Are you ready for a crisis? Get your plans in place now

A Wall Street Journal article from this month arguing that few companies have plans in place to protect their reputations when challenged drew nods of agreement from crisis communicators but left a dangling question.

Exactly how should a company prepare to defend itself?

It’s all in the details, says Chad Latz, president of global digital practice for Cohn & Wolfe.

“I would agree that the findings discussed in The Wall Street Journal are probably representative especially if you think about the continuum of risk from basic nuisance through the most extreme examples,” he says.

The Journal highlighted a survey by Airmic, an association for insurance and risk managers, that found 80 percent of respondents cite reputational risk as their top concern. Only 43 percent, however, believed that they have solid plans to prepare for crises.

Latz and other communicators say it will take that level of preparedness and a proactive approach to minimize the damage.

Finding a champion

Someone at the top has to act as a cheerleader, according to Jonathan Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management Inc.