Entrepreneur interviewed me to get the six simple steps to maximize productivity by 500% and it only takes 5 minutes a day. I reveal the time management secrets from our late founder, Chet Holmes, in his book The Ultimate Sales Machine.

Originally Chet learned these strategies while working for Berkshire Hathaway Vice-President Charlie Munger (Warren Buffet’s business partner). He noticed Charlie’s time was maximized in every way and once he adopted the practices of his billionaire boss he found the secret to mastering time effectively. Chet always used to say that majority of businesses are terrible at time management, and if he could see how we waste it with our phones today he’d be utterly shocked.

To hear the full interview only takes 15 minutes press play below. It could be the best 15 minutes you spend this year if adopted with PIG HEADED DISCIPLINE AND DETERMINATION.

You can also read the steps below!

BUT FIRST. Good advise is contextual. Would you like to talk to a real human about how to grow your business? That’s what we’re here for, to help you grow faster, better, smarter! Schedule your own breakthrough strategy call where we find you a breakthrough in your business in under 20 minutes, click HERE to get your complimentary session!

SIX STEPS TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY BY 500% 

Six proactive steps to time management can transform your day. They take five minutes to do and can double the amount of results you get daily. The problem is not whether or not these steps will work, because they will absolutely work. The problem is whether or not you will fully commit to doing them, repeatedly. The key to time management is commitment to the following six steps:

Step One: Touch it once 

How often do you pick up something on your desk and say, “I have to take care of this, but I can’t deal with it right now”? If you do that a few times per day with a few different documents/projects/tasks, by the end of the year, you will have spent an entire month touching and rereading information without taking action. So, if you touch it, move it to the next step. If you want to see how often you waste time, each time you pick up something, put a red dot on it. After you have three red dots on a piece of paper, you begin to feel pressure to do something and move on. If you touch it, take care of it.

Step Two: Make lists, but stick to the six most important things 

When we conduct this time management seminar, we ask how many people in the audience make lists. Practically everyone does. People often have lists with 25 to as many as 40 items on them. They are proud that their lists are so long and that they are so busy. Further investigation quickly shows them that long lists are the perfect way to be busy, but not productive. When you have a long list, your energy is focused more on trimming the list than it is on being productive. Each day, pick the six items that will produce the highest level of results, put them on your list, and finish all six things by day’s end.

Step Three: Plan how long you will spend on each item 

You’ve started your day by making a list of the six most important things. That took two or three minutes. Now take another minute to plan how long each item will take or how long you will dedicate to the items that are ongoing. When we conduct this workshop, the people with long lists usually find that they can have an incredibly productive day with only six hours spent on their six key items. Most people who use these steps find they get more important work done in less time because their time is focused on the most productive tasks.

Step Four: Plan when 

Now that you know how much time to dedicate to each task, you need to plan when you will do them. In addition, you must build in time for the reactive mode. For example, if you are a sales manager interrupted by frequent “got a minute” meetings, plan a fixed time when you will accept those types of meetings. Otherwise, unless it is an emergency, do not allow people to come to your desk and ask if you’ve got a minute! Think of any top executive you know. Can you simply call them up, or do you have to schedule time with them? Many top executives plan their day down to the minute. Everything is done according to a schedule, including time for “got a minute” meetings. Scheduling time is the key to time management.

Step Five: Ask the results 

Few people are highly productive. People like to have items on a list, so they can cross off the items. But that’s not enough. The things that produce the best results are generally the most difficult. Thus, they get left off of the list or are scheduled at the end of the day, causing them to get bumped to the next day…and the next…and the next. Schedule important tasks in the beginning of your day. Cold calling or trying to get appointments with key prospects or clients are the things that produce the best results. However, they often get pushed off by average salespeople. After you make your list, ask yourself if the items on it are the ones that will produce the most results.

Step Six: Will it hurt me to throw this away? 

