Key points:
This blog post highlights the concept of crisis management plans and the way to create one in 7 easy steps. Moreover, we have provided a ready-to-use template and a special section about managing social media crises. We have provided 3 additional examples of real-life crisis management plans and a quick note about our services.
Why do most of the brands lack such a plan?
The global study conducted in 2023 included 2,000 businesses from 42 countries worldwide. The findings showed that 91% of them had experienced some kind of business interruption in the last 2 years, excluding the coronavirus pandemic.
But only about one third had plans ready to deal with it. That is not surprising, since nobody feels like writing about the worst day of their business.
A crisis management plan is a concise document that describes how your team should act during an unexpected situation.
It says who does what and what you will tell the public.
What does a crisis management plan include?
| Part: | What it covers? |
| Crisis team | Names, phone numbers and a backup for each person |
| Risk list | Problems that are most likely to happen, like a viral complaint or a data leak |
| Response steps | What to do in the first hour, first day and first week |
| Messages | Ready-made holding statements and who approves them |
| Channels | Where you will post and who answers calls and DMs |
| Review date | When will you check the plan again |
You don’t need a long file. A few pages will be enough, as no one will open a 40-page document at 11 pm at night in case something goes wrong.
How to create a crisis management plan in 7 easy steps?
- List your risks. Get together with your team and identify possible risks. For instance, a health and safety violation, a video of your team’s inappropriate behaviour, fake reviews or a delivery problem.
- Pick a crisis team. Usually the owner, one person for customers, one for social media and one for legal or finance. Add a backup for each, since someone will be sick or travelling.
- Choose one spokesperson. This way the message stays the same everywhere.
- Write holding statements. Short drafts for your top risks, so you don’t start from zero.
- Decide who approves things. Try to keep it under an hour.
- Set up monitoring. Google Alerts for your brand name, saved searches on social media and notifications from review sites.
- Do a practice run. Take 30 minutes every six months and act out a made-up problem.
Crisis response steps for small businesses in the first 24 hours:
Most small businesses don’t have a PR team. So having one clear person in charge matters more than a perfect statement. These crisis response steps for small business owners should work for most problems.
| When? | What to do? |
| First hour | Check the facts. Pause scheduled posts and ads. Call your crisis team. Take screenshots of everything. |
| Hours 2 to 6 | Post a short holding statement. Reply to the affected customers one by one. |
| Hours 6 to 24 | Try to fix the issue if possible. Provide as much information as you have. Instruct your employees not to debate the issue in the online environment. |
| Days 2 to 7 | Give regular updates, and thank the people who supported you. Note what needs to change. |
We wouldn’t delete critical comments unless they are abusive or against the platform rules. The absence of comments will be noted and will make others think that you are trying to hide something.
How to handle a social media crisis?
Social media works fast, which makes preparing for a social media crisis a must.
- See whether it is really a crisis or not.
- One angry post is usually just one angry post. If many accounts and news pages are sharing it, that is different.
- Reply on the same platform. If it started on Instagram, answer on Instagram first.
- Say sorry only for what you know is true. Don’t argue with the customer or blame them.
- Take long conversations to DMs or by phone. A long public back-and-forth makes it worse.
- Stop promotional posts for a while. A sale post under an angry thread looks careless.
- Keep watching for about a week. Sometimes it comes back.
At Repute Matters, we watch brand mentions on social media in real time for our clients, since the first few hours matter a lot. If a post is false or defamatory, we also look at removing it or pushing it down. Most owners find that hard to do alone.
A crisis communication plan template you can copy:
This is a simple crisis communication plan template. Paste it into a document and fill in the brackets today.
| Field: | Fill in: |
| Crisis type | [Product complaint, viral post, data leak] |
| Spokesperson | [Name and phone] |
| Backup | [Name and phone] |
| Approval | [Who signs off and how fast?] |
| Audiences | [Customers, staff, partners, media] |
| Channels | [Website, Instagram, WhatsApp, email] |
| Holding statement | [Draft text] |
| Update schedule | [Every few hours or daily] |
| Review date | [Date] |
A holding statement can be very simple. For example: “We know about [issue], and we are looking into it now. We will share an update by [time]. If this affected you, please contact [name] at [number or email].” It doesn’t promise any result and doesn’t blame anyone. Store this crisis communication plan template along with your main plan, and keep one printed copy too.
