How will you deal with a disaster? Hey, things happen. Even the best planned product release has problems caused by factors out of your control. Hosting services go offline, storage networks break, product packaging is flawed…
Here are tips for crisis management, be they tiny or massive:
1. Be visible. Dealing with hundreds or thousands of disappointed customers is not an easy time for a leader. However, leaving customers to stew for hours or days without information only fuels public outrage at your brand. If you are the company’s “support desk” then be certain you are available and monitoring email or the phone. A better solution is to invest in a dedicated support service tasked with handling incidents.
2. Accept responsibility: Do you remember the Tylenol tampering incident when people were poisoned after taking Tylenol? Even though the company firmly believed an outsider tampered with the bottles, Johnson & Johnson accepted and announced a nationwide recall costing them $100 million. The company’s chairman, Jim Burke, was later named one of history’s ten greatest managers by Fortune in 2003. The company’s response to the situation has become a casebook study on crisis management.
Once you learn about a problem send out a proactive email to your customers informing them that you are aware of the problem and working on a resolution. If possible, provide them with a time range for a fix. If you have a ticketing system in place, request customers to open a ticket so they can receive update notices.
3. Just deal with the facts. In the heat of crisis, facts are often jumbled. Keep responses concise and factual. Don’t promise a resolution you aren’t certain you can keep.
4. Be sensitive to your customers’ angst. Don’t trivialize the situation or the impact to their business. Perhaps they have their own customers depending on your product.
Action Item
What is your plan for a crisis? Do you have a support structure in place? Would this system be able to address a large problem with product delivery or customer support? What do you need to put in place to plan for problems?
“Eva Kathryne Gregory is a master coach, Law of Attraction expert, speaker and author. As host of her own radio shows, Eva has interviewed some of the most influential thought leaders today. She has had the honor of sharing the virtual stage as a featured speaker with many experts such as Mark Victor Hansen, Cynthia Kersey, John Assaraf, and Jack Canfield among others. Her latest book, Life Lessons for Mastering the Law of Attraction, co-authored with Jack Canfield, can be found in bookstores everywhere. Since 1999, Eva has followed inner guidance along with her Spirit-Enriched Business System™ to create a multiple 6-figure business. Her passion is teaching spiritual entrepreneurs how to tap into their own inner guidance and merge it with the practical steps to create healthy, six-figure businesses from a place of purpose, passion and prosperity. Get your FREE REPORT: “Massive Success For Spiritual Entrepreneurs” here. Learn more about how Eva can help you at www.EvaGregory.com.
