How to respond to an outage

Every communicator will have to navigate an outage of some sort at one point or another.

• Why it matters: While the degree and scale might vary, the makings of an effective response remain the same.

Crisis communication experts Axios spoke with offer these do's and don'ts:

• ❌ Don't wait too long before acknowledging the issue.
• A lack of information fuels anxiety among consumers and investors. It also creates room for mis-and- disinformation to spread.
• ✅ Do gather as much information as possible, namely the cause, extent of the outage, timeline for return and any cybersecurity or customer data risks.
• ✅ Do draft holding statements and share across company channels.
• Arm customer service and account reps with the appropriate information and talking points.
• Communicate directly, at a senior level, with key individuals like members of the board, important customers, investors and key people managers.
• ❌ Don't use corporate jargon or legal speak.
• ✅ Do monitor coverage and ensure that media has the most up-to-date information.
• ❌ Don't skirt responsibility (legal teams be damned).
• ✅ Do identify and deploy the appropriate corporate spokesperson.
• ✅ Do use analogies or visuals to explain complicated, technical issues.
• ❌ Don't forget to follow-up and share the changes that have been made to prevent future outages.
• ❌ Don't stop communicating once the outage has been fixed.
• Communicators must continue to engage with the audiences that were most affected if the company wants to rebuild trust.