Breaking Down the Time, Cost And Complexity Barriers to Crisis Response Planning

In the case of an IT breach, how do you go about tracing and recovering the lost data? If a cyber-attack has disabled your IT systems, how will you function at all? In a ransomware attack, you may be locked out of your systems with the criminal threatening to release compromised data. How do you know who to inform, what to tell them, and how to respond? There’s so much complexity involved in planning and executing the response to a crisis. And different types of crisis require different levels of response.

The complexity involved is multiplied if you haven’t thought about all of these eventualities in advance. In comparison, developing a crisis response plan ahead of time is a much calmer experience.

With the right specialists to advise and guide you, the burden on your organisation can be lifted and the whole process greatly simplified. The crisis response team at Experian live and breathe consumer crisis planning every day – so we know how to develop the correct response for your organisation and the types of crises it might face. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and I would be happy to advise you more.

Time is of the essence

The same applies to the time required to develop a response plan. Time wasted in any crisis response could exacerbate the financial, reputational and emotional damage to your business and its customers. A swift and targeted response is the key to minimising losses and maintaining trust among your customers as you strive to recover from the incident. The time and resources you dedicate to developing a robust plan up front will save untold time and resources in the heat of a crisis.

Planning costs over-estimated

One of the biggest concerns for business leaders is the cost of creating a crisis response plan. But, in reality, those costs can be minimal. At the simplest level, you can build a basic recovery plan using freely available resources, such as the Experian readiness hub. Or Experian can offer more tailored advice, support and services.

For a cost starting from c.£30k, our Guaranteed Reserved Response service provides your business with the ability to reserve, in advance, all the resources you need to deliver all components of a customer-facing response. That includes a dedicated senior crisis response manager to oversee your response, and full contact centre and notification resources to meet the communication requirements of your customers.

That’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind that your business is poised to respond efficiently to resolve any crisis. By contrast, the costs of failing to respond effectively are potentially devastating. In our survey, we asked leaders for their estimate of the cost (as a percentage of turnover) of a failure to prepare for and respond well to a crisis. On average, respondents in businesses with a turnover of £1m- £9.99m thought it would cost 36% of turnover. That equates, on average, to a cost of £1.97m.

The time to plan is now

The resources, time and cost you need to invest now to prepare well for a crisis will seem insignificant if your business is impacted by a crisis. And with 100% of businesses surveyed believing they are at risk of a crisis in the next 18 months, it’s an investment no business can afford to forgo.

Are your crisis response plans fit for purpose? To find out more about crisis response planning, please visit our website, and contact one of our crisis specialists. To explore our research findings in more detail, please download Crisis Response: Assessing the readiness of UK organisations to manage the impacts of a consumer crisis. £1.97m (midpoint of £1m-£9.99m is 5.49/100 x 36 = 1.97).