I am having a bit of a dilemma. My auditor has been here twice and both times stated we need to vamp up our customer satisfaction. Our company President has determined that our end user is our customer, however, our end user isn't the one who we are contracted with (they do not provide us compensation). So, what do I do?? I am having difficulty getting everyone to agree. I could honestly care less who agrees with less, but I need a legit way of measuring this. Any ideas?? :frust:

I am having a bit of a dilemma. My auditor has been here twice and both times stated we need to vamp up our customer satisfaction. Our company President has determined that our end user is our customer, however, our end user isn't the one who we are contracted with (they do not provide us compensation). So, what do I do?? I am having difficulty getting everyone to agree. I could honestly care less who agrees with less, but I need a legit way of measuring this. Any ideas?? :frust:

In general, the one who pays for goods and services and receives them from you is your customer. This is not to say that the satisfaction of end users isn't important, but do end users ever contact your company with complaints, praise, or suggestions, or do they deal with whomever you're selling to?

Well, the short version is, The Government is our end user (we supply people), but the Government does not directly pay us. Our contract is through a different company that contracts through the government who pays us.

A less wordy version

Company A----My company---Government
Provides $ to --My company--provides service to Govt--Government provides money to Company A.

Does that make sense to anyone??

so, you are selling your product/service to company A, who then in turn sells it to company B? Does company A do anything to the product, or do they act as a warehouse? There are a few scenarios that I could see here, but I am not sure that it is entirely bad to be looking at satisfaction of the end user. I do think that you also need to look at the satisfaction of your immediate customer :2cents:

The company who provides us money just collects a passthru for being our monetary way to the government. Another way of looking at it, without company A, my company doesn't exist because we don't have a way for the government to fund us.

Either way, Company A just provides us money that the government gives to them for us providing a service to the government...Confusing huh;)

I am having a bit of a dilemma. My auditor has been here twice and both times stated we need to vamp up our customer satisfaction. Our company President has determined that our end user is our customer, however, our end user isn't the one who we are contracted with (they do not provide us compensation). So, what do I do?? I am having difficulty getting everyone to agree. I could honestly care less who agrees with less, but I need a legit way of measuring this. Any ideas?? :frust:

From ISO 9000:2005:

3.3.5 customer
organization (3.3.1) or person that receives a product (3.4.2)

EXAMPLE Consumer, client, end-user, retailer, beneficiary and purchaser.

NOTE A customer can be internal or external to the organization.

First, I would be most concerned with the entity that pays your invoices.
Next, who would be most inconvenienced if the service/product does not meet specifications?
Lastly, you need to come to an agreement internally how you define the Customer, otherwise, you'll be chasing your tail....;)

Good Luck!

Stijloor.

By your profile, you are a Government Contractor. Use the CPAR data that they provide.

It was accepted by our Auditors (both AS9100 and Internal Auditor [outsourced]).

By definition, they are both your Customers.

A Question,

If you were to receive a customer complaint, would it come from customer A or customer B or could it come from both?

Bob

A Question,

If you were to receive a customer complaint, would it come from customer A or customer B or could it come from both?

Bob


I am not speaking for the OP, but I have dealt with the Government. We sell a lot of product to the Government.

This is how it goes down:

1. The end user creates a Product Quality Deficiency Report (PQDR) or a Report of Discrepancy (ROD)

2. The Procurement Contracting Officer (PCO) or the Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) will generate their PQDR or ROD.

3. The Contractor, has the right to request the exhibit.

4. If the exhibit was requested, it is returned to the Contractor.

5. The exhibit is received at the Contractor's plant.

6. They have to notify their local Quality Assurance Representative (QAR), which works for the Defense Contract Management Administration (DCMA).

7. The QAR has to witness the opening of the exhibit.

8. The contractor performs an investigation.

9. The Contractor submits their response to the discrepancy, through the DCMA-QAR.

10. Then the Contractor will repair, replace, or return the exhibit back to the Using Activity.

11. That is the end of that process.



So, back to the question on who is the Customer...they both are.

Well, the short version is, The Government is our end user (we supply people), but the Government does not directly pay us. Our contract is through a different company that contracts through the government who pays us.

A less wordy version

Company A----My company---Government
Provides $ to --My company--provides service to Govt--Government provides money to Company A.

Does that make sense to anyone??
It sounds like you are a service provider then? If I read correctly, you provide people who do work to a contract, statement of work (SOW), or service level agreement (SLA). I doubt there will be PQDRs, RODs, etc. then.

Your contract probably has someone designated as the QAR, or person who is responsible for oversight of the work. This person should be the one who (contractually) says how well your company has met the requirements of the contract. They report back to the contracting officer, and if their feedback is bad, the government looks for another source. Find out who this person is! Also, I agree that the end user must be considered. They are (or should be) giving feedback to the QAR.

" They both are" - Coury, I think you have answered the question, now it is up to you to convince your company president. Show him the thread if you think that will help.

Bob

Well, I think he will go along with it. I'm sure it won't be happily though. It is very difficult to change his mind...I've already been down this road more than once. He just wants to be ISO certified so he will go with it...

Well, I think he will go along with it. I'm sure it won't be happily though. It is very difficult to change his mind...I've already been down this road more than once. He just wants to be ISO certified so he will go with it...

It might help to use the terms 'direct customer' and 'end user'. Both are important (and it might help your boss too - it's important to have him on board, rather than thinking 'this ISO stuff is silly, but whatever it takes').

For my 2 cents, everyone is a customer, paying or not. For example, my customers in QA are the scientists whose reports I independently review, my suppliers were customers who received my purchase orders etc.
Paul

For my 2 cents, everyone is a customer, paying or not.

The trouble with saying 'everyone' is a customer is that it is ill-defined and becomes far too amorphous a concept to deal with.

Any commercial organisation, just for an example, who wasn't clear about who their target customer was is likely to go out of business, because 'everyone's perception of satisfaction can't be assessed or monitored or measured.