Are you ready for a Crisis?
Davies Tanner is advising all its clients to prepare a crisis management plan in order to protect their business and brand should the unforeseeable happen. Imagine the damage to a hotel or restaurant’s reputation after a food poisoning outbreak, the negative effects of a fire at the property or the police arriving at your premises to investigate a senior member of staff. Crisis management is in many ways like insurance, you hope you’ll never need it, but are so glad you had it when you do.
Crisis management is being aware of the threats to your business and having a process to follow should one of these threats become a reality. We’re currently discussing the development of crisis management strategies with our clients; this additional Davies Tanner service is one that any responsible business can not afford to be without and we want our clients to be protected.
There are simple techniques you can do now to begin protecting your business:
1. During a crisis, the media may suddenly become very interested in your business, so make sure the contact details of all responsible spokespeople are available to all staff
2. All nominated spokespeople should receive thorough media training
3. Prepare a dos and don’ts fact sheet for spokespeople
4. Make sure at least one spokesperson is available to talk to the media at any time, day or night
5. Identify which stakeholders would be affected by a crisis at your business
6. Create a comprehensive media list (including trade/consumer/foreign/regional)
7. Ensure all staff know what they are expected to do should a crisis occur
8. Prepare crisis management guidelines for all possible crisis situations and include a checklist of each task
9. Leave nothing to chance; a crisis is never a good time to learn from your mistakes.
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