One of the popular corporate business initiatives (mostly found in manufacturing) is called 5 S. The 5 S concept is an adaptation of Japanese methodologies that help a business operate more efficiently. You can apply these to your business, too. But the challenge is to apply them to your communications efforts which can help you immensely. Here are the 5 S's and the words and concepts for which they stand:

Sorting. This entails going through all of your tools and only keeping what is essential for your job. This is akin to evaluating your phone system in our analogy. If you have an out-dated phone system or rather one in which it is difficult for customers and prospects to make contact with you, then it is time to look at an 800 number and associated PBX system. Do your customers complain of not being able to reach you or get a message to you? If so, then that is an indication that you need to make this a priority.

Straighten or Set in Order. Good organization skills are a strong business asset. Nowhere more important is this than in the way you handle the calls that come into your business. An 800 number and PBX system provides your customers and prospects a toll-free method of talking to you face-to-face. Also, the PBX features give them options for reaching anyone on your staff or hearing information about products or services available to them. The order or structure that this imposes on your business is a positive step towards organizing your customer service efforts.

Sweeping, Shining, Cleaning. Getting rid of the bad is preeminent in this concept. Dead-end phone calls – do not allow them to happen. With a PBX system correctly programmed, the caller will be forwarded to pre-set numbers that are designed to reach a real, ‘live' person, before they are allowed to leave a message in a voicemail box. Cleaning up your customer service efforts shows that you are making an effort to be available when your customers or prospects need you the most - especially when they are ready to spend money with you.

Standardizing. Make your system consistent with standard business practices. This is where the PBX side of your system earns its keep. When callers dial your 800 number, they are always placed into the same queue system. They are given an opportunity to reach a department or person or to listen to information that is relevant to their issue or question. This is standardization at its best for your business. Doing the same thing the same way every time is priceless to your customers.

Sustaining the discipline. You need to not only keep using your system, but make it an integral structure upon which you operate. In essence the 800 number and PBX system BECOMES your business. It presents your identity to the outside world which is critical to understand when it comes to knowing how you want to handle every phone call that is placed to your organization. Over time, when customers call you, they instinctively know what they need to do in order to reach their intended target. And new prospects are given easy voice prompts which guide them to where they need to go.

Using the 5 S principles in this way will not only help with your phone system, but it will sustain your business for years to come.