Amazon’s weapons sales – crisis management for retailers
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana bought the knife he used to kill three little girls and injure others from Amazon, even though he was 17 years old and therefore under the age limit of 18, it has emerged
Crisis communications training courses
The latest news in this tragic case will cause concern among online retailers and others, many of whom are currently reviewing their policies and procedures. We obviously can’t comment on what Amazon sells and what changes to the law these terrible events might prompt.
However, what we can say is that, generally, a growing number of retailers and ecommerce companies are coming to us to do our crisis communications training courses. More and more are also interested in issue management relating to their products and services.
Crisis management courses
The importance of planning ahead to minimise a crisis in retail
So how should retailers manage a crisis? In our crisis management courses for retailers we look at the importance of preparation. Once a complaint or a problem with a purchase has been published on social media or in the conventional media it’s too late to start planning your response.
Our crisis management workshops for retailers look at how they can get ahead of the game. This means identifying risks and crises, evaluating them and determining not only how they could explode into a media story but how the senior management themselves would know about this incident. It may be that X/Twitter is covering it before you as the retailer have any knowledge of it, let alone deciding how you’ll respond.
Crisis media training workshops
You certainly don’t want to seem to be casting yourself as the victim. In our crisis media training workshops, we look at case studies. The boss of a water company complains to the waiting media about enduring a long day due to the crisis at his business. “Well, it’s been a long day for a lot of people who don’t have water,” one reporter snaps back at him before bombarding him with questions.
What should a retailer say to the media during a crisis?
They should certainly be saying something. “No comment,” simply makes you look uncaring and suspicious at best and guilty at worst. “But if we don’t know the details of the incident and there might be legal consequences, what can we say?” people often ask us when talk about crisis communications for retailers.
Be honest, is the best advice. Certainly, don’t lie. If you hear that someone claims to have bought a weapon from you or that they’ve been cheated or insulted by a member of staff, what would you do? You’d presumably carry out an investigation. In that case, explain to the reporters that this is what you’re doing.
The great thing about telling people that you’re carrying out an investigation is that it shows that you take the situation seriously. It also shows that you’re taking action. And there’s another advantage. It means that in reply to almost any difficult question from a journalist – especially those that involve speculation – you can explain that it’s too early to answer because you’re awaiting the result of the inquiry.
Crisis management for retailers – the risk of speculation
Journalists will always encourage spokespeople for a retailer facing a crisis to speculate. “What could the cause be?” “Could X have contributed to the problem?” “We’ve heard that XYZ, what do you think?” All of these are typical journalists questions during a crisis. All of our media trainers are also working journalists operating under strict non-disclosure agreements. We know that if a spokesperson does try to answer our speculative questions, we’ll get a good story – and one that our competitors don’t have.
When we test this during the realistic role play crisis media interviews that we carry out during our crisis media training for retailers we get some interest answers that add oil to the flame of the problem. So, in our feedback to participant, the advice we given is not to get drawn into speculation.
Managing the media during a crisis for a retailer
Alongside talking about carrying out an investigation, another message that we do encourage the participants in our crisis communications training for retailers and ecommerce companies to put across is sympathy.
“But what if it’s not our fault?” “What if the lawyers tell us to say nothing at this stage?” When we talk about expressing sympathy, we’re not recommending that you necessarily accept the blame. “We’re sorry to hear that this has happened,” is not the same as “We’re sorry that we’ve caused this incident,” or “We’re sorry that we allowed this to happen.”
When a crisis hits there’s a natural tendency to want to pull up the drawbridge and say nothing. But the media won’t wait. The old saying that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes,” has never been more accurate.
Crisis communications strategies
As well as full blown crisis communications strategies retailers, both online and bricks and mortar, often find themselves facing tricky questions and possible negative media coverage for difficult decisions that they’ve had to make. This is where our issue management and our message development and testing comes in.
All of our trainers are working journalists as well as being communications experts and so they can work with the PR companies and in house Comms teams of retailers to help them identify difficult issues. They can then partner with these PR professionals to develop answers and test them. Very importantly we can help prepare senior managers and spokespeople of the retailer to handle these issues should they come up during interviews. As well as the messages, this means finding the right words and phrases that allow them to sound natural and authentic.
Crisis communications strategies
All of our trainers are working journalists as well as being communications experts and so they can work with the PR companies and in house Comms teams of retailers to help them identify difficult issues. They can then partner with these PR professionals to develop answers and test them. Very importantly we can help prepare senior managers and spokespeople of the retailer to handle these issues should they come up during interviews. As well as the messages, this means finding the right words and phrases that allow them to sound natural and authentic.
Crisis communications courses for retailers and ecommerce companies
No business likes to think about crises and difficult situations. Retailers are naturally optimistic and positive about their businesses, we find. That’s one reason why we like working with them.
However, our crisis communications courses for retailers and ecommerce companies mean that should problems arise they’re well placed to manage them and minimise their negative impact.
Come and talk to us about how we can help you manage any crises or difficult situations and minimise their impact. You can follow us on LinkedIn here.
