blog post – first quarter 2023
talk is cheap
A few months back I received a call on my mobile from a lady purporting to be from the marketing department of the meal delivery service my family uses. She thanked me for being a frequent customer and said she wanted to send me a complimentary gift card in appreciation for my loyalty. I was skeptical and asked what I needed to do to get or use the card. She replied I did not need to do anything. It was a gift from the company to me. I ultimately acquiesced and sure enough a gift card appeared in the mail a few weeks later.
To this day, I still wonder what the catch is. Are they tracking what I use the gift card to purchase? Bottom line, we have become very suspicious of entities being nice to us. Some might agree that is for good reason. Scams abound worldwide.
My point is if a consumer scrutinizes motives that closely during a peacetime encounter, imagine how deep the distrust can run in a crisis.
When I work with clients, they understandably want to ensure their communications are seen and heard. They are often surprised that I – being a former corporate communications guy – tell them to lead with their actions not their words. However, any effective communicator will share that critical messages only work when they are supporting deeds.
I spent many years in the airline industry, which is infamous in repeating an error in almost every serious incident or accident it experiences.
Early on, sometimes in the first press release or spokesperson statement, the phrase “we are doing everything possible for those involved” appears. As soon as it does, you have charted a course toward further woes.
First, the only people who can make that statement are the people who have been touched by the event. In the moments after a crisis, how do you know what they need? Are feeling? Want from you? That’s their decision and you have chosen to represent them without their permission. Not a great way to establish trust. And, by the way, the media will ask someone if you’re doing everything possible for them and they will answer “no” and begin itemizing what you are not doing. Your credibility takes an immediate hit.
Second, in those early hours you’re not doing everything possible and – news flash – you’re not going to. Some people demand things that are either inappropriate or impossible to fulfill in their efforts to punish those they believe have damaged them. In events I have worked, people have asked for everything from very expensive jewelry as compensation to placing themselves on a company’s safety committee with veto approval of organizational initiatives. Those things are not going to happen.
So why do entities continue to use that phrase? They are desperate to show they care about what has happened. Unfortunately, mostly due to lack of planning, they resort to trite phrases that cause more harm than good.
If you have prepared for a crisis, when it strikes you will have things that you are doing. Talk about those things. They are tangible and can be proven if required.
“We have a special team of company volunteers trained to assist in situations like this. They are being notified and will be available by phone, and in person where possible, to those touched by today’s tragedy within the next several hours.”
“Upon hearing of the incident, our CEO immediately canceled the remainder of his planned itinerary and is heading to the airport to take a flight to (the affected city). S/he will be making a statement via our (social media channel) shortly.”
These are actions that become tangible as they are fulfilled and can be verified by those touched by a tragedy and the people who are watching how your organization responds.
If this seems like a foreign concept, you may have missed a few critical steps in your planning process.
1) Every successful crisis response results from a peacetime discussion within the organization on its values during a crisis. What principles and ethics will guide its response? How much influence will important departments like legal and insurance have and in what context? What independent authority will the crisis team have at the outset and when must they seek senior management approval?
2) Determine a set of actions the organization can employ and the triggers for each. Ensure those actions are assigned to trained individuals and that they have the resources needed to carry out their missions.
3) Scrub planned crisis communications materials for platitudes and instead focus on highlighting what the organization is doing.
It is a sad truth that authenticity is a lost art. That is why people are so impressed by an organization that actually does what it says – or more correctly – says what it is actually doing.
Be different. Be ready.