Run of show for a comms crisis

Once upon a time, I made a good living largely helping clients through their communications crises—largely self imposed. They follow a pretty predictable “run of show” and if you can understand it you will not only save your company a ton on money when your inevitable crisis arises, you may be able to avoid it altogether. Pick your raging dumpster fire of the moment and follow along at home:

1. Management makes an out-of-touch decision and/or responds foolishly to a situation at hand.
2. The marketplace/customers/employees rage at the company on social media and journalists take notice.
3. A few days later after mostly hiding out, the company doubles down on the bad decision, trying to defend and clarify their choices.
4. People get even madder and then the highest profile customers and experts come out to criticize the situation.
5. The company puts out a feeble half apology like “we’re sorry you were upset” or “there seems to be some confusion”
6. Predictably, customers and partners and employees become even more enraged.
7. After a week or two more of being lambasted, the company tries to walk back the original idea/policy/change and usually settles on a half-measure approach or surrenders with a damaged brand and ousted leaders.

But why does this happen? Certainly, sometimes there are unpopular business decisions that must be made and consequently communicated to stakeholders. Yes. But the different in productive and unproductive communications about these decisions is that productive, good faith decisions emphasize the mutual benefit between customers, employees, and company but naming the pill that must be swallowed without wrapping it in cheese. Basically, the leaders and the communicators exhibit character and courage to say what the choice is and why and they treat customers and employees. with respect.

Conversely, bad-faith and unproductive communications obfuscate the hard truths and pretend as though customers are at the mercy of the company’s whims and any pushback is purely a misunderstanding. This comes about generally because of hubris. Leaders at the top, customarily against the advice of their communications counsel, insist on not listening to the insights of those who deal with the customers and social/traditional media and force out a tone deaf message to their own peril. What follows, as outlined above, is fraught with distress and fallout for leadership, the foot soldiers, the brand, customers, partners, and is extremely disruptive to the business itself and the community it has built around the company internally and with brand advocates.

In the short term, this sort of thing can cost a small business $10,000 - $25,000 in PR and legal fees and enterprise companies drop millions to “fix” the bad choices of their management, but the thing is… the wounds eventually heal but the scars remain.

Having sat at the corporate table for these dozens of times and having studied a hundred more from a safe distance, I can tell you that the way out—ideally before it happens but definitely once it is underway—is to defer to your communicators. They know how this is going to unfold and even though you are destroying years of their hard work and earning them weeks of 18 hour days and night terrors, they will advise you on how to make a full, unrepentant apology ASAFP and then just sweat out the very short term fall out.

Remember: everyone loves a comeback story so if you can own your mistakes right away, even your most ardent opponents in your company and in your customer base will cheer the most enthusiastically when you do a full about face and make it right.