9.1.2 Customer Satisfaction Explained [ISO 9001 Procedure]

How Does ISO 9001 Define Customer Satisfaction?

Customer Satisfaction within ISO ensures that products and services are up to the correct quality standards for customers. Satisfaction is monitored, documented, reviewed and analyzed in order to take corrective action in the event that customer requirements are not being met.

Contents

The ISO 9001 Customer Satisfaction Procedure

The purpose of the Customer Satisfaction procedure is to describe the methods for measuring, monitoring and interpreting customer feedback to determine whether the organization is meeting customer requirements.

You recognize that the customer feedback process has important links and interfaces between other management system process that include, but a re not limited to; customer communication, design and development validation, design and development changes and process validation.

Like any type of business, you always want to keep your customers happy. So, it is essential to have a Customer Satisfaction clause in your ISO 9001 quality management system.

ISO 9001:2015 ISO 9001:2008 Summary of Changes
9.1.2 Customer Satisfaction 8.2.1 Customer Satisfaction You should note the additional requirement for organizations to implement a consistent and systematic approach when dealing with customer feedback and that they are obtaining information on customer perception.

Why is Customer Satisfaction Important?

This might seem like a stupid question, but there are many reasons. Think about it - what is the most important reason for your business?

Customer satisfaction is important for companies on any level and in any industry, for the simple reason that customers keep cash flowing through a business. In order to be successful in the world of business, a loyal customer base must be established early on.

This is achieved by satisfying the customers, which will keep them coming back and spending money with the business. ISO 9001 provides specific guidelines on how to uphold these standards to keep satisfying customers and improving the inner workings of the business on a regular basis.

Customer Satisfaction 1 star

The list below will give you a good idea of what the customer satisfaction process should look like in a company.

ISO 9001 Customer Satisfaction Process

  1. Identify what indicates customer satisfaction
  2. Estimate start and completion date
  3. Find a method of collecting customer data
  4. Document data correctly
  5. Frequently review documented data
  6. Create solutions for improving customer satisfaction
  7. Clearly define responsibility
  8. Devise a plan for following up with customer satisfaction

To begin the customer satisfaction process, the company will need to first identify how to measure if customers are happy with your product or service. This can be done by surveys or other feedback mechanisms, which will be discussed in detail within the next few sections.

Along with making sure customers are satisfied, the business will also need to devise a completion time for any solutions that they will implement, as well as follow a set method of continuing to collect the data that will tell them how they are doing as a company.

With the consistent review of documented data and delegation of responsibility to each relevant department, the company’s plan could be more simply described as:

  • Assess customer satisfaction
  • Create a plan of action to improve it
  • Follow-up to make sure it stays that way

How to Monitor and Measure Customer Satisfaction

When it comes to making efforts to satisfy the customers of a business, there are a lot of continuous actions behind it. While the ISO 9001 guidelines assist these businesses in evaluating their customer satisfaction levels, they must also put forth the effort to make sure that these statistics are being kept track of.

One of the efforts that must be put forth in regards to customer satisfaction is to monitor it. This way, the company will be able to know exactly where they stand with the satisfaction of their customers, and be ready to take the correct action to stay where they need to be.

Take a look at the list below to find out some of the most effective ways that a business can monitor their customer satisfaction. In the rest of this section, we will be going over in detail how customer satisfaction can be monitored effectively for the best results.

How to Monitor Customer Satisfaction

  1. Customer satisfaction surveys
  2. Reviewing customer data
  3. Monitoring customer data trends
  4. Handling complaints correctly

The first method of monitoring customer satisfaction is to collect customer satisfaction surveys. If you have ever been on a phone call with the customer service line of a large corporation, you might have also received an email or text after the call that asked you to rate the service you received.

When the company in question receives the feedback from this survey, they will integrate it into their records in order to come up with a consensus of how they are doing as a company.

Some of these customer satisfaction surveys might consist of a simple star rating, while others will go more into detail about the specific procedures that are in place within the business.

The management ream of the same company will then be able to easily evaluate what they are doing correctly as well as what changes their customers would like to see going forward in order to keep their business on a long-term basis.

This method might be the most straight forward way to monitor customer satisfaction, because the company is able to ask them directly what they liked about the product or service as well as what they didn’t.

Another great way to monitor customer satisfaction is to review and monitor customer data trends. For example, if a retail business introduced a new line of products, they would be able to review the data trends at the end of the quarter to see how their customers reacted to the change.

Monitor customer satisfaction

From the records that are kept as far as purchases in store, returns, or even clicks online, they will be able to get a good idea of how well their new product resonated with their customers and also compare the new line to the others that have been doing well in their store for several years.

The company will then be able to make the decision of whether or not they will continue to offer this line of products or get rid of it for the next quarter, in order to keep as many customers as they possibly can and ensure the success of their business.

Customer Complaints

Another very important aspect of customer satisfaction, which is also the least desirable topic for the personnel of a business, is the customer complaints.

Just like how the customers will talk about what they were satisfied with after a call or a transaction in a satisfaction survey, they will also let you know what they were less than impressed with through a customer complaint.

Even though the task of dealing with upset customers can seem daunting, companies must be able to adapt frequently by changing the things they are doing wrong. If a customer has a bad experience with the business, the personnel must make an effort to fix the situation in order to uphold customer satisfaction standards overall.

Documenting Customer Satisfaction

Along with the act of monitoring customer satisfaction, a company must also keep organized and detailed documentation of these statistics in order to effectively come up with solutions to boost their good standing.

While it is not required to document your customer satisfaction progress, it is always beneficial to have records on hand in order to be able to decide if the company is doing what it is supposed to do in this regard.

Additionally, customer satisfaction documents will give the personnel of the company full control of how they are performing as a business, and let them know clearly what they are doing well and what they should be doing better to keep their customers coming back to them.

What to Document - Customer Satisfaction

  1. Undertake surveys (including online)
  2. Customer feedback forms
  3. Review customer data
  4. Solutions for returns and warranty claims

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Updated: 26th February 2022
Author: Richard Keen

Richard Keen

Richard Keen

Richard is our Compliance Director, responsible for content & product development.
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Customer Satisfaction Procedure

The purpose of this procedure is to describe the methods for measuring, monitoring and interpreting customer perception information to determine whether your organization is meeting customer requirements.

Forms & Reports also included:

  • Control of Customer Satisfaction Process Activity Map
  • Customer Satisfaction Survey
  • Customer Feedback Log
  • Customer Complaints Process Map

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