Of all filed information, 80% is never referred to again. After hearing this time management idea, I began to throw away four out of five of the items I used to keep. It’s been 10 years, and I cannot think of a single time where it has hurt me.

Making The Training Stick

Human behavior can only truly be affected in two ways: Repetition and direct involvement. You can agree intellectually that these six steps will cause a productivity increase, but until you practice them (direct involvement) and continue to use them (repetition), your behavior will not change.

Common wisdom is that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. My experience is that it takes years. But for now, if you can stick to this program for just 21 days, you will be forever reminded of its power, and you will be more likely to use these important steps.

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF A MANAGER’S DAY

8:00 – 8:30am Plan day; have quick look at staff’s planned day.

8:30 – 9:30am Work on strategy to overcome our new, most frequently heard objection.

9:30 – 10:00am Create a standard promotional piece or standard letter that addresses the problem.

10:00 – 12:00pm On sales call with Bill

12:00 – 1:30pm Lunch with important client, Smith

1:30 – 2:00pm Miscellaneous

2:00 – 3:00pm Got-A-Minute meetings

3:00 – 4:00pm Review “Six Musts of Marketing” for the month

4:00 – 5:00pm Work on improving systems

5:00 – 6:00pm Meet with Boss

Question: How much of this day is proactive?

Answer: All but 90 minutes

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! Write down your top six RIGHT NOW!

Want to share them? Comment below!

with love and light,
Amanda Holmes
CEO Ultimate Sales Machine

P.S. Did you see this earlier? Good advise is still contextual. Would you like to talk to a real human about how to grow your business? That’s what we’re here for, to help you grow faster, better, smarter! Schedule your own breakthrough strategy call where we find you a breakthrough in your business in under 20 minutes, click HERE to get your complimentary session!

“Retailers are really going to have to get smarter about how they use technology because we’re in a retail apocalypse right now,” says Amanda Holmes, CEO of Chet Holmes International. Many consumers are forming purchase decisions online based largely on peer reviews – this could spell death for salesmen who refuse to adapt to current buying trends. Amanda reveals her sales conversion strategy, and explains the concept of the ‘Buyer’s Pyramid’ which is detailed in her late father’s book, The Ultimate Sales Machine.

To hear the full interview listen here:

How has the retail apocalypse affected you? Please feel free to comment!

with love,
Amanda Holmes
CEO Chet Holmes International

P.S. If you like what you hear, you can always take advantage of our latest opportunity to have your very own Growth Session with a Chet Holmes Growth Coach. Learn how you can get 9x the results from your marketing and sales, click HERE!

Studies have shown that superstar salespeople spend 60% of their time focused on building rapport with a prospect, way more than the average sales person. What better way to gain their trust than to release a natural “feel-good” chemical and make them laugh! I happened to be searching LinkedIn last week and I came across a fantastic LinkedIn group called “Brilliant Ads.” I took the most hilarious ones just for you because…

1. Seeing these massively successful campaigns will give you some good creative muse for your next marketing campaign.
2. I’ve been using these pictures as a sales tool to send to my potential clients to break the ice, crack a good joke, and win some rapport through text message, facebook chat, and email. (I even put #8 in a proposal right before the pricing to soften them before the close).
3. Because I find these hilarious and I want you to enjoy them as well

How can you do something like these ads in your next campaign…

The Funniest Insurance Ad Ever. Can you create a picture and caption like this for your company?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Can you capture the perfect picture that puts your buyer in urgency, pain, or laughter? This Diamond company did all three.

Can you use the holidays to post something seasonally funny? Welcome to the scariest day of the year…

Educate your buyer about why you’re better than your competition! Even something as simple as this, highly effective! (Notice how many likes this got on LinkedIn, almost double what all the other posts received).

Can you create something that’s innovative and grabs attention? How many employees do you have in the field? Did you ever consider using their cars as billboards? #guerillamarketing

Can you come up with a creative place to put your ads where people haven’t seen them before and find it clever?

McDonalds took thinking out of the box to a new level. What out of the box thinking can you create in your marketing mediums?

