Let's face it, sometimes mistakes happen and things go wrong. How you handle the situation will often determine whether your smallest mistake becomes a big crisis 

Even if you can't predict what will go wrong, having a plan in place outlining specific steps in case of a mistake will make it easier to respond. This is true in the real world or on social media, where your Twitter or Facebook page can absolutely blow up.

Things to keep in mind as you're thinking about your emergency or crisis plan:

Appoint a team leader. Have one person identified who will be in charge of coordinating all of the public responses.  They may not need to be the one crafting all the messages, but should serve as a clearing house for all statements.

Personalized apologies are great, but be sure to create a blanket statement  you can use if you start getting lots of comments all at once. Remember if customers have legitimate grievances, the very best thing you can do is encourage them to connect with you directly and take the conversation off of social media.

And don't panic. People will forgive you if you acknowledge you've done something wrong and demonstrate a willingness to resolve the issue.