A Comprehensive Guide To Business Continuity Planning
Having your business ready with continuity or business plans in the event of an emergency is imperative for your overall survival. There’s no single approach that fits all situations, but these three questions you can ask yourself, will help cover you for most eventualities you’re likely to encounter: What could go wrong? Your risk assessment Disasters and emergencies can occur in many ways, from bush fires and arson attacks, floods, cyclones, earthquakes and tidal waves to simple power outages, network disruptions, computer viruses to burglary or sickness of key employees. It’s important to have a proper plan to deal with all these: • Is your building fireproof? • Are you vulnerable to a bushfire? • Do you have adequate fire prevention equipment and training for your staff? • Are you exposed to high tides or flooding? • Are you affected by cyclones or tornados? If something goes wrong, how will your business be affected? Having a plan in the event of natural disasters will help you cope with them and resume business afterward, should they arise. Do you have adequate backup plans and insurance cover? Will your business survive a natural or economic disaster? What will you do to ensure your business continuity during the following risks? • Economic Risk With today’s constantly changing economy, it’ important you operate your business with as lean a budget as possible and reduce your overheads so you can cope with changing economic cycles • Compliance Risks There are many rules and regulations that you will need to comply with and they’re constantly being changed and added to, so you need to stay up to date and be 100% compliant or risk heavy fines or closure • Diversify Your Income Streams With only a few income streams your financial risk is high, if you lose one or more contracts or some of the products you sell are no longer in demand • Security and Fraud Risk Being online can place the unwary in the path of cyber criminals especially when you shared data and financial details. This can lose your company’s reputation and trust as well as make you financially liable for losses • Financial Risk All business involves some type of financial risk, the higher the profits, often, the higher the risks involved. Minimize the credit you extend to others and the amount you own so your stronger financial position • Reputation Risk In business, you’re putting your reputation on the line, product failure or unhappy customers can impact on your business, brand or reputation, so you need to always provide quality service and products and stand by them to address concerns and reduce negativity quickly and in a positive “can do” fashion • Operational Risks Business continuity can be lost from external or internal sources as well as a combination of different factors. Whether it’s a possible process or people failure, these potential risks need to be addressed with adequate training and a proper business plan installed In the event of a disaster, whether natural or caused by financial situations, product failures or a downturn in the economy you need to take measures to ensure business continuity after the event and your continued survival. Making a proper business plan that covers any foreseeable circumstances is vital for all businesses with today’s erratic economy and uncertainty with viruses.
Read More
Improving Productivity In The Workplace – The Ultimate 8 Step Guide
What does a productive day look like? Maintaining a routine and planning ahead will save you time and help manage stress. • Despite common belief, multi-tasking is not a more efficient way to work. Pick one task and work until it is completed then move on to the next item on your agenda. This will help you focus better and keep the quality of your work high. • Take regular breaks, stand up stretch, go make a cup of tea or step outside for some fresh air this will clear your mind and help you re-energize and focus. • Use time management software to help you stay on track. • Expect the unexpected. Despite the most diligent planning, there will always be unexpected tasks that crop up. The key is to be able to know how to prioritize your tasks well and be able to go with the flow. SCHEDULING AND TO-DO LISTS FIGURING OUT HOW TO FIT YOUR WORK IN AROUND MEETINGS, PHONE CALLS AND CONSTANT INTERRUPTIONS CAN SEEM LIKE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. • Stay focused on one thing at a time • Tackle the biggest task first • Clear your emails at least once per day PROJECT AND TEAM MANAGEMENT • Make the brief clear • Keep meeting short and to the point • Have a daily team check-in • Evaluate your progress INCLUDE DEEP WORK TIME IN YOUR DAY • Make time to hyper-focus • Embrace boredom • Focus on the important stuff MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE BOOK IN DOWNTIME • Get active • Get enough sleep • Find your zen – try meditation or yoga • Utilize Visualization and mood boards IMPLEMENT SOFTWARE TO HELP YOU WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY • Launch apps on startup • Create templates for as many tasks as possible • Utilize tools like grammar checkers and email plugins to help you work smarter not harder. HARDWARE TIPS AND TRICKS • Add a second monitor • Get a headset • Get a good quality mouse and mousepad WORKFLOW AND BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT • Organize your data • Train your staff • Whenever possible automate • Regularly review and improve your processes For a more in-depth info download our Ultimate 8 step productivity guide here
Read More
Using Live Chat To Build Customer Engagement
Live chat is a great technology to increase your customer engagement, stay competitive in your niche, and convert those who’re interested in your product/service into buyers. Here are a few statistics to back it up: • 68 percent of website visitors will use the live chat feature and 63 percent of them return to websites that are offering live chat for a repeat purchase. • 38 percent of all online visitors will complete a purchase during a live chat • A live chat feature has been found to increase a website’s conversions by more than 20 percent If you haven’t added a live chat feature to your website, you’re missing out on all the positive benefits. Engage your audience! While this may seem like a complicated way to work towards improving conversions it is easy and effective. Below we go through a few of the benefits a chat service can bring to your site BE AVAILABLE AROUND THE CLOCK 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday doesn’t cut it online. Customers shop around the clock and expect their customer service to be available anytime. If you don’t have in-house staff to handle the chat outside business hours, you can hire virtual assistants to assist customers 24/7. TIME INITIATING THE CHAT RIGHT There will be several types of visitors on your site. Some will be taking their time making up their mind on purchase, some just browsing and some who know exactly what they want. It is a good idea to use software with tracking features to understand your visitors’ movements better and learn how to target the right visitors, especially on pages you have targeted call to actions. GET REAL Customers don’t want to feel like their talking to a robot. Train your staff to personalize their chats, call the customer by name. This is possible after prompting the customer to provide name, email and contact number. ADDRESS YOUR CUSTOMERS PROBLEMS Sometimes it can work in your favor to swallow the loss if live chat agents are addressing a customer’s pain point in return. This strategy, apart from increasing live chat conversions, has the potential to bring in recurring business and build customer loyalty. OFFER/SUGGEST SOMETHING VALUABLE Most live chat software features include loads of information on the visitor, which can in turn be used to provide valuable customer service. By going through a customer’s chat history and information, live chat agents can provide them with valuable suggestions. For example, if a customer shows dissatisfaction towards a product design, the support representative should take a minute to see whether an alternate item with a different design, but same features is available. If the option is available, it can be suggested to build valuable leads. UPSELL, UPSELL, UPSELL After you demonstrate value and make the case for a higher level of customer service, you can try increasing conversions by upselling. Once the agent has engaged visitors by understanding their needs, they are in a better position to recommend upgrades, add-ons, etc. Internet Retailer revealed that Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. uses live chat to achieve conversion rates as high as 23 percent. Customers that used their live chat converted a rate 3.5 times higher than the customers who didn’t engage the chat feature. The interesting fact is that the UK-based airlines don’t use their live chat to push airline ticket sales but as an opportunity to upsell. Their customers are already in the decision-making phase when purchasing their tickets online and upgrading their purchase to include priority seating, personalized meals, etc is easier. This increases overall averages of sale value and total sale revenue. TAKE CUSTOMERS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE A number of live chat agents overlook the fact that their visitors may not know where to go on a website. For example, they may want to look at the faq page before completing their order but don’t really know how to find it. As a result, your chat agents can make things easy for them by sending the links which redirect them to their webpage of choice, and that’s how you facilitate actions that lead to conversions
Read More