WHERE'S THE POINT?
By Terence Fane-Saunders
Chairman and Chief Executive, Chelgate Ltd

I knew they must be there. It wasn't a weekend. It wasn't a public holiday. It was eleven o'clock in the morning and I was ringing one of the city's leading law firms. And the phone rang on and on.

I sipped my coffee, proof read a couple of documents, signed three letters. Finally my patience was rewarded by the telephonist's voice:

"And I towld 'im ", said the Voice, "I towld 'im not before Thursday. That's when me mum goes inter 'ospital. 'Es always that impatient."

Obviously a crossed line, I thought, a little embarrassed. This was clearly a personal conversation.

But not at all.

"Men. They'reOrlTheSame. Hallbender Habson and Jobson. HowMayI-HelpYew?

I'm sure you have had the same thing happen to you. The telephonist who is still finishing off her conversation while you hang on the line; the receptionist who keeps you hovering while she wraps up her review of last night's dinner date; the petrol station attendant who blandly ignores the line forming at the counter as he fiddles with some obscure task behind the till.

All of these people are "Point of Contact" people. For most people they provide the initial, sometimes the only point of contact with the organisation. Forget your carefully planned media relations programmes and sophisticated public relations strategies - they can all be brought to nought when the message at the point of contact is unprofessional, uncaring and unresponsive.

Public relations professionals who recognise the importance of Point of Contact on their own business are increasingly using a technique known as the Point of Contact Audit. To ensure objectivity, this usually involves outside consultants; but the essence of the audit is an examination of all aspects of Point of Contact between the business and its external contacts.

What is audited? Naturally, switchboard and reception operations. The audit should go a lot further, though. Intermediary contact (secretarial or clerical), for example, can be vital. Another area is visual impact: how are memos, letters, circulars, invoices and other correspondence presented? How do the envelopes look? How does the building itself look? The reception area? Also, how are enquiries handled? The audit will follow right through the enquiry response process, both written and "live". Where are the enquiries directed? How smoothly? What is the response quality? What is the response time?

Companies vary, and even within a business, different parts of the operation will have very different Point of Contact patterns. But in every business, and every part of the business, there will be vital primary and initial Points of Contact which will have a crucial impact on the image it presents to the world. It must make sense to put them through a health check. After all, this is the face you are presenting to the world.

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