Say what you want about electric cars, but you’ve got to admit that the Tesla Model S is a stunner. Here in Connecticut, we’ve got a fair amount of public EV charging stations, and I’m seeing more and more Teslas on the road.
That’s why I was heartened to receive an email from Tesla CEO Elon Musk in response to reports of a dramatic Model S fire reported in Washington last fall. You can check out Musk’s email on Tesla’s blog.
Fire aside (the driver was uninjured), Tesla’s response to the incident is a PR win. By addressing the issue head-on, Tesla got out in front of the news. Google “tesla model s fire” and you’ll see that the first page of search results links to articles about Musk’s response to the situation—not to articles about the initial incident or articles with a sky-is-falling perspective on why EVs are doomed. Tesla’s response was crisis management 101, but sometimes simple is better.
If you find yourself dealing with a PR crisis, Kovak-Likly recommends taking a page from Tesla’s book and being proactive in your communications to the media and your customers. Be sure to answer the following questions in your response:
- What happened?
- What does it mean to your customers, investors or employees?
- What did you do to resolve the situation?
- What are you doing to avoid this in the future?
Or, you could always call us. Our team is at our best when the pressure’s on, and we’d love to help you turn your next crisis into an opportunity to build customer loyalty.
– BML
