"Oh &^%#! What Do We Do?"
Your top competitor just dropped its price. You just learned you need to recall 10s of 1000s of items. An employee was short-tempered with a customer and now thousands of people know and are boycotting. You just learned you’re being bought. You missed your ship date. A customer was injured using your product. And so many more incidents we can’t share.
The head of the company turns to the head of communications and says “what are we going to do?” “what are we going to say?” and finally
“I need to know now.”
After the initial reaction, it’s important to get command of the situation — fast and to swing into action quickly with a plan without further exacerbating the situation. (Note: Don’t say this “&^%#!” out loud where others can hear you.)
We’ve been that person in the hot seat – at Double Forte and in our previous positions. We know what it takes to set strategy, put a plan in place, prioritize audiences, and mobilize teams to address critical situations.