Stop the Presses

Today’s lead story in the WSJ How Credit-Card Data Went Out the Wireless Door is as much about what not to do when a company is caught in the crosshairs of a crisis as the JetBlue story is an example of the right thing to do.

From a crisis PR perspective, TJX appears to have worked hard to turn themselves from victim to villain, making three classic communications errors:

1. They waited too long. TJX waited for engineers to be satisfied that they understood the depth of the problem, resulting in at least a 60-day delay of action (resulting in investigations by 30 state attorneys general.)
2. They put lawyers in charge of communications. Lawyers play a critical role in crises, but directing communications should not be one of them. When TJX made their long awaited announcement and subsequent apology, their apology was not written with their customers–the real victims in this situation–in mind, but instead read like a letter written by lawyers. (The apology is here; click ‘important customer alert’ to access it.)
3. They put Wall Street in front of Main Street. TJX made sure that their earnings announcement came out prior to the data loss announcement…once again, putting their own needs in front of their customers‘.

When confronting a crisis, the most important thing is to run to it and meet it head on. Put your customers first. This isn’t about the profits for one quarter–it’s about the long-term relationship you have with the people who help you create your profits and your brand.

During crisis, companies need to think like a customer and ensure that their words–and even more importantly, their actions–prove that customer needs are the number one priority.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Articles and Opinions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.