HILARIOUS. This is the one I’ve been using in my emails and proposals to potential clients… “P.S. I saw this ad a couple days ago on LinkedIn and found it amusing. I think it’s a great analogy of what our work will do together… All you need is [insert what you will give them] and it changes everything. ;)”

What clever merch can you place your company information on? I’ve been keeping this stick of chapstick for years because it tastes amazing and the provider that put their information on it has been on the top of my mind years later because of it. Where can you place your information where people will continue to see it for years to come?

Who is your target market? Can you speak in their language? Jacoby&Meyer knew millennials liked emoji’s and this campaign has been a huge hit for them.

Hah. Too funny. Be clever and remember laughter is a great way to gain rapport with clients. The difference between superstar salespeople and mediocre is their ability to build a lasting relationship.

If you’re looking to spice up your marketing material, or find more compelling ways to close more sales download our chapter that changes lives from our New York Times Best Seller The Ultimate Sales Machine. Or if you’d like to speak to someone about growing your company faster, better, smarter, sign up for a 22 minute strategy call with one of our growth specialists.

Love and light,

Amanda Holmes
CEO -Chet Holmes International

P.S. Have YOU ever put together a clever campaign? Tell me about it below in the comments box!

In anticipation of our upcoming webinar 4 Step-By-Step Strategies To Win 42% More Business, we thought we’d share a sneak peek at one of the strategies we’ll be covering—HOW TO CREATE A GREAT SALES SCRIPT.

This concept will be addressed in greater detail in the webinar (you really want to hear this sales script delivered LIVE by an expert in order to grasp how ridiculously effective it is, but we’ll do our best here just in writing). That said, any enterprising CEO should be able to implement the concepts contained solely within this post to huge benefit in their company. In fact, for greater ease of implementation we’ve included a download at the end of this post containing a blank template for creating this kind of killer sales script in your business today.

But enough preamble, in the words of music producer Berry Gordy, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus!”

What follows is the sales script used by the salespeople of a 1.5 Billion Dollar home-building company in Mexico—BEFORE CHI got involved.

THE PRE-CHI SCRIPT:

SALESPERSON – Hi, this is Pedro Gomez from X Company. I would love to come talk to your employees about buying a home.

PROSPECT – Homes? No thank you. We’re not interested.

END SALES SCRIPT.

That’s basically what they were saying.

Train wreck…

Their solution to the resulting low rate of appointment setting was to pound away at the phones with the hope that maybe ONE business owner SOMEWHERE would be mildly interested.

At CHI we’re all in favor of pounding away at a sales effort, but we also live by the maxim: work SMARTER not HARDER—and this was not an example of working SMARTER.

BUT THEN AGAIN, MOST SALES SCRIPTS ARE NOT.

Our experience is that most sales scripts look like the one above. Such a script accomplishes three things—none of them particularly useful.

1. It lets the prospect know who you are. OKAY.
2. It tells them what YOU want. BAD. Hint: they don’t care what YOU want. What’s in it for THEM?
3. And it opens the door for the prospect to say NO immediately. VERY BAD.
4. If a sales rep does manage the sale from here, he/she deserves a medal—it’s going to be an uphill battle against a foe that is in control and LEADING the whole time.

Oftentimes this limp script is all the sales rep is provided. After that they’re left to their own devices while in poor strategic position and with poor tools. Good luck, buddy.

ENTER the strategic, SMARTER approach…

THE CHI SCRIPT:

By contrast to the three weak accomplishments of the previous script, this new script accomplishes 11 carefully thought out, strategic objectives:

1. It lets the prospect know who you are. OKAY.
2. It positions your company as well respected in its field. GOOD.
3. It only opens the door for the prospect to say, “Yes.” And does so REPEATEDLY. GREAT.
4. It focuses on THEIR needs. Not yours. GOOD.
5. It positions your company as altruistic and outwardly focused—trustworthy. GREAT.
6. It educates the prospect (allowing for objectives 7, 8, 9, and 10). EXCELLENT
7. It builds rapport (educating builds rapport while selling breaks it). GREAT.
8. It allows you to reset the prospect’s buying criteria in your favor. GREAT.
9. It keeps the prospect INTERESTED. GREAT.
10. 10.  It positions the salesperson as a knowledgeable expert. GREAT.
11. 11.  And finally, it makes the Call To Action a breeze. RESULTS!

