How to respond when crisis strikes — a PR playbook for Valley businesses

Jennifer Adler

Submitted photo/Sydney Sherman Photography

In a tight-knit community, reputation is everything. One poorly handled incident can live online forever, but so can a thoughtful, responsible response. When you treat a crisis as an opportunity to communicate with honesty and integrity, your customers and your peers notice.”

When a crisis strikes — whether it’s a sudden service outage, a customer complaint gone viral or something more serious like a crime or safety issue — businesses often scramble to respond. How you communicate in the first hours and days of a crisis matters and can make all the difference in whether your business rebounds with community support or loses trust long-term.

As a public relations professional, I’ve worked with clients during some of their most stressful and uncertain moments. You don’t need a big, expensive communications team to get it right. You just need to keep calm, have a plan, be proactive and communicate honestly and transparently.

Following are five crisis communication tips for successfully navigating a sticky situation:

1. Prepare in advance

Although it seems counterintuitive to plan for the unexpected, having a plan in place is essential for effective crisis management and can save your team a lot of time, confusion and stress in the heat of the moment when every second counts.

I recommend every local business have a simple crisis communications checklist that includes key contacts with a chain of command, log-ins to digital platforms, approved company spokespeople and a few sample response statements that can be customized as needed. A little preparation goes a long way.

2. Acknowledge the issue quickly — don’t hide

One of the biggest mistakes small businesses make is waiting too long to say anything, hoping the problem will blow over. But in today’s digital world, silence speaks volumes and not in a good way. Even a brief statement like, “We’re aware of the issue and are working quickly to address it,” shows you’re paying attention and taking responsibility.

3. Be human; be honest

People respond to sincerity. Avoid overly polished or robotic language. If your business made a mistake, own it. If something happened outside of your control, like a power outage or supply chain delay, explain that clearly, without pointing fingers. Let people see there’s a real person behind the brand who cares.

4. Use the right channels, appropriately

During a crisis, your usual communication tools, like email newsletters or weekly social posts, might not be enough. Update your website homepage, post to social media, and if needed, notify local news outlets.

A common misstep brands make during a crisis is not pausing pre-scheduled social media posts. Nothing appears more insensitive than a post being pushed out to promote an offering or service when your brand is embroiled in a crisis. Instead, social media posts should be limited to statements addressing the situation and thoughtful responses to your followers’ comments and concerns.

Make sure your staff is informed, too, so they aren’t caught off guard by customer questions and that they know how to respond or to whom to elevate inquiries.

5. Follow up and follow through

Once the immediate crisis has passed, let your customers know what’s been done to fix the issue and what steps you're taking to ensure it doesn’t happen again. This final follow-up helps rebuild trust and closes the loop on your communications.

Why it matters

In a tight-knit community, reputation is everything. One poorly handled incident can live online forever, but so can a thoughtful, responsible response. When you treat a crisis as an opportunity to communicate with honesty and integrity, your customers and your peers notice.

If you’re unsure what to say or how to say it during a high-stakes moment, don’t go it alone. Reach out to a trusted PR professional, mentor or local business network for a second opinion. And remember — your voice during tough times is just as important as your voice in good times. Often, it’s not a crisis itself that breaks a brand, but the mismanagement of one that can have disastrous and long-lasting effects on a company.

Editor’s note: Jennifer Adler is founder and CEO of Scottsdale-based Adler Public Relations. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.