How to Communicate With Customers During a Business Crisis

By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · Updated September 2026 · 769 words

During a crisis, customers need three things from you quickly: what has changed, what you are doing about it and how to reach you, delivered honestly, through channels they already use, by someone they trust. Companies that communicate this way tend to keep their customers through the disruption. Companies that go quiet leave a silence that competitors are happy to fill.

The 2020 pandemic forced every business to learn this at once, but the same approach applies to a storm, a system outage, a product problem or a supplier failure.

Put the essentials where customers look first

In the first hours, practical information matters more than messages about how much you care. Update each of these, and keep them current:

• Your website's home page, with a short notice at the top.
• Your hours and locations on Google and any other listings customers use.
• What services are available, limited or paused, and expected response times.
• Any safety or quality steps you are taking, stated plainly.
• A phone number and email that a real person is monitoring.
• A direct email or text to existing customers, so they do not have to go looking.

Prepare the next message before the next crisis

The companies that communicate best in a crisis usually prepared before it. Keep a current contact list for every customer, including a mobile number for the main contact at each large account. Draft short template notices for the events most likely to hit your business, such as severe weather, a system outage or a supply shortage, so that on the day you are editing rather than writing from scratch. Decide in advance who approves messages and who sends them, and make sure more than one person can post to your website and listings.

Show your values through what you do, wherever customers are

A crisis is a test of what your company says it stands for. If you tell customers that service comes first, prove it: answer the phone, honor service agreements, and prioritize customers who are most affected. If you can afford to, look after your employees visibly and support your community in ways that fit your business. Customers remember those actions long after they forget the announcements.

Be careful not to promise more than you can deliver. Declaring values and then failing to act on them does more damage than saying nothing. A short, specific commitment you keep beats a long statement you cannot.

When customers cannot come to you, or you cannot go to them, look for ways to deliver some of your value anyway: a phone or video consultation, delivery or pickup, online ordering, remote diagnosis, extended support hours. Useful, practical content, such as how to keep equipment running safely until a technician can visit, keeps your company in front of customers while normal service is interrupted.

Watch your tone. Warm, clear and human works. Humor can work if it fits your brand, but in a real crisis it often misfires. Measure success by what customers tell you and whether they stay, not by clicks.

Call your largest customers personally

A mass email is not enough for the accounts that carry your revenue. The owner or the account's main contact should call each of them early, explain what is happening, ask how the crisis is affecting them and agree on what happens next. Where you can afford it, flexibility on schedules or payment terms builds loyalty that outlasts the event. Note what was agreed, so promises made in a hurry are kept.

Once the worst has passed, ask what your company should look like afterward. Some changes made under pressure, such as online booking or remote consultations, are worth keeping.

Why this shows up in your sale price

When you sell, buyers study how customers behaved through difficult periods. A company that kept its accounts through a crisis has shown that its revenue is durable, and durable, repeat revenue is one of the strongest drivers of value; our answer on how recurring revenue affects a sale price explains why. Keep the evidence: retention by year, service agreements renewed, and the story of how the company handled the disruption.

How we present a company's resilience

When MDR & Associates prepares a company for market as part of its sell-side representation, the financial recast and confidential marketing package show buyers how customer revenue held up and why, backed by the records. Owners with 12 to 24 months before a sale can use pre-exit consulting to strengthen customer contracts and retention before buyers look. To see how your company's current results would be valued, request a free valuation snapshot.

Where this fitsSell your business in Texas →

Questions owners ask next

Who should speak for the company during a crisis?

Usually the owner or one senior manager, supported by a short written summary that everyone else uses. One consistent voice prevents contradictory answers. Front-line staff should know the key facts and whom to refer questions to, so customers get the same story whoever they call.

Should I offer discounts to keep customers during a crisis?

Only where it makes sense and you can afford it. Flexibility on schedules or payment terms for loyal customers often builds more goodwill than a general price cut, and it avoids resetting what customers expect to pay once things return to normal.