Here’s how it’s done…

FIRST, A WORD OF CAUTION

Don’t use this script on the WRONG PERSON! Every word of this sales script has been painstakingly chosen, and pitching it to the wrong audience will absolutely ruin its effectiveness. Who is the RIGHT AUDIENCE you ask? ALWAYS PITCH THE PERSON WHO HAS THE AUTHORITY TO SAY, “YES” WITHOUT ASKING SOMEBODY ELSE’S PERMISSION! If you pitch what we call a “gatekeeper,” chances are they have the power to say, “No, we’re not interested,” but not the power to say, “Yes, we’re buying!” The best you can hope for is that the gatekeeper will try to get you in front of his/her boss. Then you end up with the gatekeeper pitching YOUR script.

WITH NO PRACTICE.

WITH NOTHING INVESTED IN THE OUTCOME.

AND PROBABLY IN LESS THAN THIRTY SECONDS.

Don’t do it! If you want to know more about getting past these gatekeepers, click HERE.

With that essential warning out of the way…

HERE IS THE SMARTER SCRIPT:

SALESPERSON – Hi, this is Pedro Gomez from X company. Are you familiar with us?

PROSPECT – Yes/No.

SALESPERSON – Okay then you should know (or already know) that we’re the largest homebuilder in Mexico.(This lets the prospect know who you are, and also why your company should be respected—objectives 1 and 2. We’re off to a good start)

Now the reason I’m calling you is because we recently commissioned a study of issues facing Mexico and how that’s going to impact you and your employees. (Objective 4, focus on THEM and THEIR needs)

Are you interested in making your employees more secure, less stressed, and more effective on the job? (Again objective 4)

PROSPECT – Uh, of course. (Remember how quickly the prospect said “No” before? This time we don’t give them that option—objective 3, get them saying YES. On that note, what is a question that you can ask right away in your sales scripts that the prospect CAN’T say “No” to? Remember: the best way to close a sale is for the prospect to close themselves)

(Side note: who is leading this conversation? With that last question we passed the ball to the prospect, but they have no choice but to pass it right back)

SALESPERSON – That’s where we can help. You’re probably aware that Mexico is emerging in several areas as a leader in the world market. Since our company is one of the largest companies in Mexico (Objective 2), we feel it is our responsibility to assist this country in any way we can. (This establishes our company as both altruistic and trustworthy, accomplishing objective 5. Now watch as we keep the prospect saying “Yes,” and continue to LEAD the conversation with another question the prospect just can’t say “No” to)

Are you interested in making Mexico a stronger nation if it doesn’t cost you anything to do it?

PROSPECT – Uh, yeah, I guess. (Objective 3 again—what self-respecting Mexican citizen can say no to this?)

SALESPERSON – I’m sure you’re aware that there are government programs that make it so almost every employee you have can own a home. (This is where the sales script begins to educate the prospect. Education based marketing is an incredibly powerful and advanced tool—that we’ve developed into something we call a Core Story—that deserves a whole blog post unto itself. For now we will say only that this approach accomplishes or enhances almost all of our previously established objectives, particularly objectives 4-10)

PROSPECT – I didn’t know that. (But it’s an interesting piece of information, right?—objective 9)

SALESPERSON – Oh it’s a fantastic opportunity for individuals and also for the entirety of Mexico. See we work closely with various government agencies (objective 2) and now have a program that educates you and your staff about the growth of the Mexican economy, why you should have more pride in Mexico, and how almost every employee can afford now to own a home. (Objectives: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Perhaps you get the picture and I don’t need to point out all the different strategies at work in every line. From here on I’ll mention just the highlights)

You see, if your employees own homes, they are more tied into the job, and need to keep it even more. Do you like keeping good staff around?

