Agenda. Best Practices for Marketing Your Business Continuity Program Outside the Organization. Introduction

Transcription

1 Best Practices for Marketing Your Business Continuity Program Outside the Organization Joanna D Aquanni SAS Brian Zawada Avalution Consulting Agenda Introduction Who Might Be Interested in Your Program Marketing Solutions and Examples Tips on Getting Started Q&A Three Core Business Continuity Management Activities Planning (doing it or leading it) Response and recovery coordination, leadership, advisory assistance to the organization Marketing/evangelism (our focus today) What Do We Mean By Marketing your business continuity program? Informing interested parties with the objective of seeking engagement or creating comfort regarding business continuity planning Motivating toward action by articulating a value proposition 1

2 Why Invest in Marketing Awareness Engagement Competitive Differentiator New Revenue Sustain Revenue Create Comfort Implications of Not Marketing Reactively responding to requests for business continuity planning and capability information Loss of confidence Decreased resources Loss of momentum Who s Interested Internal and External Interested Parties Internal Board, executive management, sales/marketing, audit, program participants, employees in general External Customers, shareholders/investors, regulators, business partners/suppliers, government agencies, insurers, potential employees and employers, media, fellow BC practitioners Who s Interested Engagement Model More on this later under Tips 2

3 ISO Certification Third party attestation of conformance to a specific standard Depending on audience, certification = credibility and/or performance ISO / PS PREP For customers and business partners asked questions Organization s External Web Page High level statement under Corporate Governance or About Us Primary external marketing vehicle For anyone and everyone Program Summary/White Paper Several page paper addresses common customer and prospect assurance questions Useful for general external and internal education Corporate Social Responsibility Report Report (often online) describes socially and environmentally responsible initiatives Prospective employees and customers 3

4 External Party Questionnaires, Audits BC program assurance requests (e.g. new sale or strategic supplier questionnaires) and audits met with pre scripted materials under NDA (e.g. slide overview, Policy etc ) Prospects, customers, regulators Conferences, Webinars, Journal Articles, LinkedIn Groups, Blogs Sharing your knowledge builds your network and knowledge and extends your organization s visibility BCM Professionals, prospective partners, employees and employers pm 445 pm Community Outreach During or After Disaster Donating time, money, expertise and other resources supports those in need and extends your visibility BCM professionals, prospective partners, employees and employers Industry Association Participation Demonstrates commitment through an advocacy organization Avenue to market the program Additional benefit improves preparedness performance Audience is really anyone with an interest in the industry (in particular government and supply chain participants) 4

5 Host BC Professional Association Meeting Promotes you and your organization s program in local community Showcase program in short opening presentation. Providing refreshments is a bonus! Potential employees and employers, customers, prospects tations/2013/2q/bcpc%20quarterly%20meeting_ may_16_2013_slides.ppt Participation in External Exercises Volunteering facilities and/or personnel to external agency exercises are learning and promotional opportunities Customers, partners, agencies, 2 auditors : rdu holds emergency preparedness exercise&catid=1:2010&itemid= NLE2012 PrivateSectorGuide.pdf 1 BCM Days Annual industry awareness raising events e.g. Business Continuity Awareness Week (BCAW), National Preparedness Month Customers, partners, auditors and internal audiences Who has an interest in your program and your organization s ability to recover? What are you trying to do with this stakeholder group? Outcome: Beginnings of a communications plan (annual or ad hoc) 5

6 Use the examples we ve just introduced to generate ideas But Consider how you engage the stakeholder group on a routine basis for methods of delivery What makes your audience tick (and what do you think will motivate them)? Speak their language Be truthful Engage experts Marketing professionals inside your organization, and as necessary, legal Feedback / Just like everything else, focus on continual improvement Ask for feedback on the message and method of message delivery (for example, lingering questions the audience might have) Conclusions Develop, maintain and execute a strategy to create awareness, engagement and comfort with your organization s interested parties Your BCM program provides value to your organization and your business community. Market it! 6

7 Presenter Information Q&A Joanna D Aquanni (MsBC, CBCP, PMP) Joanna.daquanni@sas.com Brian Zawada (MBCI, MBCP) Brian.Zawada@Avalution.com Presentation Abstract It s well known that a strong business continuity program can serve as a competitive differentiator. Besides aligning your program to best practices and investing in best inclass response and recovery solutions, how do you let your customers and other third parties know about your program? What are the keys to marketing your program in order to capitalize on the investment made? And what are the business continuity planning activities and outcomes that truly resonate with customers? Attend this session to learn how to effectively market your business continuity program and help your customers get comfortable with your preparedness efforts. 7