THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING.

We all know how the story turns out.  It’s a children’s story that has a lesson adults, marketers and companies can learn.  The media is screaming how bad things are which has created a crisis of confidence in our economy and the companies that fuel it.  How much of it is real, even the economic experts don’t know.  But what do you do if there is a crisis of confidence about your business?  Do you run a newspaper ad trumpeting how “rock solid” your company is and draw attention to the possibility that it isn’t so rock solid?  Here are some thoughts you might be able to use if you’re in that spot.

1.  Circle the wagons

The first thing you should do is build confidence internally and with your sales channel.  Be honest and realistic.  Limit the number of spokespeople, but give every employee the ability to talk confidently about your company’s status.  Five talking points repeated over and over can lead to belief internally and externally.

2.  Have a plan

Be realistic about the crisis.  Is it real, perceived or imagined.  There really are only three ways to address a problem.  Ignore it, change the subject or address it head on.  Ask yourself which is the best way to make it go away.  Each course of action is reasonable under certain circumstances.  An over reaction can make the crisis of confidence worse, no reaction can too.  If the problem is really a crisis, address it head on and let people know how you’re addressing it.

3.  Monitor the rumors

Find out what people are saying.  Press, employees, bloggers and influencers.  Respond and correct in an appropriate fashion.  Don’t over react.  Rumors are natural.  Talk to vendors, suppliers and anybody else important to your business when rumors might affect your relationship.

4.  Communicate, communicate, communicate

If your company has a confidence crisis, you need more communications than ever.  Uncertainty erodes confidence.  Knowledge creates confidence.  Let people know what you’re doing, how well you’re doing it and what the results are/will be.  Give your most important audiences access to information.  The more you can divulge the better.

5.  Be confident

We’ve watched really strong companies like the Principal Financial Group go from $70 a share to $8.50 a share.  Why?  Is the company fundamentally different in December 2008 than it was in December 2007?  Maybe it’s had some  things happen over the course of the year, but fundamentally we have to believe it has the same intrinsic strength that it had when it was $70 a share.  You have  the same talent, experience and ability you had last year.  Building confidence starts with you.

6.  Be thankful for a strong brand

Hopefully, you’ve built a strong brand that people trust.  If you have brand equity, you can lean on it.  You can advertise just as you have before.  Your consumer will gain confidence from seeing your company advertise.  They’ll be more likely to believe that this crisis of confidence is momentary…an aberation.  They won’t lose trust and in the end, the trust of a customer is all any of us in business have.