PROSPECT – Well, yes, of course. (ANOTHER YES. It’s almost too easy at this point…)

SALESPERSON – Then what I’d like to do is make this program available to your entire staff. Here’s how we do it. You send out a memo and make an announcement to each staff member. We will supply the announcement and memo (See how we leave nothing to chance here? We do all the work for the prospect, but more importantly we’re in complete control. This makes the call to action SIMPLE. People have a tendency to go where there is the least resistance. So we make it as easy on them as possible—objective 11), then we come by at lunch and also after work and talk to the staff. You win from this as people who own their own homes are better citizens, better employees, more stable and more dependent upon their job. Does that make sense to you? (By now you surely don’t need us to point out how this line actively contributes to objectives 3-11. Instead I’d like to guide your attention specifically to objective 8—resetting the prospect’s buying criteria. Two minutes ago this prospect had no buying criteria and was absolutely uninterested in us selling houses to his/her employees. By educating him/her however, we’ve completely changed his/her perspective on the matter. Now the prospect sees what’s in it for him/her. Through educating your prospect—which also accomplishes objectives 7-10 if the information is good—you can give criteria to buyers who had few buying criteria beyond price, and you can change the buying criteria of more knowledgeable buyers into criteria that are favorable to your company)

PROSPECT – Yes, it does. (How can they say no at this point? They have much to gain and all the hard work has been done for them)

SALESPERSON – Great, then we could get in there next week and get started. I’ll get you over the announcement and memo. (All that’s left is to iron out the details)

END SCRIPT.

It should be obvious that strategically and tactically the second script blows the first script out of the water. Remember the salesperson using the first script, stuck in poor strategic position with no tools at his/her disposal? At CHI we don’t believe in sending salespeople into the front lines of capitalism empty-handed; as the second script should demonstrate, we want them armed to the teeth.

RESULTS

Nobody can say that any sales script is effective 100% of the time, but it should be obvious that our script was far superior to the one that the company previously utilized. As you might guess, the results reflected this. Along with other tools we provided, this exact script was responsible for the homebuilding company landing Walmart as a client—dream client. In fact, in total, our efforts for this particular company increased sales to the tune of 700 million dollars over two years.

We want you to have these kinds of results.

Below you’ll find a free download of the template used to create this STRATEGICALLY SUPERIOR sales script. If you like the information in this blog post, feel free to share it on your favorite social media platform(s) and/or with anyone you know who might benefit from it.

Also consider subscribing to our blog. We’re in the process of implementing a new initiative concerning blog posts, and future entries promise to be packed full of concrete and actionable tools to help you succeed.

TEMPLATE DOWNLOAD

Cheers,

The CHI Team

In celebration of my father’s life, here are a couple of free videos for you to enjoy:

The Exact Sales Script Chet Used to Get to the Most Successful People in the World

Now that I’ve shared these with you, I’d love to know, what’s your favorite inspiring quote? Leave it in the comments section below.

With love,

Amanda Holmes

[Case Study] This Boosted Sales 1,100% for Chet Holmes International

A few weeks ago, our friends at LeadPages asked if they could profile our company in a case study. I didn’t just say yes—I told them:

“I’m going to be the best case study you’ve ever had.”

Businesses routinely see impressive conversion results when they start using LeadPages’ landing pages and other tools, but I’m not sure anyone would have predicted we could take our sales conversion rate up by 1,100%.

I want to share with you exactly what I did to grow our business while taking our operations into the digital age. In this post, we cover:

• How Content Can Build Excitement: This sequence of emails and lead magnets kept people highly interested from opt-in to purchase.

• My Exact Campaign Flow: Step by step, you’ll see how I turned tons of people from cold leads into members of Chet Holmes International.

