How to Communicate Effectively in a Crisis

We are more than on month into staying home to #flattenthecurve, and as the world keeps changing in unpredictable ways it's more important than ever to know how to stay connected to your customers, donors, and constituents.

How do you respond when a crisis happens, whether it's a global pandemic or a staffer's sudden exit? You've maybe heard this term once or twice, but let's dig into it more this week: Crisis communications is the key.

Crisis communications sounds supes scary, but this kind of communicating is crucial. Without a crisis comms plan in place, your team might be caught unawares in an emergency, rudderless and unsure of what to do. You yourself might be paralyzed with fear. Your hard-won customers and supporters might be worried that you can't give them what you need. It's safe to say that everyone's emotions are running high; what can you do?

Use these Do's and Donts as a starting point for building a plan. These are practical things to do to help you manage the day-to-day in times of uncertainty.

1. Communicate early and often

Do… 

Communicate early and often with your customers, donors, partners, employees, and constituents. When you offer continual, intentional, and proactive communication, you not only build trust, but you also offer some reassurance and comfort to your audience in a scary time... even if all you're saying is, "We're not sure what's going to happen, but we are working on it and here for you."

Communicate necessary information to your audience with an update your website homepage. Proactively send out relevant email updates and social media posts so no one has to look for you. Remember to ask yourself, “What does my customer need right now?

Don’t…

Go silent. Sit with your team and write down every question you can think of that someone might ask about your business. Great PR teams spend a lot of time on this, thinking of every possible question that could come up in an interview or on Twitter, and draft answers long before those questions are even asked.

2. Prioritize empathy over numbers

For some of your customers and clients, things may not have changed that much, but others may have had their whole worlds turned upside down overnight. They might be feeling major anxiety, frustration, and even anger as they try to navigate how to get right-side-up again. 

Do...

Always start with empathy recognizing that you likely don’t have all the information about what is happening in your community's lives. Your small kindnesses could make a world of difference for someone.

Show your humanity in the words you choose when communicating with staff, customers, and colleagues. Take a little extra time to express gratitude for the people around you, and acknowledge that this is a tough moment. This doesn't only reflect well on your brand; it's just a nice way to be with your fellow humans, and it can be a bright spot in someone's day that they'll remember for a long time after.

That kindness also helps build trusting relationships for the long-term, so that your community keeps rooting for you even when your business has to pause or if you can't provide the services or products you normally would.

Don’t…

Focus only on numbers. We know that both businesses and nonprofits need sales and donations to survive, but the people behind your numbers (your customers and donors) are real people, not just walking wallets! If you don’t adapt your messaging, you can come off as insensitive and desperate, and damage your brand.

“When dealing with uncertainty, leaders need to look at communication from the perspective of your audience and have empathy for them rather than fear of doing the wrong thing.” -Paul Argenti

3. Create a centralized plan

No matter the size of your business, having a plan that's organized and on paper is important. Know how you'll delegate enforcing policies and sending out key communications, so there's an easy-to-follow structure that can help your team feel confident when the world seems thrown into chaos.

Do… 

Select a diverse group of people from your organization who can work together to develop the necessary policies. These are the people to brainstorm "what if" questions with, who can help you think of every eventuality. Nothing is off the table.

This is also the group that will carry out your messages and perform needed tasks, so make them as a part of the planning process as you can so they feel empowered. Ask them what they think the steps of your crisis communication plan should be, see if they have any doubts, and make sure you can answer all questions. It's worth the time you spend on this so everyone is on board.

Don’t…

Assume everyone already knows what to do. Internal crisis communication (meaning the messages you send your team when things go haywire) is arguably more important than external (with customers and clients). Leave nothing to chance, and remind your team regularly what their responsibilities are and what their next steps should be so that there's no possibility that they'll forget.

Ready to put a plan together? Use these sample plans from Hubspot as a starting point, and as always reach out to us if you need 1-on-1 help. We're for you, no matter what!