7 Elements you will need- Just in Case

No one wants to think about their company having a crisis, but unfortunately it can happen.   It’s how you handle the crisis with the media which will determine whether it will seriously damage your business.  That’s why it is vital to develop a crisis communications plan that prepares your company in advance.  Below is a list of seven items from “Global PR Week” that should be included in your crisis communications kit:

1. A list of the members of the crisis management team. This should include the CEO/Managing Partner and trusted assistant to the CEO/Managing Partner, heads of each department, public relations and marketing team members, legal and security.

2. Contact information for key officers, spokespeople, and crisis management team members including company and personal phone numbers, email addresses, cell numbers, faxes, physical addresses, even spouse’s cell numbers.

3. Fact sheets on the company, each physical location, and each product/service offered. These should be in camera-ready condition, plus available on a disk in a generally-accepted Word format, so they can be revised and printed out if necessary on a computer external to your office. Photos should also be included.

4. Profiles and biographies for each key Partner/Executive in your company, again in camera-ready condition and on disk.

5. Copies of your company, division and product logos, your press release format and the scanned in signature of your CEO on disk in a format that works on your internal network (plus one in Microsoft Word in case you have to work on a computer that isn’t tied to your network.)

6. Pre-written scripts answering key questions that you have generated through your crisis scenario analysis. Included in these scripts should be phrases such as, “We don’t have that information yet, but will let you know as soon as it becomes available.”

7. Contact information for each of your key media contacts both locally and nationally. These should at all times be easily accessible.

If you have any questions on this topic or would like to see how the latest forms of media, marketing and technology can help grow your business, contact Kristine Bruner at (954) 376-3683.