Starbucks Coffee Company [SBUX] is best known for its lattes, pastries and espresso. But nothing could have prepared the Seattle-based firm for the shots fired in its Georgetown store on July 6, 1997 - except for an excellent crisis plan and an ethical sense of its responsibility.
The gunshots killed three Starbucks employees. The incident caused shock, fear and grief among families, area workers and the Washington, D.C., neighborhood.
The company's responses over a seven-month period indicate a consistent approach to honoring those who died.
Best Practices
In a crisis involving loss of life, no constituency is more important than those directly affected, says Jim Lukaszewski, chairman, The Lukaszewski Group, White Plains, N.Y.
"Quite frankly, the media is the last concern," says Lukaszewski. "It's the families and the employees that come first. What's really important is that the company's response must be prioritized. It can't do everything at once. But [crisis communication] is very situational. You can't apply [the same] template to each situation."
On the day of the murders, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz cut his vacation short and flew to Washington to attend workers' funerals.
"A lot of crises would not become crises if more CEOs responded the way Schultz did," says Katharine Paine, CEO, The Delahaye Group, an image consulting firm. "His concern for his employees came through. A CEO saying 'I'm sorry' is probably the first rule in any crisis."
Starbucks issued a statement to the media on July 7, expressing grief and listing the name and phone number of the police officer in charge of the investigation. The next day, it established a $50,000 reward and a memorial fund.
"Quick and compassionate is the most important thing in a case like this," says Bill Patterson, VP of the reputation management division at Columbus-Ohio-based HMS Partners. "It's a very positive and aggressive action and it didn't seem to take [Starbucks' execs] long to come to those conclusions."
Getting someone to the scene within an hour is absolutely essential, as is making the company spokesperson available. As indicated in the Washington Post's early coverage of the crisis, Schultz and Starbucks president Orin Smith were available. Thereafter spokesperson Kenny Fried was always available.
" 'No further comment' is never positive," says Patterson, referring to press inquiries during a crisis. "When you do it, 65% of the public think you are lying. If it were a Starbucks employee [who committed the murders], there would be more pressure on the company. At the very least, a company should get comments from the police department" if it doesn't want to issue any more statements to the media.
Starbucks Helps Community
A few weeks after the murders, Schultz presided over a memorial service at Georgetown University. All Starbucks stores in the region were closed so employees could attend. This made it clear that employees are most important, next to the families.
The company also plans to donate all future profits from the renovated Georgetown store to an anti-violence organization. And in mid-September, when little progress had been made in the murder investigation, the company stepped up its reward to $100,000 and announced that the memorial fund had raised $25,000.
"With three of your employees murdered, you can never do too much. It's more than the average company has done in the past," Patterson says.
Starbucks reopened the store Feb. 20 with relatively little fanfare, canceling plans for a breakfast and news conference, according to a company release.
"Throughout the crisis, Schultz was saying, in effect, 'What's the right thing to do?'" adds Paine.
Indeed, Starbucks did not talk to PR NEWS about how it handled the crisis. It will defer analysis until the crime is solved, said Chris Gimbl, a spokesperson.
"They may have felt that it would have been insensitive to participate in a story and talk about what [what kind of] PR job they did while three people are dead," says Patterson. (Bill Patterson, HMS, 614/222-2555; Katharine Paine, The Delahaye Group, 800/926-0028; Jim Lukaszewski, The Lukaszewski Group, 914/681-0000; Chris Gimbl, Starbucks, 206/749-8474)
A Crisis Checklist
Use these points to formulate a one-page media crisis plan that briefly states how your company will handle the news media during the first hours of a disaster, and share it with those around you.
- Name a company spokesperson and a backup. Only the spokesperson should be talking to the media. The company must deliver one consistent message.
- Brainstorm possible crises. Briefly discuss each and how you will deal with the media in each case.
- Deal with the crisis head-on. Don't hide. Face the media quickly and openly.
- Have all the facts. Pre-assign staff to specific areas. Staff should be reporting back from the scene with up-to-date information for the media.
- Respond to every question. Return every call within 10 minutes. Return calls to radio first, followed by TV and newspapers.
- Never lie. Not even a little white lie. Once you lie to one reporter, you have destroyed your reputation with all of them.
- Don't volunteer negative information. Look for opportunities to say something positive.
- Never go off the record. Stick with the facts that are known and don't speculate.
- Don't use jargon. Remember, it is the general public you want to impress, not peers of college professors.
Source: Bill Patterson, HMS Partners, 614/222-2555