• The Four Templates I Used to Build My Campaign: You’ll even get a direct link to download them yourself when you read the post.

I’m still a little wowed by the results we’ve seen, and I think you will be too! The post is full of strategies you can apply to your own business. You might get some good ideas about what you can do with your LeadPages tool, check it out here.
Enjoy!

Amanda Holmes
Chet Holmes International

For small businesses, stress is a common occurrence among owners and staff members. Enterprises often lack the resources and capabilities of their larger counterparts, and therefore have to handle many tasks at once rather than delegating them to certain departments or outsourcing them to other companies.

This causes stress levels to rise and can eventually lead to owner and employee burnout if left unchecked. Fortunately, there are many methods that, as a small-business owner, you can implement to reduce stress and keep everyone happy, healthy and motivated.

1. Revise your habits: Everyone has a habit of how they do things, and this also pertains to work. While some habits are highly effective, others may be slowing you and your staff down. USA Today suggests taking a look at your daily work habits and changing them to become more efficient. Altering your commute or taking extra, smaller breaks throughout the day may bring down stress levels.

2. Log off email after work: In the age of smartphones, work is now always in the palm of our hands. However, checking email after you and your employees have left work interferes with any personal or relaxation time. The Washington Post recommends that owners and staff members refrain from sending and answering emails when not at work unless it’s an emergency. Keeping work-related emails in between working hours helps you and your employees unplug and unwind.

3. Lean on other small business: In many cases, taking the time to talk to someone about stress and possible burnout helps alleviate problems. Finding other small-business owners who understand and have experienced what you are going through helps you build a strong support system, Fox Business states.

4. Get to the gym: Working out is a great stress reliever. Spending time in the gym can help you work out frustrations and clear your head, writes USA Today. Encouraging yourself and your staff members to get active helps reduce stress levels and avoid burnout.

5. Spend time with your family: As a small-business owner, you may have had to sacrifice time with your family to get work-related responsibilities taken care of. Unfortunately, this contributes to stress and leads to burnout too often. Fox Business recommends setting aside time each week to spend with family that helps take your mind off of work and gets you in tune with your loved ones.

You can also take advantage of business coaching services to discuss ways in which you can make your small company an enjoyable place to work by engaging staff and keeping yourself and your employees motivated, happy and loyal.

Just like any other task, putting practices in place to decrease stress takes time and effort. However, by implementing strategies for you and your employees to get rid of stress, your operations will reap the benefits of a more energized workforce, leading to small business success.

You work hard to ensure your operations are efficient, whether it’s through hiring top talent, keeping customer satisfaction high or developing innovative products. You aim for business success in all of your endeavors, but it’s important to know that you need to lay the foundation for a successful enterprise.

Incorporating strategies into your business that pave the way to prosperity can be done at any time. However, you want to be sure you are giving both yourself and your employees the necessary tools to become a successful in business. There are a number of methods that can help you get on the path to becoming an efficient and strong company.

Think positive
Having a positive mindset can do wonders. Being optimistic about your business and where it’s going will certainly be contagious for your employees and customers. Small Business Trends recommends establishing a positive work environment that encourages your staff to be more optimistic about their jobs and the future of the company.

Have a solid vision in place
As an owner, you likely have a mental picture of what you want your business to become in the future. However, Business Insider suggests that you create a business growth plan that focuses on exactly what needs to be done to get to there. Having goals in place is an important part of the process, but without outlining how you are going to reach them, your business vision will never materialize.

Be a great employer
If you want great employees, you need to be a great employer. Business Insider writes that you can accomplish this by providing staff with the tools needed to realize success within your company. This can include training sessions, career advancement opportunities and rewards for hard work.

Appreciate your customers
Just as with showing your employees how much they matter, you need to do the same with your customers. Showing patrons you appreciate them can go a long way in boosting satisfaction and bringing in new customers. Business Insider suggests focusing on making your products interesting and innovative as well as giving exceptional service to patrons.

