by By: Mitchell Baumann
Most businesses and organizations are vulnerable to threats and will face a public relations crisis at one point or another. A crisis can be anything from an unhealthy business practice to a bad review or even an internal employee issue. Although these crises may be unavoidable at times, it is crucial a business is prepared and ready to face these unexpected events head-on. Without a well-trained crisis management team, these events can make or break a company’s reputation. Here are 3 things businesses need to avoid when dealing with a crisis.
First and foremost, the last thing a business should do when faced with a certain negative event is lash out. Even if the company is in the right, they should never respond negatively and/or throw the blame on someone else. Whatever the situation may be, the organization must put their emotions aside and respond strategically in a way that doesn’t dig themselves a deeper hole.
Something else a PR crisis management team should avoid is responding to a negative situation either too fast or too slow. Responding to the situation right away may come back and bite you in the butt if you didn’t originally have all of the facts straight. Conversely, delaying your response will make your brand look just as bad. It is important your response is well thought out and timed in order to elicit the best reaction from the public.
One more thing a business should not do when faced with a PR crisis is dwell on the specific incident that got them in trouble. It is vital an organization can solve its problems, learn from those mistakes, and grow as a company. Businesses are not perfect and no one really expects them to be. But they are expected to act and respond professionally in times of crises.