PR crisis management mistakes to avoid:
Good PR crisis management is mostly about being quick, honest, and consistent in every message. The mistakes below usually come from missing one of these.
| Mistake: | Better move: |
| Waiting for every fact before saying anything | Post a holding statement and say when the next update will come. |
| Blaming a customer or supplier | Assume responsibility and describe how you are going to solve the problem. |
| Different people replying in different tones | One spokesperson and one approved message |
| Going quiet after the first post | Give updates on the schedule you promised |
| Copy-paste apology with no details | Say what happened and what will change |
Three real examples to learn from:
- KFC UK, 2018
In February 2018, KFC switched to a new delivery partner in the UK and faced a shortage of chicken in its outlets. As a result, hundreds of restaurants were forced to shut down. KFC placed full-page ads in local newspapers with an empty bucket stating “FCK” and an apology. The company thanked their employees and franchise partners and created an interactive map of outlets.
The joke worked because nobody was harmed. We wouldn’t use that kind of humour if a customer got hurt.
- Domino’s, 2009
In April 2009, two employees at a franchise in North Carolina put up a prank video on YouTube where they messed with food. At first, Domino’s tried to stay quiet, and the views went up to hundreds of thousands. Around two days later, the company’s US president posted an apology video on YouTube. He said the employees were fired and the outlet had been cleaned. Using YouTube made sense because the problem was there, but the reply came a bit late.
- Maggi, India, 2015
In June 2015, FSSAI banned Maggi due to allegations about exceeding the safe limit of lead. Nestle India withdrew the product from sale, destroyed 30,000+ tonnes of inventory and filed a lawsuit.
The Bombay High Court set the ban aside in August. Maggi came back in November 2015 with the same recipe and a welcome-back campaign. Reports say it still has over 60% of India’s instant noodle market. The main thing to learn here is to keep the legal fight separate from how you talk to customers.
What happens to Google results after a crisis?
News stories and posts from a crisis can stay on the first page of Google for a long time. At Repute Matters, we check which links can be removed and which can only be pushed down. Then we work on building positive content over the next few months. Every case is different, so we won’t give a fixed timeline here.
Need help with your crisis management plan?
If you find it hard to write a crisis management plan on your own, we can help. Our crisis management team at Repute Matters does risk assessments, writes a response plan that fits your business, trains your staff and runs practice simulations. If your team doesn’t have time for PR crisis management, we can take that on too. And if you are already in the middle of a crisis, contact us first and make the plan after.
Conclusion
A crisis management plan can’t stop a crisis from happening, but it helps you stay calmer in the first hour. Start small. Pick a crisis team and one spokesperson, and write one holding statement. This week, fill in the crisis communication plan template and keep the crisis response steps for small businesses somewhere your team can see them. Then try one practice run.
FAQs
Q1. What is a crisis management plan?
It is a written guide that tells your team who does what, what to say and where to say it when something threatens your brand.
Q2. What are the main phases of crisis management?
Most plans have four phases: prevention, preparation, response and recovery. The first two happen before anything goes wrong.
Q3. What are the crisis response steps for small businesses?
Check the facts, pause promotions, post a short holding statement and reply to the affected customers. Then fix the problem and give regular updates for the first week.
Q4. Can you explain how to handle a social media crisis in simple words?
Check if it is a real crisis and reply on the platform where it started. Say sorry only for what you know, move long talks to private chat and stop promotional posts for a while.
Q5. What should a crisis communication plan template include?
Crisis type, spokesperson, backup, approval rules, audiences, channels, a holding statement, an update schedule and a review date.
Q6. How fast should I respond to a crisis?
Try to put out a short holding statement within a few hours. The full answer can take longer, but staying silent usually makes things worse.
Q7. Should I delete negative comments during a crisis?
Only if they are abusive or against the platform rules. Deleting honest complaints can look like you are hiding something.
Q8. When should I hire an agency for PR crisis management?
When the issue is spreading fast, has legal risks, or is hurting your search results and reviews. Also, when your team simply doesn’t have the time. An agency can help you write the plan before anything happens, too.
