From handling complaints to service with a smile, taking care of customers is a science in itself and one not to be taken lightly as it can have a dramatic effect on both staff morale and the bottom line. Studies abound that show that those companies that perform well in customer experience have higher revenues and returns on investments.1) Not to mention that most customers don’t go back to a company if they have a bad experience. 1)
Getting the customer experience right, then, is imperative. A series of international standards dedicated to improving customer satisfaction has just been updated, to ensure the information is most relevant and reflects revisions to ISO’s flagship standard for quality, ISO 9001.
Stan Karapetrovic, Convener of the working group that revised the standards said they guide organizations on implementing effective systems to improve customer satisfaction.
“These guidelines were revised simultaneously, aligning both with ISO 9001 and with each other,” he said.
“While each of the standards can be efficiently implemented by themselves, their integrated application is very effective as well.”
The standards are:
ISO 10001, Quality management – Customer satisfaction – Guidelines for codes of conduct for organizations
ISO 10002, Quality management – Customer satisfaction – Guidelines for complaints handling in organizations
ISO 10003, Quality management – Customer satisfaction – Guidelines for dispute resolution external to organizations
ISO 10004, Quality management – Customer satisfaction – Guidelines for monitoring and measuring
The series of standards was developed by subcommittee 3, Supporting technologies, of technical committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, the secretariat of which is held by NEN, ISO’s member for the Netherlands.
They are available from your national ISO member or the ISO Store.
1) Forbes: The Customer Experience Imperative: How To Justify The Investment