How to Handle a CX or PR Crisis
The full playbook, A-Z
Hi Team!
Three years ago, I started this CX newsletter to rant about topics I figured almost nobody cared about. Somewhere along the way, retention made its way in as well. I’ve screamed into the ether more weeks than I can count and poured a lot into building this thing.
Three years later, with 25,000 (!) of you here, I owe you a thank you for showing up every week. This doesn’t exist without the people who keep reading. Thank you.
This week, I want to tackle something that comes up often. It sounds simple, but almost no one handles it well.
Every few weeks, a brand gets itself in trouble. They get canceled. They partner with the wrong influencer. They don’t post a square on Instagram. They send out moldy bagels or whatever.
And more often than not, one of two things happens. They either go completely silent and hope it blows over. Or the founder spirals and says something they (or their investors) regret five minutes later.
So, how do you handle it when it’s your turn?
Let’s get into it.
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When You Actually Messed Up
The first few hours of a real crisis inside a company are pure chaos. Slack is a mess. Group texts are blowing up. Someone is refreshing the mentions nonstop. CX is scrambling to answer tickets with half-baked macros. Social is posting without approval. The founder is texting with reporters and getting dangerously close to going rogue online. The VP of Marketing is in Barbados and not answering their phone.
Everyone feels like this is the worst thing that has ever happened to the company. No one can think straight. People try to solve it with volume. More replies. More posts. More noise.
What is missing in moments like this is a clear narrative. One version of the story that everyone can align on. Not a 10-page statement. Not something created in panic. Just a shared understanding of what happened, what is being done about it, and how to communicate it.
Without that, you get mixed messages. Social says one thing. CX says another. The founder contradicts both. The public watches it unfold in real-time, and trust erodes even faster.
You do not need to respond in ten minutes. You do not need to post a notes app apology screenshot just to say you did. Two hours is fine. Four hours is fine. What matters is getting the story right. Customers can smell panic. They reward thoughtful leadership. They punish chaos.
If you made a mistake, whether it was bad product, broken process, or something worse, you owe people clarity. Own it. Explain how you are fixing it. Speak like a human. People want accountability, not corporate gibberish.
Moving fast without clarity is what makes things worse. I have never met anyone who regretted taking time to think. I have met plenty who regretted firing off a quick post and making things worse.
If you messed up, disappearing is not an option. Customers deserve better.
When You’re Actually in the Right
Not every crisis deserves a response. Not every internet outrage needs to be addressed. Knowing the difference is what separates the brands that survive from the ones that spiral.
In the early days at OLIPOP, we had sponsored Barstool Sports. Half the internet wanted to cancel us. The other half thought it was great. It blew up for a few days. We did not make a statement. We did not explain ourselves. We let it pass.
On the CX side, we answered people who reached out directly. We acknowledged their feedback, thanked them for sharing, and moved on. Not every comment needs a press release. Not every critique deserves attention. Some things burn themselves out faster when you leave them alone.
The hard part is knowing when to engage and when to hold. That takes judgment and experience. Silence can feel risky in the moment, but often protects the brand long term.
Silence only works when the outrage is manufactured. When someone is upset about a sponsorship or a brand tone, it usually fades. When the issue is real, whether it is product quality, customer harm, or broken promises, silence is the wrong call. People notice.
Strong brands know when to speak and when to move on. Weak brands get dragged into every fight.
Practical Tips That Actually Work
Appoint one to three people to make the final call. Social, CX, PR, and leadership all ladder into this group. Not everyone needs to be involved. The goal is clear decisions, not groupthink.
Make sure everyone is working from the same story. This is not about who posts first. It is about ensuring that CX, social, PR, and leadership are aligned. Confusion inside leads to confusion outside.
Move fast enough to show you are paying attention, but slow enough to get it right. Two hours feels like forever when people are yelling online. That is fine. Take the time. Get it right.
Know when silence is a strategy, not an excuse. If the issue is real, show up. If the outrage is manufactured, let it burn itself out. Chasing every comment is how you lose control.
Acknowledge your customers even when you are not making public statements. A short note like “Thanks for sharing this with us. We’re listening” goes further than people think. Customers want to feel heard, even when the answer is not immediate.
Take the conversation out of public view whenever possible. Public comment threads are not where resolution happens. Direct people to DMs, emails, or support channels. The goal is to de-escalate, not win a fight in the comments. You will not change hearts and minds in the replies section of someone’s viral thread.
Crisis moments feel massive when you are in them. They feel like they will define the company forever. Most will not. What people remember is not the mistake itself. They remember how you handled it. Did you show up with clarity? Did you take accountability? Did you stay calm when others were losing it?
The brands that make it through are not the ones that never mess up. They are the ones who know how to own it, fix it, and move forward.
That’s it for this week!
Any topics you'd like to see me cover in the future?
Just shoot me a DM or an email!
Cheers,
Eli 💛
P.S. If you want to figure out how to get your brand to rank high in LLMs and show up in ChatGPT, Gemini, and more… check this out
