Reputation 101
“Tell it all, tell the truth, and tell it fast.”
There is an old saying, “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to destroy it.”
I was thinking about this statement a lot this past week. In fact, if I had a dollar for every friend who texted/called asking my professional opinion well, let’s just say I’d be treating you all to coffee instead of writing this here.
I’m not going to go into details about the events that unfolded in what proved to be an elaborate hoax because we’ve all read them and they are incredibly disheartening, but I did want to take the time to provide some important thoughts from a PR perspective on crisis communications overall, based off years of experience in this industry.
When it comes to issues management, transparency is key. “Tell it all, tell the truth, and tell it fast” is a common phrase used in these kinds of situations. In corporate communication protocol, the goal first and foremost is always protecting the integrity and reputation of the company. As a general rule of thumb, it’s always better to admit a mistake has been made upfront. That way, you can immediately begin rebuilding credibility and confidence. Avoiding the issue or not responding quickly will only make the media more aggressive in their pursuit and you lose the opportunity to define the narrative.
Not only that, social media can quickly become a hotbed for individuals to express their concerns and opinions. That said, the only worse thing than saying nothing is saying the wrong thing. You must move quickly, but be sure appropriate protocols are followed first.
Do your due diligence. Fact-check.
The underlying factor of all of this of course is trust. Whether it be restoring faith in a company, place of business or individual person, trust is something that, once lost, can be difficult to repair. That’s not to say it’s impossible. In fact, there are many companies that have successfully done this. Typically it involves taking a closer look at what caused the crisis in the first place - what cracks there were in the foundation - and making proactive changes to the company protocols to restore consumer confidence in your brand.
So, bringing it back to the original quote, does it really only take five minutes to destroy a reputation? In essence I believe this is partially true, but there are steps you can take to make you better in the long run… and I know Taylor Swift would agree.
Xoxo, Morgan