Ever since the early days of our company we’ve referred to much of what we share with readers as, 'for all crisis managers, whether it’s in their job description or not'.

While we know most of the folks who wind up on our site are wearing other hats in their day-to-day jobs, we can also say with certainty based on decades spent hands-on with clients that the more you make time to learn about crisis management before big trouble appears, the quicker you’ll be able to get back to business as usual when it does.

Here are 3 reasons Crisis Management Best Practices Matter To You from our expert consultants:

• Recognizing a crisis early on speeds response. Today’s audiences expect communications within minutes of learning about an issue, leaving no time to “learn as you go” when a true crisis situation appears.

• Plans are useless unless you know your best practices. You may have a crisis plan gathering dust somewhere, but plans are only worth the paper they’re printed on if nobody knows enough basics to actually execute.

• Being prepared saves money. Knowing how you will detect, prevent, and respond to crisis situations reduces reaction time, increases effectiveness of your response, and overall leads to less lost business due to negative issues of all kinds, from the “small but sticky” to full-blown crises that threaten to close your doors for good!

A quicker, more efficient response that minimizes lost productivity, reputation and, ultimately, revenue sounds like a good thing to me. In a world that seems to throw potential crises at organizations just about every day, it pays to be prepared.

If you’re ready to learn more, we’re now offering a free preview of our new e-Learning course on Crisis Management Best Practices created in partnership with TEAM Solutions.

Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager.

www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com