Point of Contact: Meaning, Types, Examples, and Advantages

Point of Contact is the individual representing a business entity or an organization for a particular task and who handles the communication and co ordination. It can also be a specific department that acts as a coordinating point in terms of an activity or a project.

Point of contact is mainly used in circumstances where the situation demands accuracy and exact timing in all its dealings.

Meaning of Point of Contact

Point of contact is considered the focal point that collects necessary information and data and distributes it accordingly. He is an important part of your organization that acts as its frontal face. Potential customers contact this individual to gain and share their information.

He is a representative who has been hired to serve a key role in the company. He maintains a balanced and cordial relationship with the customers who wish to deal with the company.

All the interactions that are conducted between a probable client or customer and the point of contact cement the future relationship one step further. The point of contact serves as a bridge between the organization and the interested clients and customers.

This focal point helps the brand to gain better visibility in the market and increase brand awareness in the mindset of the consumers.

Types of point of contact and their duties

It can be a single person or a team that handles requests for a company, project, service, department, location, event, or a business function. It has various duties, but the most important one is to maintain a healthy relationship with its customers.

• Customer service is an important area for a business entity. It hires and keeps a point of contact that is part of a team that will offer necessary help to its customers via several communication channels like face-to-face talks, messages and mobile app, emails, company website, and telephone. All the requirements in terms of complaints, shipping inquiries, and order inquiries and are handled through this team.
• Sometimes the organization maintains a separate customer service department to handle their customers. This is their focal point that helps the customers to sort out their problems effectively.
• Sales People can be point of contact for many companies. They are one of the first point of contact a new lead comes across.
• Sometimes the point of contact is just a phone number or a website that is handled by a team to solve security concerns, administrative requests, inquiries, and other problems.
• The manager who is in charge of a project also acts as a point of contact and answers queries related to the project to the related people.
• The company sets up a service desk to handle inquiries from attendees and vendors.

Advantages and examples of point of contact

The advantages of maintaining a point of contact are as follows-

• The point of contact is the face of your company and is the one who handles complaints and inquiries from the customers and clients. The company has a website, and most of the times you will see people asking about some information or other or complaining about certain product or services. The point of contact handles every question with aplomb so that the company does not have to face the ire of any disgruntled customers.
• When someone walks through the door of an outlet, the person who answers his queries acts as a point of contact for him. When you enter a restaurant and do not find an empty table the employee who will come to make you comfortable and advise you to wait for few minutes is the point of contact between you and the restaurant.
• Sometimes he goes a step further to make clients and customers feel better by offering some exclusive services. For instance, when I was waiting for my seat at a reputed restaurant, my niece suddenly started crying. The point of contact came out and offered her some delicacy to eat that made her happy.
• The point of contact stays in the limelight as he is the known face of a company. He must make a positive endeavor and help the customer. Social media and interconnectivity have resulted in fast traveling of any news. When the point of contact behaves cordially and pleasantly with the customers, they associate his good behavior with a brand image.
• Suppose you are at an airport and are unable to find your boarding pass. Then the person who guides and helps you is your point of contact. The customers share positive as well as negative emotions through social media platforms and mouth publicity; hence, it is important that a point of contact remains vigilant in his duties.
• He is eager to build a viable relationship with clients and fields every question with enthusiasm. He is trained to remove any hassles so that the customer can have a good experience. It is considered trustworthy by clients as they can easily take their inquiries and problems to him. It is by his efforts that a point of contact leaves a lasting impression on the minds of the customers.
• For example, a customer was having some difficulties with his documents in a bank. The point of contact saw this and came at once to offer his services and made the experience hassle-free and pleasant for the customer. His service was noted and appreciated by the customer whole-heartedly.