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“What is the added value of a specialized agency in crisis communication?”

This question comes up every now and then, and not entirely coincidentally, especially in conversations with organizations that have never or rarely been confronted with crisis situations. In answering it, my fellow crisis experts and I can draw on some 50 years of collective experience in healthcare, industry, education, logistics, pharmaceuticals, biotech, business services and IT. And on the knowledge that not everyone can communicate, but more about that below.

In our opinion, the added value of a specialized agency lies in the following points:

• 24/7 availability
• (Extra) manpower
• Understanding of communication
• Understanding of the sector and the organization
• Understanding the capabilities of the people in the organization
• Understanding the dynamics in mainstream media and on social media.

These are things that not every organization has in-house as standard, or even has available if necessary. With a specialized agency that works on a crisis contract basis, you do have that.
Because, and for the sake of convenience, we will apply the above to Wisse Kommunikatie:

• Through our crisis number 026-3720871 we are actually available 24/7. Yes, even at night. So no tape saying 'We will contact you soon'. If we are unexpectedly unable to answer your call on our personal number, you will still have us on the line within 15 minutes, because our crisis center is also on standby and logs all calls, numbers and email addresses
• This 24/7 availability means that we immediately take action when necessary and support your communication colleagues directly. Or form your communication department, if you do not have the manpower available for the case in question.
• This seems obvious. But no, not everyone who posts on Facebook also understands communication.
• The Wisse experts have been working in the above-mentioned sectors for years, and over the years we have handled hundreds of cases, for dozens of contractors who have been clients for years. How’s that for experience?
• Another obvious statement? Well… not every CEO is a good spokesperson, not every spokesperson is media savvy. In our media training we quickly gain insight into who is most suitable for which task and who should not appear in front of a microphone
• A lot can happen to an organization in the event of a crisis. Because our crisis consultants (also) have a journalistic background, we know how things work. Also on the social channels.

The case: fire at a healthcare organization

To clarify the dynamics of a crisis, and hopefully the added value of crisis communication specialists, I would like to outline a recent example from practice. By the way, I am describing a best case scenario here. Except for that fire. But in terms of crisis management, everything was perfectly arranged. Just think: this organization has had a crisis communication contract with us for years, and everyone there knows that we can provide 24/7 advice and assistance. And so it happened.

The course

The fire started at 13:00, I was called at 13:42. When I came in, the crisis management team (CMT) had already been formed and the members were sitting together in one room. There was already a lot of discussion based on the OOD model: Observe, Orient, Decide.

There was a chairman who kept everything on track and was (rightly) not concerned with the communication itself. The plotter, in this case the board secretary, reported on the discussions and put the action points on paper. The head of the emergency response team had already taken a seat on the Incident Team and reported back to the CMT at predetermined times about the state of affairs.

My communication contact was already working on statements for the employees, I myself helped with the various expressions and wording and also started working on the external communication. An important part of that was mapping the attention on the online news channels and the social media with our monitoring tool OBI4wan.

The emergency response team had already drafted the evacuation plan for the intramural patients, HR was adjusting the schedules for the employees who had to care for their patients elsewhere the next day. In the meantime, the team leaders called their colleagues to discuss the new working day and Facility Services arranged the logistics for all patients, emergency services and colleagues. Including the meeting room, where all colleagues were addressed by the CEO.

When the press showed up outside, my communications contact and I asked the journalists to wait for the official story, asked them not to interview any bystanders (any further) because their story would probably not be a 100% accurate representation of reality, put them in touch with the spokesperson for the emergency services, prepared the CEO for the questions he could expect and then confidently put him in front of the camera of the national broadcaster.

In the meantime, the website and social media were kept up to date, and the reception had already been instructed to record all questions and to transfer calls to communications in urgent cases.
And then the firemen told us the fire was under control. After a pressure cooker scenario of about seven hours, there was peace. Also communicatively. Because everyone knew what the situation was, that everything had been handled well and that everything would continue the next day. Differently than usual, but also just as people were used to from this organization.

And good crisis communication has made a significant contribution to this.
PS: Are you curious about what crisis communication entails and how to best prepare yourself? We are happy to share our ‘Introduction to Crisis Communication‘ with you.