Dear friends,
Some companies make a difference between customer perception and customer satisfaction. What is the difference between those too? How could be monitored customer perception if it’s different by customer satisfaction?
See 8.2.1 and 8.2.1.1 from ISO TS 16949
Thank you very much
God bless you.

Look at the definition of customer satisfaction in ISO 9000. Customer satisfaction is the customer's perception of the degree to which their requirements have been met. Sounds like the same thing to me. :confused:

Look at: Customer Perception - Customer Satisfaction - ISO 9001 Clause 8.2.1 (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=10730)

Especially post #3

Dear friends,
Some companies make a difference between customer perception and customer satisfaction. What is the difference between those too? How could be monitored customer perception if it’s different by customer satisfaction?
See 8.2.1 and 8.2.1.1 from ISO TS 16949
Thank you very much
God bless you.

The difference is wide and clear. The customer's perception is one hundred percent compliance of his requirement, and the customer satisfaction is the achieved percentage.

Umang :D

The difference is wide and clear. The customer's perception is one hundred percent compliance of his requirement, and the customer satisfaction is the achieved percentage.

Umang :D


Do you really believe that perception is that easily defined? I don't. I have a hair dresser that cuts my hair and uses pictures that I pick for the requirement. She is in 100% compliance to my requirements. Technically, her cuts exactly match the photographs that I take to her. My perception of her is that she has little to no imagination or creativity.

The difference is wide and clear. The customer's perception is one hundred percent compliance of his requirement, and the customer satisfaction is the achieved percentage.

Do you have a source for your opinion? I disagree. Let's look at the full citation from the definitive source - ISO 9000:
customer satisfaction
customer's perception of the degree to which the customer's requirements have been fulfilled

NOTE 1 Customer complaints are a common indicator of low customer satisfaction but their absence does not necessarily
imply high customer satisfaction.

NOTE 2 Even when customer requirements have been agreed with the customer and fulfilled, this does not necessarily ensure high customer satisfaction.

To me this definition (and notes) say two things relevant to this topic:
1) Customer satisfaction is customer perception
2) Every requirement of the customer could be fulfilled, and the customer may still not be satisfied.

Dear friends,
Some companies make a difference between customer perception and customer satisfaction. What is the difference between those too? How could be monitored customer perception if it’s different by customer satisfaction?
See 8.2.1 and 8.2.1.1 from ISO TS 16949
Thank you very much
God bless you.

Hi luciano,

Customer perception is checking if the organization has met customer requirements, and one of the ways to do this is by measuring customer satisfaction .

Therefore Customer perception is a broader term and encompasses many things. Perception is often dynamic and changes from time to time.

You could refer IAF - Auditing customer feedback processes (http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/3554675/APG-CustomerFeedback.doc?func=doc.Fetch&nodeid=3554675)

Dear friends,
Some companies make a difference between customer perception and customer satisfaction. What is the difference between those too? How could be monitored customer perception if it’s different by customer satisfaction?
See 8.2.1 and 8.2.1.1 from ISO TS 16949
Thank you very much
God bless you.

I have (as has Paul Simpson) just finished some contributions to the CQI's Body of Quality Knowledge (some yet to be published), and I have covered this in one of the modules as follows:

"The quality of goods or of a service (or at least a customer’s perception of it) can be significantly influenced by the customer’s expectations from the product, which in turn can be founded on a number of assumptions. Both these factors can be influenced (and manipulated) significantly by the supplier as well as by a number of other factors. This subject is explained in much more detail in Peter Bowbrick’s book “The Economics of Quality, Grades and Brands”.

Myron Tribus, former director of the Centre for Advanced Engineering Study at MIT, puts it another way: “There is no such thing as an immaculate perception. What you see depends upon what you thought before you looked”.

Many assumptions made by customers are based on redundant knowledge or on ignorance, yet they have a major impact on how quality is perceived. On the other hand, a supplier can do much to manage expectations and anticipate assumptions, so that the same product is viewed totally differently under different circumstances.

There is a growing realisation that quality is multi-dimensional – things do not get done as a result of random acts and events but rather as a sequence of interrelated actions which depend on resources being available and which are affected by a variety of influences. There is also a time element in all of this – company culture, experience and knowledge, reputation and expectations can all take years to develop."

So "customer satisfaction" - which is one of the outcomes from the buying process or transaction - is influenced by the "customer's perception" of a number of factors such as the actual "product", the service provided, the physical delivery, the way the order was taken etc.

You could refer IATF - Auditing customer feedback processes (http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/3554675/APG-CustomerFeedback.doc?func=doc.Fetch&nodeid=3554675)Ajit, this is not an IATF paper. It contains a "soft" endorsement from the IAF. But IAF and IATF are different organizations, as you know.

Ajit, this is not an IATF paper. It contains a "soft" endorsement from the IAF. But IAF and IATF are different organizations, as you know.

Thanks for spotting the typo error :)

…for me, customer perception is somehow relating to customer impression of how you are working (e.g. your management system)… while customer satisfaction should be tangible (e.g. your product / service status)…

…your customer maybe satisfied about your products (or services) but still have poor perception about your management system… but definitely, cannot be the other way around… if your customer is dissatisfied, for sure, they’ll have poor perception about your management system…

:2cents: