From hurricanes to wildfires and more, 2017 brought calamitous weather and majorevents that forever changed many communities and industriesacross the country.

Many financial advisors found their offices inaccessible forreasons beyond their control — but their duties to clients hadn'tchanged. This reality in times of crisis is forcing advisors totake a hard look at their businesses and seriously consider whetherthey are adequately prepared to serve their clients at alltimes.

Related: Is your small business prepared for adisaster?

We spoke with a variety of advisors in areas affected by theextreme weather and disasters that occurred in 2017, and theirexperiences confirmed that the value of preparation andcommunication cannot be overstated.

Clarifying communication processes, protecting against potentialbreakdowns in emergency procedures and regularly testing yourfirm's preparedness can make all the difference in ensuring you arestill able to assist clients even in adverse circumstances.

1. Formalize a broad disaster plan.

It's vital that everyone in your office understands what to dowhen business as usual is jeopardized by an unforeseen event. To beprepared, you should develop a simple plan that ensures you cansupport your clients in the event of a disaster. It should be aplan that your staff can access after hours or refer to at home. Atthe very least, your plan should provide answers to the followingquestions:

— How will staff reach one another todisseminate instructions in the event of an emergency?

— Will the key vendors you rely on have alternative waysto reach you aside from your main officephone line?

— Does everyone have contact information for emergencyservices such as police, fire, and buildingmanagement?

— Where can staff plan to meet in order to continueoperations and serve clients, such as an affiliated officein another city?

By clarifying the answers to these questions in advance, youbring your business a major step closer to full disasterpreparedness.

2. Consider all links in the chain.

Creating a clear, buttoned-up plan is a necessary foundation,but also thinking ahead to possible points of failure in that planwill further strengthen your ability to withstand an emergency.We've seen vulnerabilities crop up when even a single staff memberis unavailable.

During a major weather event, for example, if only one person inyour firm knows how to log in remotely or only one person knows howto operate your customer relationship managementsystem (CRM), you are vulnerable. Identifying and eliminatingpoints of failure through cross-training or documenting proceduresis important.

Taking the time to create contingency plans for yourbusiness now will give your staff the confidence and the tools todeliver crucial client support right when your clients may need itthe most. (AP Photo)

Also, firms with a well-established chain of command may findtheir entire network of communication weakened if just onehigh-level member is inaccessible. To prepare for eventualitieslike these, we encourage advisors to create multiple options forpassing on instructions if the primary one fails.

Related: Prepare now for disasters & business recoveryevents

Similar problems arise when clients are inaccessible. Supposeyou need to distribute emergency funds to a client, but they areunreachable and cannot give final authorization. Y

ou can avoid this kind of roadblock during a crisis by drawingup an agreement with your client that authorizes you to distributeemergency funds in the face of a disastrous event. And as anadditional backup, always ensure that you have multiple ways tocontact your client on file should you need to get in touch withthem urgently for any other reason.

Even with potential vulnerabilities with staff and clientsaccounted for, disaster plans fall short if they don't consider abusiness' most basic resource: power. Make sure you always havealternate power sources and batteries to keep office equipmentrunning in both your main location and any affiliated offices.

3. Practice, practice, practice.

The final line of defense involves ensuring that your disasterpreparedness procedures are fresh in the minds of everyone at yourfirm. At least once a year, set aside time with your team to runthrough a surprise scenario and note how your plan succeeded — ordidn't.

You can achieve much more than you ever expected simply bygathering your key staff around a conference table and talkingthrough an unexpected scenario. Were you able to get in contactwith all necessary parties? Which parts of the plan did staffmembers forget or fail to execute? Use those findings to makeupdates to your plan, and continue testing it to ensure successeven during a situation lasting several days.

Many advisors reported marked improvement in their firms'overall readiness after as little as one hour spent practicingresponses to hypothetical crises.

We could not have foreseen the intensity and frequency ofdisasters that struck the country last year, but we can certainlylearn from them. Taking the time to create contingency plans foryour business now will give your staff the confidence and the toolsto deliver crucial client support right when your clients may needit the most.

Related: 7 ways to mitigate risk for businesses before thenext natural disaster

Brad Wheeler is president of AssetMark Trust and senior vicepresident, Operations and Service at AssetMarkInc. Connect with him on LinkedIn.