The Incident Comms Template Customers Trust

Customer-facing incident comms are a craft. The template that builds trust, the rhythm of updates, and the words that erode credibility.

The template

What is happening (one sentence in customer terms).

Who is affected (specific; vague kills trust).

What we are doing (current action, in plain language).

When the next update will be (commit and meet it).

Update rhythm

First update within 15 minutes of detection. Even if all you know is 'we are investigating.'

Updates every 30 minutes during active investigation. Set expectations and hit them.

Resolution update with cause and prevention. Customers want to know it will not happen again.

Words to avoid

'Working as designed' (when something is broken).

'A small subset of users' (without saying who).

'Should be resolved' (commit, do not hedge).