Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

The one thing that can be more destructive to a company, than possibly anything else, is being exposed for purposefully and deliberately deceiving your customers about your product's safety.

A major problem that always comes up in this particular issue is the involvement of lawyers whose input is to always go stealth and not to say a thing because of liability factors. While this has its proper place, there is not only legal courts to consider but the court of public opinion which can be much more punishing than any jury could be.

In the beginning it doesn't matter whether you're culpible or not, if the public thinks you are.

Erika Morphy of CRMbuyer writes:

"In other words, be proactive in solving the problem -- even if you are not at fault. Hennessey points to an extreme example of such a scenario that actually took place: Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) reaction when its Tylenol containers were tampered with in the 1980s resulting in several deaths. Its response has become the gold standard for crisis communications.

"J&J immediately withdrew all their product from the shelves, costing millions of dollars," Hennessey said, and "then produced tamper-proof containers for all their products." Sales of the product dropped initially after what happened, but some six to 12 months later they were at higher levels than before the incident."

Here are 3 steps she offers to combat the problem:

Step one: The company must recognize there is a problem. This includes contacting authorities, contacting affected parties, hiring investigative or forensic experts, and informing the public.

The next step is to contain -- or rather, define -- the parameters of the problem, he said.

The final step is actually resolving the problem, Getch said. "No one is going to hear the 'trust' message until you've done steps 1 and 2."

Taking these steps can help stave off devastation to your company. Don't let your only response be a loud silence.