if the top person makes a mistake,
there is no one above him or her to correct it. Let the CEO run
the crisis from behind the scenes, unless or until events demand
that the leader take center stage.
- Collect the facts quickly
Reporters want to know who, what, when, where
and how. Don't worry about why initially. That will be determined
in the investigation ahead.
The sooner you offer an official statement,
the better. Otherwise, reporters will focus on second-hand speculation
and rumor.
If you don't know the answer, say so. Don't
be drawn into speculation.
Despite what your attorney may tell you, "no
comment" is the worst thing you can say in a crisis. "Most people
who hear it figure it's all true and you're just not going to talk
about it," says Albrecht. "A better response is, 'Gee, this is a
terrible thing that happened and if we're responsible, we're sorry
for it.' Those are words that businesses don't like to say: 'We're
sorry.'"
Reporters may ask some dumb questions to get
the information they need. Remain calm, helpful and in control.
Speak in layman's terms and avoid industry jargon, acronyms and
overly technical explanations.
- Explain your response
plan
What is your company doing to remedy the situation?
Television reporters need pictures, print reporters
need quotes.
- Update the media regularly
Let them know when they can expect updated information.
Correct inaccuracies promptly.
Surviving
trial by media
The sad fact is, in this electronic age your company will be
tried in the media long before it gets its day in court. That's
why it's important to have a representative who knows the ropes when
it comes to speaking to reporters.
"An eight-second sound bite is likely going
to be the crux of your testimony, and reporters are not necessarily
going to use the most important thing you say or the best thing
you say," says Hartman. "If you screw up, they're probably going
to use that. A crisis is not a good time to start to learn how to
deal with the media."
If your company is too small to have a media
relations specialist in house, there are other viable options. Many
public relations firms offer media training to executives at a cost
of $1,000 and up for a half-day session. Following some initial
instruction on techniques, the executives are put through actual
on-camera interviews, which are then played back and critiqued.
It's a good place to learn "bridging" -- a way of deflecting a hostile
question by redirecting it in a more positive direction. For a crash
course in bridging, check out the presidential primary debates.
"The truth is, some people are good in front
of the media and some people are not," says Albrecht. "It's a fine
line between not saying enough and saying too much, and you need
to know how to balance that fine line. Even a half-day session for
a CEO can be very effective because there are just so many ways
that the media can make people look like blithering idiots."
Another option is to contact a local PR firm
and develop a crisis plan in which one of its media specialists
will serve as company representative when necessary.
Chiaravalloti says developing a crisis plan
for a small company would run $500 to $1,000. On the other hand,
waiting until the crisis hits to call in the PR cavalry will be
more costly. At $200 an hour and up, it could easily cost $5,000
to $10,000 to put out the fire.
While the steep retainers charged by many PR
firms, often upwards of $10,000 per month, are well beyond the means
of many small businesses, building a simple disaster plan need not
be. Local college and university PR programs, as well as Small
Business Administration offices, are good places to turn to
for help when planning for the unthinkable.
Jay MacDonald is a contributing
editor based in Florida
To comment on this story, please e-mail the
Bankrate.com
editors
-- Posted: March 6, 2000
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