ABA Banking Journal - December 2007 - (Page 38)
REPUTATION RISK Talk is not cheap What you say during a crisis can make or break your bank’s reputation. Here are some tips from the pros and from your peers ILLUSTRATIONS BY MIKE LATHROP Y our CEO is involved in a very public scandal. A fire breaks out in a branch lobby. Customer account numbers are compromised by a third-party retailer. Hackers infiltrate your online banking system. The list goes on and on. No matter how careful, well-prepared, or conservative your financial institution may be, crises happen. But what you do in the hours, days and weeks following By Lisa Valentine, contributing editor the crisis can positively—or negatively—impact your bank’s reputation. A tarnished reputation can translate into decreased brand value; lowered share price; lost customers, partners and strategic relationships, and difficulty in recruiting and keeping top employees. As Warren Buffet said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” The art and science of crisis communications, described by one public relations professional as the ability to maintain and regain trust between an organization and its stakeholdwww.ababj.com/subscribe.html 38 DECEMBER 2007/ABA BANKING JOURNAL
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