Managing a crisis of pandemic proportions

When Mandy Arnold helps one of her clients with crisis communication, there is usually a trigger that causes them to seek her help planning for the future.

Because both non-essential and essential businesses alike are dealing with the fallout of COVID-19, companies don’t need to communicate to shareholders that the crisis affected them, but how they will get through it, said Arnold, CEO of York-based Gavin.

Weeks into the temporary closure of many of her clients’ businesses, Arnold and her staff talk to owners about what they should be doing to make sure they will reopen and that their employees and customers will still trust them.

“Everyone is in the same circumstance so you won’t be judged for being in this crisis,” Arnold said. “You will be judged for how you communicated and your behaviors through it.”

Gavin is a branding and communications agency with offices in Harrisburg, York and Lancaster. Gavin offers crisis communication along with public relations and marketing.

The information that Arnold and her staff have been relaying to businesses has changed significantly as the pandemic has developed.

Previous crisis communication tips related to COVID-19 were based around speaking with staff and customers about how the virus wouldn’t impact business dealings. But as the crises worsened, Gavin’s messaging expanded to prepare clients, including small business owners, prepare for having a staff member test positive for the virus, and keeping brand loyalty among customers that may not be buying a product for months.

Maintaining a brand
Many of Gavin’s clients are reaching out to the firm for help to prepare for the inevitable positive test or death of an employee, something that Arnold said her clients are keenly aware could have lasting impacts on how their company is viewed by the public.

“(Our) clients want to respond in the most responsible way that protects the privacy of the individuals affected while following the safest processes to protect their employees, customers and the public,” she said. “Most clients are fearful of the impact a positive test may have on the perception of their brand in the long term and are doing everything in their power to mitigate exposure for their employees and customers.”

To prepare for the impact of coronavirus spreading into a business, Gavin recommends consistently reminding employees of safety protocols, and customers of the safety measures in place for their sake.

No-contact delivery, disinfectant processes and the wearing of masks and gloves by employees are all measures that should be relayed to customers, she said.
For brand’s still closed by the state, communication to customers is particularly important to avoid a behavioral shift in product use, which can take place when clients are inactive with a product from 30 to 90 days.

For businesses deemed “no-life-sustaining” by the state, Arnold says it’s important to build relationships with clients through content creation such as podcasts.
“We’ve launched live-streaming broadcasts, videos and podcasts for several clients in the midst of this crisis with success,” she said, adding that creating content during the quarantine takes creative solutions since Gavin would normally use a manufacturing floor or a room at a company’s headquarters to film its executive team.

Most messaging coming out of the quarantine has taken the shape of self-recorded footage of CEO’s—Arnold point’s to footage of reporters from national news broadcasts filming from their living rooms as a point of reference.

Learning from larger companies
One third of Gavin’s clients have fewer than 500 employees and the firm’s larger, global clients have dealt the best when it comes to crisis communication, said Arnold.

A portion of Gavin’s clients have already experienced business closures due to pandemics, which Arnold said helped those companies better understand how to pivot during a random change in business operations.

The unprecedented size of the pandemic has created holes in every crisis communication plan, no matter the size of the business. To Arnold, that means it’s more important than ever to pay attention to other markets and see how other organizations tackle the problem.

“I am consistently surprised about how people aren’t paying attention to other markets and thinking we are isolated from what is happening in other markets,” she said. “We had the unique perspective of seeing other communities go through it so communications and leadership teams have to pay close attention to what is happening in those markets.”