Hi everyone.
Here's one for you - it's kept me good and worried for the last few days.

Customer satisfaction - our flexibility in terms of getting feedback from customers is pretty limited. The prez does not want us sending out surveys, asking questions on the phone, etc. in order to gather information re: how happy our customers are with us. His view is that we are providing them with a product/service - they should not be hassled with doing us favours to keep our systems running. As a result, all we really go on is the lack of complaints, which I know is not enough - someone's lack of complaints doesn't automatically imply that they're happy. There have been arguments that we're not a sole supplier of our genre of products, and I'm told that the nature of our business is that if they weren't happy, they'd go somewhere else...but I wouldn't want to take the chance of coasting on that through an audit.

So, I've thought up a system that could work, and that is in the process of being run by the big chief. I figure that when our sales reps are on their periodic (six-month) check-up visits with each customer, they could incorporate a quick verbal survey into their visit and include the results in their service report. Combine that with some stats on customer retention (i.e., how many customers do we lose without getting complaints from them first, how many potential contracts do we lose, stuff like that) Which, ordinarily, would be fine...except that our initial assessment is in early June and there's no way that we'd be able to compile any information between now and then. Basically, we don't have time to build the system and start using it...and I can't guarantee that any number of customer visits will happen between now and the audit.

Will that fly? I mean, some of these things take a lot longer to implement than others (like CARs - some take a week to solve, some take a year). I realize the cheekiness of presenting a system with no data - but in combination with other measurables, like stats on customer retention and lost business, would that be enough (in your expert opinions) to get us through?

Looking forward to some good viewpoints...
-R. :eek:

Will it fly?...good question. During our Transition Audit our online Customer Complaint system was relatively brand new and full of bugs (IT keeps calling them "features" but we're not buying that). We explained this to our Auditor, showed her plan to implement the new software, along with where we were in the project and when we would be completed.

I think your idea might work if you present the plan to the Auditor (if necessary). When you will have the visits done (what is the schedule...who, where, with whom, etc.). When will the data be collected, analyzed and presented? And by the Auditor's next visit, s/he'll probably expect to see some output from that analysis.

During our System Audit prior to the Transition one, in an effort to cover my butt and show that we acknowledged the current state of our online system, I made an Audit Note in the Report indicating that we had looked at the system, described the relative newness of it all, referred to the plan number, etc., and even planned another audit later in the year to ensure that all was in order. Our Auditor excepted this.

Not sure about the experience of others, though...

Will it fly?...good question.
I think your idea might work if you present the plan to the Auditor (if necessary). When you will have the visits done (what is the schedule...who, where, with whom, etc.). When will the data be collected, analyzed and presented? And by the Auditor's next visit, s/he'll probably expect to see some output from that analysis.

Seeing you are artificially limited in what you can do, then ya gotta get creative. I think the idea about the sales people is valid, and also one method generally accepted to collect some of that data. Just have them slip in a couple of questions and document the answers (Who, when, what, etc.).

You could use % of market share as a measure and trend it yearly. . this is not customer specific, but an indication of how you are servicing a business sector . . you could use longevity of service to specific customers as a source. . . these, while not direct, are in-direct indicators of customer satisfaction. That may be all you will be able to get.

Don't forget Benchmarking. . .

As I like to say, "when ya live on the dark side of the force, ya gotta learn to skin a cat in the dark"

You could always send out a letter to customers telling them that you will NOT be sending them letters requesting customer satisfaction information . . but that any information volunteered by them would be nice. . . :lmao:

Good luck

Sounds like an agreeable plan. As long as they are being cooperative, why not ask those sales rep's to pop-in and give your Management (Review) Team a presentation? We know how things work and how it's sometimes difficult to get the Sales Rep's to send us information (they like to keep those reports to themselves sometimes), so why not ask them to give the powers that be (at your facility) a verbal overview? they can use powerpoints and anything else they like... We have found that if you give them your undivided attention and show that you really want to make their job easier, they have loads of Customer Satisfaction information to share. I only wish that we could get at least one Sales Rep. into every one of our Management Review meetings.

