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Previous Pointers:
Creating Effective Sales and Marketing
Materials
Good Communications
Starts at Home
Customer
Testimonials
Publicity
on a Shoestring
The News
Release - or Is It?
Newsletters
– The Direct Hit
10 Steps to
an Effective Communication Program
Custom
Postcards - Fast, Effective Marketing Tool
Spread
the Word...through many channels
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The Truth Be Known
When a company faces negative public exposure, perhaps from a faulty product or
illegal activity on the part of an employee or contractor, or it comes under
criticism for something it has done or not done, management’s tendency is often
to have ‘no comment,’ to hedge on the information it disseminates or to outright
lie. Is this the right thing to do?
Absolutely not! Remember what your
mother told you: “Always tell the truth.” She was right, you know.
You
may fear that people won’t like what you have to say. They may not, in the short
term. However, if you run and hide or people find out you’ve lied to them, you
can be assured the repercussions will be huge and possibly uncontrollable.
If you tell the truth, your audience soon will come to appreciate your honesty,
as long as you show humility and pledge to fix the problem.
Then as you work
to remedy the situation, it’s extremely important to keep an open door because
you must continue to earn their trust.
Set up a hotline so people can
call for a recorded message or speak to a company representative. Post updates
on the company web site. Invite the media to meet with the company president. If
your problem relates to a manufacturing issue (U.S. or foreign), conduct a plant
tour for media to show your operation and talk about how you’re making changes.
Do whatever you need to do based on your type of business in order to maintain
an open-door policy.
When do you make your announcement of truth? As
quickly as possible after your company has discovered the problem. You’ll want
to beat the damaging negative news reports and rumors because bad news spreads
like an out-of-control wildfire.
It’s critical to avoid the fallout of
intentionally giving misinformation or misleading customers, stockholders or the
general public which could spell doomsday for your company. Not only could your
company face a barrage of legal problems, but its reputation could be damaged
heavily and sales could nosedive, adding to financial woes. What’s more,
recovery could be difficult and costly and take months, maybe years.
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