Category Archives: Talking to your customers

It’s a web, not a cobweb

Talking to your customers, Working with the media

I’ve developed an annoying habit. It’s probably one that is unique to people working in corporate communications and might well be motivated by a touch of Schadenfreude, or at least, relief that it’s not me facing the flak on this occasion.

Sailing serenely on
I’ll come clean: when a crisis kicks off at a big company and their name is splashed all over the news, I’ll head straight to their website to see how they’re handling it. And what do I find there? Most of the time nothing it seems. The home page of the site sails serenely on through the digital ebb and flow of cyber space with little acknowledgement of the growing storm in the real world.

Does the company not care? Does it think people will not find out?

Get it up
Ironically websites might seem a bit old hat in the online world, but they are still one of the primary and most effective means of communication.  So if trouble strikes, get something up on the site quickly:

  • acknowledge the problem
  • tell people what you’re doing about it
  • and have regular updates.

Communication is too fragmented these days by the numerous methods of social media to hope that you can keep a lid on an issue. So make sure you can update your site quickly and use it as the frontline in your crisis communications – people will be watching.

Social media: think before you ‘do’

Social media, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees

If there was a prize for the creation of new or at least reinvented verbs, then step forward social media. Blog it, tweet it, poke me, message me; there is, indeed, an awful lot of ‘doing’ going on. Which is nice for those who like to see a bit of action but those shiny new tools in the box shouldn’t allow you to be detracted from the thinking behind your communications.

Beware the irrestible lure
The pressure to utilise social media can be irresistible but don’t forget to ask the most obvious questions first; who are you trying to communicate with and what are you trying to say? The audience and the message are still the stars of the show. Only when you’ve got that cracked should you be thinking about how best to deliver your communications and, whisper it, social media tools might not always be the best way of getting the message through.

Trusting your instincts

Communicating in a crisis, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees

A good take on the Murdoch phone hacking saga today in the Guardian http://bit.ly/oTq5Zp. Deborah Orr discusses the ‘working towards the Führer’ analogy put forward by historian Ian Kershaw, where basically Hitler’s advisers would implement policy according to what they thought were Hitler’s wishes – a sort of please him at all cost approach even if the overall circumstances favoured a different tack.

It is an extreme comparison of course, as Orr says, but how far did/does this type of culture seep through the News Corp culture?

For the communications team in a corporate environment, the Chairman/CEO are big stakeholders in what goes out and, rightly so, often have a big influence in those communications. The dilemma however is when communication is shaped against the better judgement of the comms team because they know what their Chairman/CEO is expecting to see.

Managing that interaction is difficult, but for a comms manager, not losing sight of the bigger picture and trusting your comms instincts should override any other consideration.

The truth will out

Communicating in a crisis, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees

The recent storm over the use of super injunctions in the UK, much used, it seems, by celebs desperately trying to mask a marital indiscretion or two, has opened up a whole debate on what should, or should not be published in the public interest. I think the issue at the heart of this though, and a good lesson for anyone involved in the world of communications, is the trouble that awaits when the desire to cover something up overshadows the need to communicate openly.

No secrets
The old saying that the ‘truth will out’ has never held as much currency as it does in today’s social media era. What price a super injunction when @tellitlikeitis on Twitter can broadcast the news; seemingly impervious to the legal blows of the judge’s gavel?

Tell it like it is
Whether you’re dealing with the media or communicating company news to employees, obfuscate at your peril. Tell it like it is; people from all sides will respect and admire your refreshing honesty. And even if they don’t, just think of the legal fees you’ll save on super injunctions.