SoFi Turns Issues Into Crises
One of the most frustrating things in reputation and crisis management is watching a company shoot itself in the foot by dithering and delaying making necessary public statements when it's clearly at fault but runs and hides -- turning a minor issue into a crisis.
SoFi, a $30 billion private financial institution, today sent out an email about a hack of consumer personally identifiable information (PII)...from January 2nd.
Given the constant security breaches we hear about every day, it's not a novel story. And like most breaches, the downside for customers appears to be limited. Just another data breach. Sigh.
But how on Earth do you wait 3+ weeks to share any information with customers? Sure, you need to take some time to get facts straight, work with the authorities, etc. But three 3+ weeks screams incompetence or coverup, plus a heaping side order of disdain.
Scenario 1: The CEO is too ignorant or stubborn to understand that reputation is the number one driver of a company's value (arrogant CEO)
Scenario 2: The CEO places no value on accountability and has no regard for customers as an essential part of making profit (uncaring CEO)
Scenario 3: The CEO relies on marketing and legal to lead reputation management (uninformed C-Suite)
Scenario 4: A Chief Communications Officer (CCO) or SVP who's unable to fight for what's right (poor hiring by CEO)
It's almost always one of the first three, if not all three.
Even in this crazy ass world that seems to be crumbling by the day, people have an unfailing capacity to forgive. But when you delay or deflect, you cede your chance at forgiveness.Instead of the most basic attempt at transparency, SoFi has turned a commonplace issue into a crisis of trust. If you're a senior executive at a company with a CEO that doesn't have an empowered CCO, you'll find out the consequences soon enough.
Reputation giveth and crisis taketh.
Do you need help building and protecting your organization’s reputation? Learn more about Chase Global communications services.
