It seems we can’t go five minutes at the moment without someone mentioning Brexit. Businesses and organisations across the UK have been struggling with this existential issue for the past couple of years and we seem no closer to a definitive answer to what is going to happen.
But what do you do if you start getting Brexit questions from the media?
These questions could include:
- How is your business going to cope with a no deal?
- What preparations have you done to soften the impact?
- What does your CEO really think of politicians and the bureaucrats who have been trying to negotiate things?
Talking Brexit can not only be damaging to your health, it could, if you get your messaging wrong, impact on how people see your business and their confidence in it.
Media Training & Brexit
There’s a lot you need to think about here. Brexit has been a frustrating process for businesses in almost all sectors. Making sure that it doesn’t get the better of you, even if things do go desperately wrong, is important and ideally you want to maintain the appearance of keeping your head while all around are losing theirs.
- Keep Social Media Under Control
Nowhere is talk of Brexit more febrile than online in social media. There is a huge spectrum of different opinion and ideas, not all of them savoury, on Twitter and Facebook.
First of all, it’s important to keep your social media accounts on an even keel. Going off on a rant will not only get customers worried, it might give fuel to the media if they decide to interview you about Brexit and ask your opinion.
Make sure that you vet all communications relating to Brexit on social media as well as your website. Don’t forget, also, that you can use social media to demonstrate that you are on top of the issues and aren’t panicking about an imminent drop out of the EU without a deal.
- Be Prepared for Media Requests
With the chaos that has surrounded Brexit so far, you might be forgiven for shrugging it off and telling your customers you have no business plan at all. The truth is that customers may want to see what preparations you are making and how you are going to cope.
If you are likely to be contacted by media and journalists, it pays to have a strategy for how you are going to answer questions about your preparation and your views on the current state of Brexit. The one thing you don’t want to do, however, is promise things further down the line that you are not able to deliver on.
It’s a good idea to join journalist and PR platforms to find out what the issues of the day are so that you can then be ready with your own response if questioned.
- Press Releases
If you have your strategy in place and understand what you are doing, getting out a press release is always an option and can put customers at ease. You may not want to throw this out too soon, however, especially when we still don’t know where Brexit is heading.
Being prepared is not easy but reviewing your approach at regular intervals so that everyone in the team is on the same page should help prevent dangerous Brexit faux pas that could damage your business reputation. Keeping your team upskilled, confident and able to deal with media questions is of paramount importance when difficult, challenging or divisive issues are being talked about. Booking a media training session will bring your team the confidence they need to rise to every media query, through Brexit and beyond.