Natural and man-made disasters happen all the time, and they can do serious damage to the future of your company.

Whether your company faces a devastating crisis like an oil rig explosion or something on a smaller scale, such as negative online reviews, you must be prepared to respond. According to the Department of Commerce, 40% of all companies will not survive a crisis and more than 60% close within two years of experiencing one. For smaller companies, statistics show that 70% go out of business within one year of a crisis.

Having a crisis plan can help your company survive – even thrive.

In 1982, Johnson & Johnson faced a crisis that made headlines around the world. Seven people in Chicago died after taking Tylenol capsules that had been laced with cyanide. Someone had tampered with the bottles with the intent to murder. The company issued a nationwide recall of its Tylenol products – an estimated 31 million bottles with a retail loss of more than $100 million. In addition, J&J issued several nationwide urgent public announcements warning people not to use the product.

It seems almost impossible that a brand could survive after such an ordeal, yet not only did J&J survive the crisis, but the company also boosted its credibility due to its thoughtful and timely PR responses. J&J redefined crisis communications management and turned the matter into a case study in effective public relations and crisis management.

Does your company know the 10 most important steps to prepare for a crisis? Do you have a plan in place and employees trained in proper protocols to handle the unexpected? How your company handles a crisis can mean the difference between success and ultimate failure.

Axia Public Relations takes a proactive approach to crisis management.

10 steps to prepare your company for Crisis

At Axia, we specialize in corporate communication for enterprise organizations, using our 10-step process to prepare a company for a crisis, including crisis audience personas, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely, ethical, and recorded (SMARTER) objectives, key messages and message templates, media and industry influencer lists, key performance indicators, evaluation framework, and crisis communication services.

Axia has more than 25 years of crisis communication and reputation management experience and capabilities for issues present and not present in the public domain for some of America's most well-known billion-dollar corporations. Our top three services include media relations, crisis communication, and online reputation management. Many organizations have selected Axia's expertise in advocacy and reputation management to help them build and protect their reputation by: 

• Keeping issues not yet present in the public domain out of the public domain
• Proactive PR counteroffensive against an issue in the public domain
• Managing reputation through search engine optimization tactics (online reputation management)
• Expertise in issues and relationship management
• Expertise in advocacy and reputation management