Investor Relations

156INVESTOR RELATIONSconsider that “confidence comes by foot and goes by horse.” In this sense,one of the main reasons Investor Relations exists is to proactively preventcrises or effectively ensure proper damage control.If a company has interacted regularly with analysts, investors, and journalists,and consistently provided them with reliable and exhaustive informationthat is adapted to their work methods, it should be able to anticipate themarket’s reaction to nearly any kind of crisis. If executives have made themselvesavailable over time, they will have earned the trust of markets, duringgood times and bad. This process is the foundation of the Investor Relationsstrategy, the one without which crisis communication cannot be effective.3.8.2 Joining Press Relations and InvestorRelations ForcesA critical success factor will be to effectively join Press Relations andInvestor Relations strengths in the crisis management task force.IROs should imperatively be involved in this entire process and not be seenmerely as disseminators of regulation-compliant information. They knowmore than anyone about the market’s sensitivities and how to identify keyaudiences based on how important their contributions are to the future of thecompany. They know when and how to use the right tools to keep shareholders,analysts, and even the business press up to date. IROs are also responsiblefor letting management know in real time how the company is perceived bythe market is such circumstances. The chain of command may be such that theIRO does not feel free to speak freely and objectively, in which case an outsideadvisor, who must be legitimate and given the same priority access to internaland external information, may also be brought into this “inner circle.”The IRO and the Investor Relations team should have access to all theinformation needed to understand what is at stake, sparing no details. Thiswill enable them todevelop Q&A documents that are shared with the entire crisis managementteam;deliver messages thatare truly informative and as objective as can be,describe business continuity plan for the crisis,reach the key stakeholders before they hear about it second handfrom the media or someone else;make sure the company speaks with one voice.