Surely, you must do something!

Surely, you must do something! It’s the standard media response to the latest crisis. In these circumstances the easiest option for a spokesperson is to offer a solution and promise to react. Witness the announcement from Home Secretary Theresa May to give more tickets to the armed forces after further troops had been called in to fill the security gap at the Olympics. 

But it is important to do the right thing, not just something. The modern media environment creates immense pressure to offer an immediate response. As my IT chap so often tells me when my Outlook has crashed again, “It’s just not that simple.” Yes, you need to calm the situation.  But if you promise an instant response you may well get in wrong. 

So what steps should you take in these situations?

First, outline your intent on the issue, the principles behind your decision making and the direction you are going to take. O2 faced a pretty fundamental issue this week; loss of consumer access to networks. This technical issue follows the problem for BlackBerry last year and RBS in more recent times. Technological faults happen. What matters is how you explain them and how you describe the steps you are taking to fix the situation. In this instance, traditional and social media outlets provided the platform for O2 to communicate with its customers.    

Second, take steps to halt any continuing damage to your brand or business. This is where action may be required. Any offer of compensation or dispensation for customers needs careful thought, but if it is an option it can help dissolve some of the anger.      

Finally, ensure you provide regular updates on progress. In the case of O2, they responded quickly to the many comments and attacks that took place online. In many cases responding with good humour to some fairly vociferous views from users about where the phone provider can place its handset. Deprive someone of Facebook updates for more than 30 minutes and see how many friends you lose.

Tony Cox
Consultant
tony@linstockcommunications.com