"Blessed be he that expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed". (B. Franklin - sic)

Our business existence is solely for our customers. We must remember that and memorize it every morning when we step in our offices, our factories or any other business establishments. Why? Because when our customers would stop being our customers, and their money would flow to our competitors... do I really have to go on?

It is important to clarify this point because the product realization starts with understanding our customers and their needs.

The ISO 9001 standard requires that we understand the customers' requirements. In order to reach that we must obtain a method for understanding our customers' requirements. And of course you must document it all in order to verify that you are actually performing and not just saying you would.

REVIEW OF CUSTOMER'S REQUIEMENTS

The Review of requirements process in simple words includes:

• Accepting a request for a price quote from the customer
• Understanding the customer's needs
• Reviwing how the organization may fill the requirements
• Delivering an offer
• Accepting approval for the same offer or accepting an order based on that offer

Note: just to make things clear – an offer is a document where you propose your product or service to a customer and he must approve it. I accept that in various organizations it will be called with different terms but for this article we will stick to this one - price quote. By the way, a menu in a restaurant is a price quote. Very much inflexible (depends on the chef). 

Your Quality management system must obtain all of the above (relax; most of you are already there without being aware…). If you would follow the requirements I assure you that some of you would comment:

• "How couldn't I have thought of it myself?"
• "It could have saved us a lot of headaches"
• "If we had done this before we wouldn't have been ashamed in front of our customers"

(These are all from our short lifetime experience)

ACCEPTING A REQUEST FOR A PRICE QUOTE

This process is the very beginning of our relationship with our customers. The customer is actually saying:
"Please perform the job for me and I will pay you, only if you would deliver my requirements".
First of all, you should define who is responsible for receiving this request and how (by mail, fax, a phone call, etc). Don’t get complicated. The sales secretary is enough. At the same time you should also define which information would be gathered and where to record this information (on a form, an excel file or on your ERP system).

At this stage the ISO 9001 Standard does not require documentation. We recommend it. It will provide you with valuable information. Especially for follow ups and statistical analysis. The ISO 9001 Standard does not require at this stage to gather information about your customers either. We recommend it. We recommend managing the requests by status as well (just that you would know where you stand).

PRICE QUOTES  - REVIEW IF REQUIREMENTS

We had already accepted a request for a quote, but before delivering it, the organization must confirm that he is capable of performing the job. Therefore the organization must ask himself the following questions:

• Can the organization make schedules?
• Can the organization provide with the technical requirements?
• Does the organization have the right technological abilities to perform?
• What about packaging and transporting requirements?
• Are the products are within the inventory or must the organization order them?
• Does the organization have enough human resources to provide with the customers' requirements?

All of the above must be documented. At this stage the ISO 9001 Standard requires documentation. The purpose of the documentation is to proof activities. You must document the records but not the method. We suggest you would document the method. You may document the method as a diagram, a written procedure or a form that defines the review. If you maintain CRM software of some kind - It is considered as method documented. Following the software process is following a method. It is important to specify who participates in the process and which parameters must be taken on account. The process must refer to the next line of issues:

• Customer's requirements are defined and cleared. The price quote would be composed upon these requirements. In order to achieve that I recommend defining a method. The method shall consider all aspect of the product (manufacturing, packaging, supply, warranty and service).
• A description of the product that the customer requires and in which quantity. The description must be clear. Some organization would propose different products every time. Therefore, the price quote must describe specifically what you are offering.
• When providing the product, if a delivery process or service process (for the product) are involved, you must describe what, how, how much, until when, and where. Do not save in details. It will cost you latter…
• What are the warranty terms for the product or service. You must define period of time and what the warranty is valid. Don’t save with the details. If there is a fixed warranty form – hand it over to the customer. Don’t hide it.
• In cases where the organization is aware of requirements that the customer is not aware of, the organization must inform the customer. Don't leave any surprises open.
• In cases where the customer delivered requirements verbally, the organization must document it.
• If there are any legal requirements (local or international) you must refer to it in the price quote. That is a requirement of the ISO 9001 Standard. Not a recommendation.
• If the organization uses some kind of a tool to document permanently the price quote (a form or software), the organization must document it within a method. It would help you trace the price quote later on.
• If there is a requirement for information while composing the price quote, you must define which information you need and where you can reach it.
• If the customer requires an unusual requirement, you must define within a method how one can handle that and if this requirement must be approved.
• If a sub contractor is involved with the product or service provision, you must refer to it within a method: who is the sub contractor, what is he required of him and how much it would cost you.
• If a resource planning is required while composing the price quote (technicians, programmers, delivery services etc.) – you must refer to it within a method. This is for confirming that you would be able to provide the product according to the price quote.
• Changes. If changes were required by the customer, what is to do? Who receives the request, and where it must be reported or documented. Who approves the request for a change? All these must be defined. It is also highly important to define how you notify the customers about any changes on your behalf. For this you must maintain your customer's details: names, phone numbers, contact persons etc. – all what is relevant to the product provision. 

PRICE QUOTES - AGREEMENT

Next requirement by the ISO 9001 standard is to ensure that you and your customer have reached an agreement and all gaps are settled. The customer requested one thing; you proposed it with small changes so you can make some money out of it. The customer agreed because he wants you to perform the work. But there will always be a gap between what he asked at the beginning and what you are willing to provide. Therefore you must document the fact that the customer had agreed. Save yourselves unnecessary troubles ladies and gentlemen. Agreement can appear these days in various forms: E-mails, Faxes, etc. The classic and much safer way is his signature. Nothing is like the signature. This is a proof that the customer sat down, reviewed the price quote, read, thought, read again, came to a conclusion with himself and signed it.

SUMMARY
All of the above are the ISO 9001 Standard requirements. They provide you with control over the process of contacting your customers. There are plenty of parameters that must be taken on account. Of course, you must adopt only what is relevant to your organization. It could be that when you perform some of the above, you may find out that you are not capable of delivering the product like you thought or that the revenues for some transactions are less then what you expected or that the customer is just one hell of a son of a b@#$%&! That may happen as well.

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