So, even if you don’t feel a major proactive social media programme is right for your business (yet), what can you do to ensure you are taking steps to protect your reputation online?

• Social media is, well, social. The clue is in the name! Anyone can say just about anything. That includes making comments about your company, products and services, which may be accurate or inaccurate. The trouble is – if you’re not there, you won’t know. Comments could be made by a whole range of individuals and scattered around any number of social media channels. You should be monitoring social media for mentions of your company and products, as well as your competitors and areas of activity. Monitoring can range from setting up free Google Alerts at the basic end of the scale through to paid-for services, which provide comprehensive charts and tables of your online reputation.
• If you do have a social media presence, this can provide a “lightning rod” for any negative comments, making them easy to spot and providing you with a quick and easy opportunity to take action.
• If your monitoring reveals negative comments, respond to them in a timely fashion. Most negative comments can be turned into a positive communication opportunity if you handle them promptly and well.
• Depending on the nature of the issue, you can ask your detractor to contact you offline. Get them to send you their phone number or email address so you can have an honest and open discussion about their issue with them in private.
• Remember that, unless you’re engaging in private messaging, anyone can read the conversation between you and your detractor. You can turn this into an opportunity by demonstrating outstanding customer service. Not only will this impress your detractor, but it will also impress those people watching with interest from the sidelines, providing you with a great chance to demonstrate honesty and integrity, thereby gaining new customers.

For help with your reputation management, contact Steve Gunn today.

Sample page from the new Martin Dawe Brand Design website.

Working in collaboration with design agency Beyond Creative Thinking, Steve Gunn & Associates has helped well-known branding and design agency Martin Dawe Brand Design to revamp its website. The project involved a total redesign and rewrite of the content, and was completed on time and on budget. The client is delighted with the sophisticated image created, which reflects and quality and creativity of its work, and the engaging copy.

The Thame Neighbourhood Plan will be developed over the autumn of 2011 and spring of 2012 with the aim of developing a robust and deliverable plan for the future development of the historic market town of Thame.

The lunchtime meeting will take place in the James Figg Free House in Thame on November 30th, from 12:30 – 14:00. There is no charge to attend the event. Attendees can purchase their lunch and enjoy a relaxed, informal atmosphere. The event will also provide an opportunity to meet other members of the Thame4Business group.

Local businesses interested in attending should email Thame4Business Chair Sonja Francis (editor [at] thame [dot] net) before midday on Monday 28th November.

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Notes

Thame4Business

Thame4Business is an organisation dedicated to the future health and well-being of businesses in Thame, and the surrounding villages. Thame4Business supersedes the Thame First initiative. Any business owner living or working in Thame, Chinnor, Long Crendon, Haddenham, Brill and surrounding areas can benefit by becoming a member.

Thame4Business organises events throughout the year, and lobbies on behalf of businesses in Thame. It helps launch initiatives such as the Thame Loyalty Card and the Shop Front Improvement Scheme.

To learn more about Thame4Business or to join, visit  the website.

Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design

Tibbalds are a town planning, urban design and regeneration consultancy based in London. They work throughout the UK on a broad range of creative projects including town planning, urban design, master planning, placemaking, regeneration, design guidance and neighbourhood planning.

Key issues I’ve found with crisis communication plans include:

• Lack of clarity in processes and procedures.
• Lack of clarity around the composition and roles and responsibilities of the crisis team.
• Lack of useful items such as templates, forms, boilerplate copy, etc.
• Manuals consisting of pages and pages of dense type so that any useful information is lost in a “grey wall” of text.

As a result, essential information is often vague and inaccessible. Unsurprisingly, these manuals usually end up gathering dust on a shelf and rarely used in crisis situations.

