Data breaches, sexual harassment in the workplace, natural disasters, social media brand threats, high profile lawsuits, accidental spills, gun violence, racial conflicts. Read a newspaper, or open your favorite social media app and you will begin to understand that nowadays it is not whether your company or organization will face a crisis situation, but when it will face a crisis. Look no further than strong companies like Starbucks, Wells Fargo or Facebook to see the impact crisis situations can have on an organization’s brand loyalty, financial health and overall capacity to operate.

Preparing for a crisis situation before it happens is the best way to ensure your organization has the ability to protect itself inside and out during a real-time crisis. Wood Communications Group has over 30 years of experience helping organizations like yours to develop tailored crisis communication plans that:

• Identify potential crisis scenarios that could affect your business,

• Assess your company's current communications capacity to withstand a crisis,

• Identify and prepare key individuals within your organization to properly manage a crisis situation,

• Implement early detection/warning systems for identifying potential threats to your organization before a full blown crisis,

• Map out your key target audiences (including the media) and the communication channels most effective in reaching them during and after a crisis situation,

• Propose the appropriate communication protocols that must be in place to ensure a crisis situation is not compounded further,

• Implement regular training schedules to assess team and organization readiness, and ultimately

• Protect your organization from the long term damage that can be caused by any crisis situation.

If your organization does not currently have a crisis communications plan in place, Wood Communications Group would welcome the opportunity to discuss your unique requirements and develop a plan that meets the specific needs of your organization. There is no cost to your organization to further explore the value of a detailed crisis communications plan, so please feel free to reach out to Kennan Wood (kwood [at] wcgpr.com) or Lynn Wood (lwood [at] wcgpr.com) to schedule a strategy session at your earliest convenience.