Communicating trustworthily in times of crisis

Climate, Corona, war - and now inflation and economic crisis. Times are uncertain. What has been tried and tested for a long time no longer works. This makes it all the more important for companies to prove their trustworthiness and communicate clearly. What do they need to pay particular attention to?

With our method Trust Building Blocks we show a number of building blocks that are helpful for one's trustworthiness. The most important main points are customer orientation, competence, results, integrity, aura and personality. The fact that there are different emphases here is something I have seen, for example, in the assessment of Politicians already addressed. But does the same apply in specific situations or environments, such as in times of crisis?

I mean yes and would like to show this with some examples.

The significance of dwindling future orientation

The bigger the crisis, the more everyday worries come to the fore. I don't really want to imagine it, but for the troubled people in Ukraine (or Syria, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen ...) the very primary concern is how to get through the next hours and days. Our focus continues, but not to the usual extent. In the face of rapidly rising electricity costs and foreseeably rising unemployment, who is concerned with the future in 10 years or even further? It is also no wonder that many young people no longer want to bring children into the world. Instead, their thoughts revolve around the here and now.

Which communication components companies need to pay particular attention to now - and which ones less so?

For companies, this means taking into account the factors Durability and Clarity in their Website content in the foreground. In contrast, the Innovation and Future expectation into the background. The more consistent a company is and communicates, the higher the perceived level of trust. After all, it has always been that way. Changing a well known slogan should be thought twice in uncertain times. For innovative companies and especially startups, this environment is difficult. Many consumers and companies stick with the tried and true and don't dare to work with new vendors with new ways of solving problems. For such companies, one way can be to show that the people acting have been in the industry for many years. Or that reliable innovations are successfully established on the market every year. Innovative strength plus consistency then ensures trust

Also the affiliation to Collective such as "Made in Germany," "From Berlin with Love," and "Registered Craft Company" are experiencing a renaissance. They convey stability from within the group.

And the importance of Brand and Integrity cannot be valued highly enough. Brands can be relied upon. They stand for certain values, such as high quality, reliability and consistency. This is something that consumers can easily and quickly rely on in uncertain times. The task of companies in their day-to-day activities is to ensure that these promises are lived up to and kept. Values and actions in harmony ensure integrity. And people are happy to place their trust in companies with integrity.

Results are and remain the most important building block of trust. Visibly satisfied customers always inspire confidence. Here, too, a slightly adjusted focus can be set in times of crisis. The willingness to engage in ongoing dialog between the company and its customers should be emphasized. There is nothing worse than companies where uncertainty is ignored with heads in the sand.

Closely related to this is the essential factor Transparency. Crises are characterized by a high degree of uncertainty. As a company, you can and should deal with this openly. It is impossible to plan for disrupted supply chains or unplanned high absenteeism among sick employees. Only transparency can ensure understanding on the part of the customer, if not enthusiasm.

Competence is composed of expertise, process knowledge, experience, passion and capacity. Capacity is of particular importance in times of crisis. Can the company deliver reliably? Even six months from now? Do they have sufficient resources to maintain all product components, even if a supplier fails? What experience does the company have with sick employee absenteeism? Do they have contingency plans in place? By communicating the answers to these questions in advance, companies can positively differentiate themselves from the competition in times of crisis.

The Personality of the entrepreneur and key employees is of great importance. Website texts somewhat in the background. I would rather trust a large company that has already proven in the past that changes in management have worked smoothly. There's not much to be gained from visions and future prospects in a crisis.

For which companies is crisis communication particularly important?

Crisis communication is fundamentally relevant for every company. After all, Corona is everywhere. So is inflation. Therefore, it makes sense for every company to deal with the contexts described above. Nevertheless, there are differences.

The crucial difference lies in the customer's perspective. Some industries are being badly hit by the current crisis situation, but customers don't care much. Electrical appliances are one of them. Or do you think customers buy an iPhone differently today than they did three years ago? Maybe because of lower disposable income, but not because of the delivery problems Apple has to deal with. With other companies, such as craftsmen, for example, one instinctively assumes that they will hardly be able to offer reliable or even short-term capacity due to Corona outages. However, perhaps it is precisely these companies that have more freelancers than ever before in recent years due to the slowdown in the construction industry.

So think about how the current diffuse crisis environment affects your customers. What needs do your customers have? How important is security, transparency and consistency to them? And adjust your communications accordingly - even if you as a company are not yet feeling any immediate effects.