On Wednesday 17th August, I got the news that the Paralympic cyclist we support – Simin Richardson MBE – had been airlifted to hospital in an horrific hit and run road accident.  Simon, whose condition was critical, fought back from a similar accident in 2001 to go on and win three medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics (2 Gold and I Silver, aswell as breaking two world records).  You can read more about him and why we sponsored him here.  Media interest in the story was very high, as Simon was preparing for London 2012 in the hope of catching the selectors eye, this was a standard road training session for him.

Simon doesn't have an agent so I stepped in to assist the family with the media relations.  I heard of the accident at 2.30pm, by 9.45pm I was on Radio Five Live, the following day I was recording TV intereviews for BBC, ITV and Radio 4 whilst in London on a business trip aswell as fielding multiple calls from national media – The Guardian, The Independent aswell as Cycling and Regional Press.  I've been media trained, so here's my Top 10 tips to apply in the the middle of a media crisis: -

1. Quickly establish a central point of information.  One number or place to call for media enquiries, ensure that the people on the end of it are fully briefed at all times.
2. Have all potential media contact points refer media enquiries back to this point (family, relevant organisations, employees, hosptial etc).  Not always possible, but do what you can.
3. Only deal in facts, dates, times etc – don't speculate or embellish facts, say them as they are.  The media will do the speculating for you.
4. Check stories that have been written to ensure that they are factually correct.  If necessary, call the journalist back up.
5. Keep dates, names and times of which journalists you talk to and what you said.  I carried a notebook with me, that way you can refer back.
6. Update regularly.  I used Twitter and my cycling blog to issue news as and when we had it.  One source of information, factually correct.  You can read the updates and timeline here.
7. Wherever possible keep interested organisations pro-actively checked in.  Business partners, sponsors, stakeholders – ensure that they learn things in real time.
8. Have a call to action set up.  I could quickly direct people to my blog or Twitter feed, so when asked "Where should people go to?" I could quickly respond.
9. Utilise social media where it can assist you.  We used Twitter to launch a hashtag called #SIMONSTRONG where concerned cyclists could send their messages of support for Simon.  This quickly morphed into a dedicated bike with all the Twitter follower names on.  Read more about that here.  Subsquently we launched a "Ride for Simon" campaign which went live over the weekend. 
10. Stay calm and rational.  Float yourself above the situation and see it through another persons eyes. It will allow you to be more constructive in your help.

If you can, employ a media professional to do this for you.  Not all businesses are of the size that they can afford to, but depending on what the crisis is, it may pay in the long run, particularly if it's a product or brand reputation issue. 

As for Simon, he's still critical (10 days on) but getting better and making steps in the right direction.  By positively managing the media, we've allowed his family to be at his bedside, protected them from interruption and managed the overwhelming support he has received from all areas of the cycling community. 

A tip for you.  Never discount in chunks divisble by five.

Think about it.  Most time you talk about discounts you go up in chunks of five per cent.  Five per cent, ten per cent, fifteen per cent – it’s just the way people tend to think.    If you knew the true impact that discounting has on your bottom line, you’d fight for every one per cent. When you take into account the fixed cost structures your business has, hanging onto an additional one per cent can have a transformational effect on your bottom line.

Here’s five tips for you when someone asks for a discount: -

1).  When someone asks for discount, ask for something back.  For example – faster payment, a referral letter or a top-up of the order which makes it more efficient to handle logistically.  Consider it a trade-off, you want something from me, so what are you offering in exchange?

2).  Distract discounting discussions by trying to remove something from your offer.  ” You want an additional five per cent, sure we can achieve that by replacing X with Y or removing X from the deal”.

3).  Probe, probe, probe your buyer.  If you have something that you know is a good fit for a specific reason for their requirement, hang on in there.  Keep re-questioning their key reason for the purchase, in particular re-capping what they want from a potential supplier – this could be your saving grace on defending your pricing position.

4) Discount in blocks of one per cent.  It gives a far greater impression that you’ve got your pricing in tune, from the start and that you need profits for the long term, to support the customer.

5)  Have things that are of low value to you, but perceived high value to the customer up your sleeve.  This again comes back to questioning.  It’s amazing what small things sometimes swing deals, because it is of perceived high value to the customer.  Perhaps it’s throwing something in for a consumer or a priority line into your customer support centre.  Remember, people are time and attention poor, what can you do to help.