In contrast, good manuals will:

• Keep text to the minimum.
• Clearly identify what constitutes a crisis and when crisis communication procedures should be implemented. Crises may be categorised according to severity and “newsworthiness”, and this may lead to different protocols for handling them.
• Make sure essential processes and procedures are highlighted in tables, etc. that really stand out.
• Make sure that the crisis team is clearly identified and that everyone’s roles and responsibilities are clear.
• Include useful time-savers such as lists to fill in, for example a media log; lists of for example local media, local glaziers, telecoms providers, food delivery companies, etc.; template news releases for key potential scenarios; up-to-date boilerplate copy about the company, products, services, raw materials, key people, etc., as appropriate for the company in question.

In large organisations with say a global headquarters, regional and / or divisional headquarters, local sales offices and local manufacturing facilities, it is essential to have a clearly-defined communication protocol so that everyone, from an operator in a plant to the CEO knows what is expected of them.

Of course, in these days of ubiquitous IT systems, it makes sense to have the crisis communication manual available electronically, providing easy editing and access to an up-to-date document. However, it is important not to forget that an incident may require you to evacuate the site, in which case it may be useful to keep the manual “in the cloud” for access from anywhere and access on mobile devices. You may also have no access to IT, so always keep a couple of copies of the latest version of you crisis communication manual with the other essential items in you “war chest”.

If you would like a review of your crisis communication manual or would like one created, simply contact Steve Gunn.

The tutors were Steve Gunn, who has significant experience of media and crisis communications training, as well as managing crisis communications situations, and a regular associate of ours who is an ex-BBC journalist with experience that includes the Today programme on Radio 4, well as Radio 5 Live.

The delegates were the senior managers who would be responsible for making the announcement internally and handling any media enquires.

The media training programme achieved the following:

• Helped managers frame the key messages.
• Provided hands-on experience and coaching for a range of media situations such as door-stepping, interviews and statements.
• Provided hands-on experience and coaching for the internal annoouncement.

Results

The management had expected a difficult time, with a high probability of a strike. Thankfully these fears proved to be unfounded. An atmosphere of collaboration was created and managment and employee representatives are consulting on a range of options to find the best outcome for everyone concerned.

Media statements were issued and picked up, and one of the delegates has given successful radio and television interviews.

There is still a long way to go in the process, but it has got off to a more positive start than originally anticipated.

Ask about our media training and crisis communications training

If you want to be prepared to extract maximum benefit from every media interview and in a position to protect your reputation should a crisis occur, contact Steve Gunn & Associates for details of our media training programmes.

Steve Gunn & Associates worked with Slough-based design agency Beyond Creative Thinking to revamp Ropewalk Shopping Centre’s website. Ropewalk Shopping Centre (Nuneaton, Warwickshire) is home to more than 30 retailers, including 10 of the country’s leading fashion retailers. The Centre’s management realised that the online experience did not match up to the modern, stylish retail environment of their bricks and mortar shopping centre. They were keen to provide an easy-to-use, elegant online environment that reflected the quality of the retailers housed in the shopping centre and that would appeal to the target consumers, both locally and from further afield.

The project encompassed improving the navigation, and a total redesign and rewrite. Our objectives were to create an exclusive look and feel that would be attractive to consumers and sit comfortably alongside Ropewalk’s retailers. We also wanted to make it easy for consumers to find information about the retailers, special offers, events and amenities that help make Ropewalk a premier shopping centre.

John Kelleher, Centre Manager at Ropewalk, commented, “The new website helps position Ropewalk as one of the country’s leading destinations for shoppers, particularly the fashion conscious family who can now purchase their favourite clothing, either casual or smart, in one convenient shopping trip. Visitors to the website can keep up-to-date with all latest offers from our retailers, as well as news of events such as our very popular model search competition, ‘From Ropewalk to Catwalk’.”

Source languages:

Dutch

English

French

German

Target languages:

Dutch

English.

Steve Gunn & Associates has always strived to contribute to the community. Managing Director Steve Gunn has been a volunteer for the Red Kites in the Chilterns project for more than 10 years. This has involved giving illustrated talks to various community groups and leading guided walks. In addition, he has also acted as a mentor for schoolchildren for projects run by the Bucks Business Education Partnership. We are excited about the prospects offered by being part of 4C.