Establish peer networks
You can even go outside of your company to find an effective tool for business success. Small Business Trends states that networking gives you the ability to connect with others in your industry, allowing you to bounce ideas off of your peers and collaborate to develop new ideas that benefit your operations.

While small companies still bring in a significant part of their revenue from local customers, they can miss out on increased sales and clientele by ignoring their Web presence. Ecommerce presents a greater chance of small business success as it allows owners to attract new patrons from all over the country.

However, before embarking on the ecommerce journey, there are a few things that you, as a small business owner, should keep in mind to ensure your Internet operation is delivering the results you want.

Ecommerce not prevalent among small companies
The fact that small businesses are not as invested in the online sale of their products and services as their larger counterparts shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, smaller organizations don’t have the budgets of large retailers and therefore don’t have the same amount of resources.

On the other hand, the Web has become an extremely helpful tool for organizations of every size, and small companies should no longer ignore the use of the Internet in their business operations.

According to a recent study by MasterCard, the cost of the necessary technology appears to be the largest obstacle standing in the way of smaller enterprises and ecommerce efforts. Forty-six percent of respondents cited this as the No. 1 reason for the hesitation to adopt ecommerce strategies.

Another main reason was a lack of knowledge on how to sell products online, as 31 percent of owners gave this reason for their slow adoption of Internet sales strategies for their companies.

Use big data to make ecommerce work
However, none of the previously mentioned reasons should hold small businesses back. After all, when weighing the costs of adopting the needed software and hardware against the revenue that online sales can bring in, it should be clear how this strategy can lead to small business success.

Small Business Computing spoke with Kevin North, CEO of ecommerce analytics firm Terapeak, and he stated that big data can play an important role for small business ecommerce. Implementing this technology doesn’t mean that small companies need to spend large amounts of money, North said.

Taking the time to shop around to find the right deal and the right technology to fit your needs will help you adopt the best ecommerce strategy for your company. Big data gives you insights into what your patrons prefer and how you can shape your online sales methods to grow your operations.

The payoff will be increased revenues, higher customer satisfaction and ultimate small business success.

A solid disaster recovery strategy is part of any effective business growth plan. Even if a disaster never occurs, it will give you, as an owner, peace of mind knowing that you have something in place to keep your operations running. Even though developing a disaster plan may sound daunting, all it takes is some research and preparation to create a strategy that will stand throughout any possible disaster.

Business disasters can range from natural occurrences, such as hurricanes, tornadoes or floods, to more technical issues, such as a cyberattack or data center loss. Whatever the case, getting a plan in place now means your business can recover more quickly and efficiently should an emergency happen.

– Assess the various risks: Businesses that are located in the Southeast United States may not have to worry about extremely cold weather conditions possibly disrupting their operations every year, but they do have to worry about tornadoes. Companies in every region of the country have to deal with various weather-related disasters that happen in their areas, so figuring out what could potentially throw off your enterprise for a few days is the first step to determining how you can handle them, suggests the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants.

You should also take the time to assess any technical dangers, such as information loss due to hackers, the source recommends. This will help you lay out the proper protocols for recovery.

– Create a business continuity plan: Crain’s Detroit Business states that companies need to develop a strong business continuity plan that outlines what steps will be taken in case of an emergency. The source also recommends that you determine which staff members will be in charge of which responsibilities so that employees know who to reach out to.

– Take a look at your systems: Looking at the systems you have in place can help you poke holes in anything that could be severely impacted by a disaster, writes the Minnesota Society of CPAs. Do your employees have a way to work if your company’s Internet is down for an extended period? What if your facilities are damaged? Is there somewhere else you can operate out of while recovering? These questions can give you more insight into improvements that can be made to your disaster recovery plan.

Whatever the disaster, whether it’s weather-related or tech-based, you need a plan to get your operations back in line should something occur. Also, having your employees provide their advice and input on the strategy ensures everyone is onboard and prepared for anything that happens.