Can your company survive a shark attack?

Last summer, two people were injured in shark attacks on New York beaches.

Nothing could be scarier for beachgoers – or officials, who suddenly had a crisis on their hands.

How officials dealt with the aftermath of the shark attacks holds several lessons for business executives, whose companies face potential disasters every day:

1. Be as transparent as possible when a shark attack happens. Officials immediately told the public what happened.
2. Share relevant data and, if possible, good news. Officials shared that an injured lifeguard would recover and that no shark attacks had happened in decades.
3. Take prompt actions. The affected beaches were immediately shut down.
4. Develop and announce concrete next steps.
5. Execute the next steps. Extra lifeguards were on the beaches the next day and lifeguards arrived early. They also paddled around the waters and used binoculars from the shore to look for sharks.

As far as we can tell, tourists and area residents quickly returned to the beaches. That’s not because they believed the sharks were gone. It was because they trusted that the beaches were safe. Officials handled the crisis by:

• Reminding everyone that beaches have been safe.
• Taking decisive, trustworthy actions during the crisis.
• Meeting stakeholders’ expectations with post-incident actions.

If trust didn’t exist, no parents would have brought kids to the beach. The same principles hold true for business stakeholders. Consider:

• How much will Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse affect trust in other banks?
• How do bad Yelp reviews impact a restaurant’s grand opening?
• Can PR firms with typso be trusted to build your narrative?
• How can a hacked payroll company assure customers that private information is safe?

It’s hard to build trust during a crisis. Who is the public going to believe when you’re accused of mistakes, lawbreaking, or unethical activity – you or your accuser?

The best way to survive a shark attack is to be ready ahead of time. That’s why Lake Mead and Lake Powell still have over 70% capacity 23 years into regional droughts. Millions of people have plenty of water because the reservoirs were built and filled long before they were needed.

Businesses can build great trust reservoirs by:

• Building relationships with community leaders and other influencers.
• Driving their narratives in the press, on social media, and through webinars and white papers.
• Having excellent customer service and employee relationships.
• Preparing crisis plans which can be pulled off the shelf and quickly executed.

 It’s okay if a shark attack depletes your trust reservoir, as long as the reservoir is deep and you pro-actively refill it.

Last summer, two shark attacks could have cleared beaches across New York. Officials were able to turn a potential mountain of a problem into a molehill by taking advantage of existing trust, being transparent, providing relevant information, and executing a concrete plan.

Can your company survive a shark attack? Sure – if it’s well-prepared. Contact us to build and implement a strategy for success. And feel free to download our free PDF guide to surviving shark attacks.