Whenever you see a list of America’s greatest presidents, as ranked by historians, you always see Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and George Washington at or near the top. What do those three men have in common? Each of them presided over the nation during a time of great crisis. Lincoln led the country through the Civil War, perhaps the most difficult period of American history. Roosevelt helped steer us through both the Great Depression and World War II. Washington, the father of our nation, was our first President and led the colonists in the Revolutionary War.

What this shows us in a business sense is this: difficult situations cannot only be survived, but they can actually make your business stronger. It all depends on how you deal with a crisis. If you plan effectively, and react boldly, you can actually lead your business out of the depths and on to even greater heights.

Here are some tips for managing a crisis:

Plan ahead

The best way to recover from a crisis is to not have one at all. It is impossible to foresee every possible situation, but if you make a strong effort to anticipate problems before they arise, you can steer around many of them.

Having said that, do not be afraid of crises.

Act immediately

Do not procrastinate once a crisis strikes. Take action immediately, even if you have not devised a complete strategy. It is important to let your customers know that you are aware of the situation, and you are doing everything you can to resolve it. If you let the problem simmer, it will end up boiling over and causing more headaches than necessary.

Remember the recent pet food scare? PetSmart and PETCO, two of the largest pet supply retailers in the world, were able to avoid major damage from the crisis by communicating with their customers right away. Both of them sent emails telling consumers about the problem, and describing what they were doing about it. They were able to give their customers a sense of confidence in their products, despite the massive negative publicity.

Act decisively

Develop a bold plan for fighting the negative affects of the crisis. Design a postcard printing that includes heartfelt, personal words about the problem and how you feel about it. Speak to your customers, through your postcard, as people, not as consumers. Let them know that you are fully aware of the impact the situation has had on their opinion of you, and assure them that you will do everything you can to regain their trust.

And make sure you invest in quality postcards. Make them full color, while still keeping the tone serious. The last thing you want to do in a situation like this is give your customers the impression that you are cheap. Show them that you are willing to pay to make things right and have high-quality full color postcards made.

If you handle a crisis the right way, you can quickly regain the trust of your customers, and come out unscathed.

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