When the receptionist answers the phone and hears “I looked at your website and I have a question…” is he/she trained to write down the question that is asked and to give the information to your webmaster?

Every contact with a prospect or customer can contain valuable feedback on the quality of your website.

Here are some suggestions for identifying areas for improvement:

• Ask the sales staff to give you a list of the top three questions they answer
• Compile a list of the most common competitors mentioned by prospects
• Be sure oft-asked questions are answered on the site
• Train your sales staff to suggest that the prospect check out the website. There may be other compelling information there that hasn’t been covered during the sales call
• Check out the competition’s websites and see how your site stacks up
• Visit a search engine or two and type in some words that describe your business. Who shows up? Your site or your competition’s?

Training the people who talk to your prospects and customers to hear the feedback about your website is easy. Devote 15 minutes of your next staff meeting to this issue. You’ll be surprised by the knowledge you gain.