As the vice president of corporate communications for home builder Taylor Morrison, Stephanie McCarty of Phoenix, Arizona, manages strategy for the company's communications campaigns. One of the elements Stephanie McCarty handles for Taylor Morrison is crisis communications, which requires a clear head and solid planning.
Crisis communications should be proactive and forthright. Good crisis communicators always start by taking responsibility for the crisis, staying transparent about plans to address the issue, and getting ahead of the story.
Developing a strategy often proves less important than putting the organization's best foot forward and responding as quickly as possible. Expressing regret and sadness goes over better with customers than a noncommittal agreement to look into the issue.
Apologies in a business context must go beyond an expression of regret, however, and include a remedy for both the immediate issue and the circumstances that led to the issue, ensuring that the same problem won't recur.
Crisis communications should be proactive and forthright. Good crisis communicators always start by taking responsibility for the crisis, staying transparent about plans to address the issue, and getting ahead of the story.
Developing a strategy often proves less important than putting the organization's best foot forward and responding as quickly as possible. Expressing regret and sadness goes over better with customers than a noncommittal agreement to look into the issue.
Apologies in a business context must go beyond an expression of regret, however, and include a remedy for both the immediate issue and the circumstances that led to the issue, ensuring that the same problem won't recur.
