The letter to the customer posted on one’s website offers the perfect forum for storytelling. Because you’re in control. While I chastised Toyota for its customer letter addressing the recall, I also recognize the attorney factor during a crisis warrants a handicap. Which brings me to Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos. No question, Mr. …more
The communications controlled by a company during a crisis – not the media coverage – provide the best indicator of competency (or lack thereof). If you can’t get the communications under your control right, you have zero chance of winning over others to carry your story forward. That’s why I characterized Toyota’s crisis communications as amateur hour. The company’s first open …more
Customer letter No. 3 from Toyota arrived on the scene today. Like the previous two – analyzed in “Open Letter to Toyota Customers Hits Pothole” and “Toyota’s Second Letter to Customers Stays on the Road,” this letter was published in major dailies and on the company’s Web site. Unfortunately, the third time was not a …more
