When disaster strikes... take advantage!

There are so many examples of news coverage that could've gone better. When we do Business Continuity planning with our clients, we underline the importance of getting the right message out to their customers as soon as possible. If you let the media portray the emergency, they will make it seem much worse than it really is, as they have to fill time on their programming and let's face it, sensational news sells!

For example: One Sunday, a passenger train was returning to Ottawa and had a mechanical fire about 40 minutes south of the city. The article was filed by a reporter that happened to be a passenger, who described the entire evacuation process as a terrifying ordeal. Before we continue, keep in mind that nobody was hurt and in the days that followed the event, there was no rebuttal from VIA Rail (the train company).

How does this type of communication impact your business continuity planning?

One of the key pieces of Business Continuity Planning is minimizing the impact on your customer base (current or future). In this case, VIA should have had press releases plastered all over the news feeds about their fast response at sending in busses and trucks to evacuate people. Instead we heard nothing. The most prominent message we had was that the passengers had to walk down the tracks in the dark while fending off bugs.

VIA Rail missed a golden opportunity to showcase their dedication to passengers by communicating their rescue efforts before the media painted a different picture. While I haven't ridden a train in many years, the way this event played out in the media left me with an negative feeling about this company which left me unwilling to buy a ticket any time soon.

Don't let this happen with your business! Review your BCP to ensure your communication plans are ready so when disaster strikes, you can take advantage of the media.