Customers satisfaction analysis – the ISO 9001 Standard requirements
“When skinning your customers, you should leave some skin on to grow so that you can skin them again”. (N. Krushchev)
Customer satisfaction analysis is one of the most powerful tools for examining your performance among your customers. Customer’s Satisfactory Analysis has different meanings that are all relevant:
- Determines if you’ve performed well or poorly with your customers
- Identifies your customers unfulfilled needs
- Generates new development ideas that you hadn’t thought of
- Uncovers new marketing opportunities for your organization
Get ready. This is a long article. But at the end of it I promise you that you will understand the importance of customer satisfaction analysis and would perform an effective survey. In the general flow chart diagram of the ISO standard, the customer is always at the final stage: that means that the business exists to serve the customer. Unfortunately, competition is deadly. Ladies and gentlemen: this is not a joke but simply the brutal reality. Customers can behave like rattlesnakes under a rock: one wrong move and you’re bitten. This bite can be expressed as abandonment and sometimes slander against you amongst your other customers; this can cause terrible damages. Therefore, you perform customers’ satisfaction survey. You must ask your customers: “how are we? Ok?” and if the answer is negative, you should follow-up with “what have we done wrong? What can we do to fix our mistake? What do we have to do in order for you to spend more money with us?” These are the questions that every business organization needs to ask. Now that we understand the importance of the Customer’s Satisfactory Analysis, let’s start discussing the process itself.
First, you need to define what you want to reveal. The Customer’s Satisfactory Analysis has more then one purpose. The question is “what is your purpose?” It is important to keep this focused so that resources do not go to waste. Allow me to review some examples of purpose definitions for Customer’s Satisfactory Analysis. Satisfaction analysis about the product or service: this is one of the most important parameters in any business organization. In large organizations, top management doesn’t have any direct interaction with the customers. The direct interaction happens in the lower ranks of organizations. The Customer’s Satisfactory Analysis draws a picture for the top management about their customer’s demands.
How to measure customer satisfaction according to the ISO 9001 standard requirements
First, we need to define what we mean when we say “customer satisfaction.” Here are some examples:
- Do we want to measure the level of satisfaction of our product/service?
- Do we want to check if our product/service is suitable for our customers?
- Do we seek new ideas to develop a new product/service for our customers?
- Do we want to measure the level of satisfaction about our product or service?
- Do we want to measure the level of satisfaction about our product or service?
In order to measure how satisfied our customers are, we need to divide the main process into defined parts. Here are the basic divisions or sub processes:
- Sales process
- Delivery process
- Collection process
- Service delivery process
In any of the above, was representative of the organization involved? These could be:
- Sales representative
- Financial employee
- Delivery person
- Service representative
Within the sales process, we need to examine:
- Did the sales representative offer all available options to the customer?
- Was the sales representative polite and courteous with the customer?
- In the eyes of the customer, was the sales representative professional?
Typically, the manager usually sits in his office busy, and is not aware for what is truly going on during the sales process. Sure, he or she can ask the sales representative but the answers received would usually be something like:
- “Of course, I presented all the options”
- “This customer doesn’t know what he wants”
- “There wasn’t much I could have done”
Therefore, we must ask our customers:
- During your visit to our store, did the sales representative answer all your questions?
- Did the sales representative present you with solutions for your demands?
- Did the sales representative treat you with in a polite and courteous manner?
- Was the sales representative properly attired?
Essentially, anything that you deem important towards the sales process.
Within the delivery process, we need to examine:
- Did the product/service provided match your order?
- Are you satisfied with the delivery terms (time, place, package, training)
- Are you satisfied with the conduct of the delivery person?
How many times before has a customer called to complain about the delivery process? Sometimes the complaint gets handled too late. This is because you haven’t taken the opportunity to ask your customers if everything was okay!
Within the billing process, we need to examine:
- Convenience of the payments for the customer
- Compatibility of the payments to the customer’s order
- Politeness and courtesy of the financial employees during the customer’s application
Mishaps occur all the time. There were cases when the customer’s expectations weren’t answered for any reason. All these are hidden from the management because they lack the tools that show them and not because they don’t care. Therefore, we must ask our customers:
- Are you satisfied with the payment conditions?
- Did the payment conditions match the order?
- During your application to the office, were you treated properly?
Becoming a bit complex to perform? We know. Well folks, it’s your lucky day. We present you with a website that gives you the tools and ability to perform the survey in an effective way. They also have a free trial. Try them out: constantcontact.com
let’s go on…Continue Reading for methods in measuring and analyzing customer satisfaction