Every company should consider hiring a crisis management agency. We all like to think our business is untouchable, but sometimes, it may be unavoidable. It’s better to be prepared if something does happen. VerriBerri are a crisis management agency based in Essex. We have been assisting clients and helping them prepare for emergencies for over 12 years. Our team have seen and dealt with every crisis under the sun. Therefore, we know a thing or two about why you should enlist the help of an agency to ensure matters are dealt with correctly, minimising fallout.
What constitutes as a crisis?
A crisis is an unexpected event that could potentially have a negative effect on your business. These include things such as fires, an incident with a customer (injury), environmental issues, negative feedback online, campaign controversy, mishandling of customer service, security breaches, GDPR failures, and product recalls.
How does a crisis happen?
With so many different types of crisis, it can be difficult to know how to prevent them. Some are obvious and can be controlled, others are not so easy. Our crisis management agency is going to talk about them in a little more detail.
Technology – including data breaches
We all know technology can be unpredictable. The internet crashes all the time and even the likes of Instagram and Facebook go down for hours. This would count as an unforeseen event. A technology failure is often the fault of a system malfunction that is completely beyond your control. This may cause loss of data. If security systems are down there may even be data breaches. To ensure this don’t happen, you should train your staff in technology safety.
Even if your business isn’t technology heavy, it can be useful for your employees to have this knowledge. A basic understanding of IT security and no understanding can be the difference between a small crisis and a massive data loss.
If you find you are faced with a technological crisis, don’t worry. Our crisis management agency, VerriBerri, are on hand to help you deal with it. Ensure you have a plan for if this type of crisis occurs. Although the chances may be small, it never hurts to be prepared! If you find you have been comprised by hackers, make sure you are using encrypted channels to communicate any further information to plan and formulate a response. When you disclose the details of the breach, do not beat around the bush. This type of incident needs the facts stated; so explain exactly what has happened, how this will affect your customers, and what your plan is to fix it.
Product recalls and issues
This can happen to any company that sell a product. Recalls happen when a business identifies an issue or a defect with a product and needs to repair or replace it. Product recalls can negatively affect a company, so much so that some companies do not come back from it. Research has shown that over 80% of people judge a company based on product recalls. This means there’s a possibility of losing up to 80% of your potential customer base if you don’t deal with it correctly.
Just like any area of crisis management, you will need a detailed plan. With any new product, you should write up a plan in case something goes wrong, and it gets recalled. You should a point a team to deal with the recalls and the press associated with them. VerriBerri can respond quickly, putting out a press release and handling the media.
Social media and bad reviews
The world’s population hs become more and more reliant on social media for many parts of their daily life, including the news. This quick access to socials means that news can travel incredibly fast. It also means that anyone can leave a review or your brand, products, or services, and you may find this can be used negatively. Take it from our crisis management agency, you are always likely to run into instances like this, no matter which social platform you are operating on.
Social media can be a helpful tool for your business. Here at VerriBerri, we are not only a crisis management agency, but we can also manage your social media. Our team are experts in dealing with issues involving social media and will see that any negative tweets or messages are dealt with in the correct way. The best way to respond to a negative review is to deal with it swiftly and in the politest way possible. Resolve the issue with the customer and offer some form of compensation in the form of vouchers etc.
What should crisis management achieve?
If you hire a crisis management agency like VerriBerri, we can help you achieve the following with your crisis management plan and response. We will:
- ensure you inform the public about the situation and the steps you are taking to fix it
- help you with a response that is truthful and factual
- ensure all levels of communication are used to help spread the word and minimise any damage to your reputation
- put crisis management strategies in place so that if a crisis happens, you know what your team are expected to do and what we will do
Contact our crisis management agency
Dealing with a crisis on your own can be scary but have no fear – VerriBerri are here to help! Whether you wish to plan a crisis management strategy or have recently found yourself with a crisis to deal with but don’t know how, our team are on hand. We have worked with a range of businesses to successfully restore reputations and effectively handle any crisis that has occurred. If you want to find out more about our services, then get in touch with our team today. Alternatively, you can call us on 01376 386 850 – we would love to hear from you!