With recent research showing that more than a quarter of tradespeople are looking for second jobs to help them survive, it’s understandable that for many UK electricians, there simply isn’t a budget leftover for PR and marketing activities.
Despite this, electricians can potentially face issues that could evolve into a PR nightmare – such as issues with wiring causing a client serious harm, for instance – but it’s how electricians handle these incidents that can make or break their reputation as a business; especially those who are in the early stages of building their career.
To help, experts at money.co.uk business insurance have offered tips on minimising the risk of a PR crisis and dealing with one effectively. Its advice is as follows:
Electricians have the potential to cause serious damage to a customer’s home if they make a mistake when wiring and create a fire hazard. A legal claim of this kind has the potential to close down a business in this sector. To avoid this:
• Thoroughly vet all employees’ qualifications and training and provide them with a list of safety checks to complete before leaving the job
• Make sure they carry proper protective equipment and know what to do if anything goes wrong
• Check your business insurance policy for any T&Cs you need to be aware of to ensure you’re covered in the event of an incident
How to handle a PR crisis:
Remove the risk
As soon as you’re made aware of an issue, if possible, you should remove the risk element. This could mean removing a post from the business’ social media page if it’s caused a legal issue, or stopping selling a certain product or offering a certain service if it’s putting customers at risk. Acting fast means there’s less risk of the issue escalating by being seen by more people or causing more harm and complaints.
Communicate with the customer
If the incident relates to a customer, engaging with that disgruntled customer quickly and empathetically can go a long way in resolving the situation and prevent it from spiralling into a bigger issue. Showing genuine compassion, offering an apology, and explaining how you plan to rectify the situation can help to rebuild your relationship with the customer and protect your business’s reputation as one that cares about its customers.
Prepare a statement
If the incident is already public knowledge (for example, due to a poor online review) or you have a duty of care to make it public knowledge (such as if other customers could be at risk), then you’ll need to prepare a statement. Posting a statement on your brand’s website or social media pages can allow you to address the issue – as well as any public backlash – head-on. Showing transparency and commitment to rectifying the situation can help to build trust in your business and prevent alienating customers.
Talk to your insurer
If the crisis has the potential to escalate to legal proceedings, you’ll want to speak to your business insurance provider and check the terms of your policy. You may need to claim on your insurance to cover legal costs, be it a legal infringement or being sued by a customer. Your insurer can advise you on how to handle the process and obtain the necessary funds without risking your business’s financial standing.
Take the learnings
After making it through a crisis and the fallout, you’ll no doubt want to move on and forget it happened. But one of the most important parts of crisis management is taking learnings from these incidents to avoid the same thing happening again, or to deal with it faster and more effectively next time. Make sure to keep a log of any incidents and the learnings, and update your crisis management strategy accordingly.