Recovering From a Crisis

Recovering From a Crisis

How many of us think that recovering from a crisis is a near-impossible task? You’d be wrong though; but in all honesty, it is also not an easy task to achieve. Having watched many crises evolve over the past few years, and observing how the business responded and bounced back, for some, it can and will be an uphill battle. For others, a simple storm in a teacup.

Regardless, organisations should not become complacent; planning for times of crisis is extremely important, and often the difference between riding out a crisis and being swallowed up in the tidal wave of public opinion, simply boils down to effective planning.

Generally, it all depends how bad the crisis is. Samsung hit a major roadblock – first with its exploding mobile phones, and then with its washing machine issues. But, the crisis here played out differently than many expected. It hit hard financially. Recalling an entire product line, to the point of cancellation of the range cost mega-funds. Then, back to the drawing board. However, Samsung did some things right. And, its critics underestimated something very important – customer loyalty! Many Samsung customers affected by the problem did not turn their back on the brand. Years of positive brand building and developing affinity have helped insulate Samsung from potential customer loss. That didn’t help them financially, but it restrained the extent of the damage and offered light at the end of the tunnel.

Other actions from the company – quick acknowledgement of the issue, prompt action in recalling, replacing and refunding / substituting, along with the eventual ceasing of production helped position them as a caring company. Add to this the fact that they still paid down-the-line suppliers for all ordered and unused component parts – all builds a perspective of an ethical company that cares. Customers appreciate that.

Others have been less fortunate. Take the food and beverage establishment that had that one rat crawling around its shelves. OK, not nice at all, but not exactly end-of-the-world stuff. This forced a temporary closure, but resulted in a huge drop in customers upon reopening. It also opened other cans of worms (figuratively, not literally, fortunately). The brand, not only the single outlet, has experienced huge backlash, and suffered disproportionately in relation to the incident. What should have been a storm in a teacup became a rather large tornado. Yep, compared to two weeks prior where two rats were found in a supermarket display case – and virtually nothing. Perhaps customers have higher expectations of certain outlet categories, and this contributes to how the crisis unfolds. Or perhaps it has nothing at all to do with the event, but more so catalyst keyboard warriors who are out to prove a point?

So then, how do brands recover?

It is essential to recognise that recovery can take time. Unless the incident blows over with very little negative exposure (unlikely in the current digital-social age), be prepared to be in it for the long run. This may be several months to several years before previous levels of customer support are enjoyed again.

It is essential to be transparent. Highlight all the changes that you have made as a result of the crisis incident. Show your customers that you take it seriously, and have learnt a valuable, and most likely humbling, lesson from the situation. Illustrate to your customers how this will translate into a better experience for them. Why? Because customers seek engagement. Customers ascribe ‘ownership’ of your business to themselves – they want to be part of the process – at least being kept informed. Honesty is always the best policy, and when sincere actions are recognised, this resonates well with loyal customers, and can help to turn the situation around from customers who are leaving.

Maintain existing levels of positivity and direction. Don’t drop everything to focus on the crisis. Assign resources to address and realign from the crisis, but continue along the same trajectory. It looks suspect when a brand suddenly stops all peripheral activities and focuses only on the issue at hand. Some communications, advertising, and other strategy may need to be adjusted – but don’t make the mistake of throwing the baby out with the bath water. This will raise additional red flags. Conversely though, be sensitive with what you do put out there – so ensure that everything is carefully vetted.

Continue to build on positive experiences and reinforce your digital fortress. You need to outweigh negativity with recent, positive experience, and social media gives you quick access to enabling this. It will help to sway undecided customers back to the fold, but will also signal that you are moving on in a positive manner. 

Whatever you do, do not try and sweep the crisis under the carpet internally either. It is a massive learning experience for the entire team, and it is now part of your organizational culture. Learn from it. Take it as an opportunity to reflect on how your customers, stakeholders, and general public reacted to the situation as well. Use these key learning’s in beefing up your existing (or newly found) crisis management planning. Use it as training case studies. Induct new employees by discussing it. Understand how it changed your organization, and what those positive changes became. When we learn from our mistakes, we make progress.