Here’s one of the most overlooked truths in crisis communication: The messenger matters as much as the message.
You can have a perfect statement, a perfect plan, and a perfect rollout. But if it comes from someone your stakeholders don’t trust, it will fall flat. Or worse, backfire.
We are in an era of widespread distrust of certain sources based on our political perspective. Our information comes from so many more sources than even ten years ago and there is a good chance, at least some of, that information will come from a curated feed reinforcing what you’ve already looked up or followed. Facts are not facts to everyone.
Just imagine that you are a Public Information Officer for a county and you are trying to get vital information out to the public about an impending hurricane. If your county is distrustful of government and the mainstream media, what do you do?
That’s why you need to find your trusted carriers. These are the people who already hold credibility with your audience. Sometimes it’s the CEO. Sometimes it’s a frontline supervisor. Sometimes it’s a community leader. In every scenario, it’s different.
And that trust? It doesn’t appear out of thin air.
Credibility is built before the crisis. Your stakeholders’ belief in you is something you earn (or erode) in the ordinary moments. Are you transparent when things are good? Do you show up consistently? Do you follow through? Do you live your values? Do you actively build trust?
Because when everything is on the line, they won’t give you the benefit of the doubt unless you’ve earned it already. And that’s the whole point: in a crisis, that credibility is your margin of safety. It gives you the benefit of the doubt with your most important people when you need it most.
Kith facilitates crisis preparedness workshops that will help your company attain the clarity, trust, and speed you need to respond confidently – no dithering! – to any crisis. We’d be happy to have a conversation about how we can help your company be ready to chart an effective course to reputation protection.
