An organization’s greatest asset is their reputation. It greatly influences consumer purchase decisions and what brands they will devote their loyalty to. Should a brand fail to carefully prepare for a crisis, it can take months or even years to bounce back and regain that trust.

Access to instant news via social media and mobile devices can cause a crisis to quickly spiral out of control and therefore, companies need to be proactive instead of reactive in their crisis communications planning. In an exclusive interview with PR Newswire, crisis management expert and CEO of Temin & Co., Davia Temin, suggests the following tips to help brands sufficiently prepare for a crisis:

Temin will discuss ways to protect your brand during unforeseen dilemmas, view the on-webinar, “Staying Ahead of the Game: The Steps to Effective Crisis Communications Planning“

Collaborate with company executives to prepare a strategy

“Great communications stem from great strategy,” says Temin, “communication is critical, but only if the strategy and management is done first.”

Every company has some predictable crisis that stems from their industry, and ignoring those risks can create a false sense of security. Working with the company’s top leadership to devise the best strategies for responding to and mitigating the crisis is critical to how it unfolds. These pre-crisis plans should involve appointing a first-responding team, drafting up social media posts, to training the key spokesperson to handle the media calmly.  If you prepare in advance for the crises that are predictable, the escalated response time can minimize potential damage.

Respond quickly and honestly

On the other hand are the types of crises that are unpredictable, but the worst response is no response at all.

“First, don’t go into radio silence,” asserts Temin, “talking to media, talking to your own people is the first step.”

Remember to be as transparent as possible and give your audience a clear timeline of when you’ll know certain information – lying is not an option

“Don’t say something hasn’t happened when it either has or you don’t know,” Temin adds.  “If you don’t know, say you are using every resource you possibly have to find out and you will stay in touch.”

Monitor diagnostic insights at all stages of the crisis

According to Temin, monitoring where the crisis is unfolding and what is being said about the brand through sentiment analysis is the most important part of crisis planning.

“Before [a crisis happens] it’s all about monitoring risk,” she says, “most companies have to report risk to their audit committee and I think it’s very important for people who are in the marketing and communications area to be very close to that process.”

Active listening is a critical aspect of understanding the risk.

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Author Chelsea Kiko is the Events Assistant at PR Newswire. Follow her on Twitter @ckiko47.