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The YN who types and prints the plan of the day
The AK or AN who procures parts and supplies
for operational commitments
Ships and activities have various contact points. The
size of the command, number of personnel assigned, and
the scope of service provided are factors that determine
how many contact points are needed. These contact
points are where you, your dependents, your seniors,
and your subordinates go to obtain services, advice, and
answers to questions. They are important because the
services they provide are important. However, the
quality of those services is determined by the persons
providing them— YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE
PERSONS.
Because “contact point representative” is a rather
long title, the word you is used in this manual when
referring to the person
Therefore, you may refer
point representative.
SKILLS
manning the contact point.
to the reader or to the contact
Skill is the ability to do something well as the result
of talent, training, or practice, or a combination of these.
A multitude of skills come into play in your day-to-day
activities—military, professional, and athletic skills,
just to mention a few.
We are concerned here with face-to-face, or
interpersonal, skills. These are the skills that enable you
to interact effectively with people. Basically, these skills
include the ability to listen to, work with, and speak to
an individual as a PERSON and NOT as an inanimate
object.
The structure of the Navy tends to foster an
impersonal attitude in its members. We never see the
people who make most of the decisions that affect our
lives—type of duty, permanent change of station, and
entitlement for medical. Our relationship with these
people does not involve face-to-face contact. However,
that is not the type of relationship that exists aboard ship
or at a station. There, you are face to face with the
customer; there, the relationship becomes personal.
This personal interaction (action and reaction)
requires face-to-face skills if it is to be effective. People
who are the most successful in sales are normally the
ones who can apply face-to-face skills. They LISTEN
to customers so that they can better understand their
needs; they SPEAK to the customers so that customers
understand fully what they are saying. They make every
effort to ensure customer satisfaction.
Your effectiveness at the contact point depends on
how well you listen, speak, and respond to the
customer’s needs—how well you acquire and use
face-to-face skills.
ATTITUDE
Attitude can be described as the tendency to move
toward a situation or away from it. It results from either
a positive or negative outlook or feeling toward a
subject. It involves a like or dislike (based on a habit, a
previously formed opinion, or a current snap judgment)
for someone or something.
The following illustration, provided by a television
spot concerning human behavior, is a good example of
a positive-negative outlook:
Look at the glass below. Is it
Do you see the filled portion or the empty portion
of the glass? Do you see “what is” and resolve to make
the most of it, or do you see and resent “what is not”?
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