You evaluate your company as a customer would. Here’s a few suggestions on how to evaluate your telephone.

• What’s your impression of when and how you’re greeted on the phone?
• Is the person pleasant to speak with?
• If you have an automated system, is your options menu easy to navigate?
• If you have an automated system, is it easy to connect with a real live person?
• Is your outgoing voice-mail message professional and friendly?
• Is your outgoing voice-mail message current?

How many times have you called somebody and heard an outgoing message that was from a just-past holiday, or perhaps from their vacation two months ago? Don’t laugh. Something that simple sends the wrong message to your customers.