ERL

...when our sales reps are on their periodic (six-month) check-up visits with each customer, they could incorporate a quick verbal survey into their visit and include the results in their service report. Combine that with some stats on customer retention...

This is exactly what we started doing last year. We have literally thousands of customers in our system because of the repair end of the business, so we decided to do this with our top 50 customers once a year. Since the sales rep visits the customer monthly or quarterly - depending on the customer - they just whip out this little survey on one of their regular visits. It does not inconvenience anyone, you're sure the survey was responded to by the correct function, no wasted trees faxing and refaxing, etc. So far we like it.

Besides monitoring customer complaints and warranty returns, we also monitor our hit/miss ratio as a customer satisfaction measure - we know how many quotes were submitted, and how many of them turned into PO's.

My opinion is that you should derive your opinion of customer satisfaction on data from various sources, which has been gained using various techniques, including:-

- customer complaints
- sales growth/decline
- repeat business
- ratio of orders won to quotes
- product returns
- visit reports
- user conferences

oh and yes maybe even a questionnaire.

Your system may include all or some, or even only one of the above (or something entirely different). If you can show your auditor some analysis, and say that you also intend to get feedback reports from customer visits then it should be OK, and he should check this at his next visit.

My opinion is that you should derive your opinion of customer satisfaction on data from various sources, which has been gained using various techniques, including:-

- customer complaints
- sales growth/decline
- repeat business
- ratio of orders won to quotes
- product returns
- visit reports
- user conferences


I floated some of those ideas by our Controller earlier today, thinking they were great - and found out that they were pretty flawed. :( Our products are fairly specialized, so customer turnover is not always a good measure. For example, one of our customers may buy a material from us to use for a specific project/contract - when they finish the contract they may stop buying our products. It's not always a measure of customer satisfaction. We have repeat customers that buy a variety of stuff from us, but there may not be any rhythm to it - it's just based on what they need at the given time. There are the regulars that have the kind of repeat business that brings them back for more - but that is not always the case.

As for customer complaints and returns, those are really more a measure of customer *dis*satisfaction. I was under the impression that a low rate of dissatisfaction was not good enough to imply satisfaction. Am I wrong?

The others are good, though - thanks for the feedback. I will bring these ones up and see where I get with them. :agree1:

Rachel,
Do you sales reps provide regular call reports to key accounts, and others? This may be a good place to identify level of customer satisfaction, or pick up on verbal complaints. I used to track those as well as written complaints.

My opinion is that you should derive your opinion of customer satisfaction on data from various sources, which has been gained using various techniques, including:-

- customer complaints
- sales growth/decline
- repeat business
- ratio of orders won to quotes
- product returns
- visit reports
- user conferences

oh and yes maybe even a questionnaire.

Your system may include all or some, or even only one of the above (or something entirely different). If you can show your auditor some analysis, and say that you also intend to get feedback reports from customer visits then it should be OK, and he should check this at his next visit.
Martin - Welcome back :bigwave:

Bill

...As for customer complaints and returns, those are really more a measure of customer *dis*satisfaction. I was under the impression that a low rate of dissatisfaction was not good enough to imply satisfaction. Am I wrong?...

I've never made the distinction between satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Their level of satisfaction is either "not very" or "very". We do monitor our customer complaints and warranty returns as one of our measures of customer satisfaction. But we do all the other stuff also.

One think I got pounded into my thick Italian cranium is that LACK of customer complaints IS NOT a measure of customer satisfaction. .

Somehow you need some measure of satisfaction. . .

One think I got pounded into my thick Italian cranium is that LACK of customer complaints IS NOT a measure of customer satisfaction. .

I'm always the one in disagreement with this. Customer complaints and warranty returns are "information relating to customer perception as to whether the organization has met customer requirements".

However, I do agree that all on it's own, it is not a complete picture and could cause false confidence in an organization. Some customers don't complain, they just don't come back. We would have a hard time knowing this with some of our customers. If we repair or remanufacture a lead screw for a guy down the street who found us on-line or in the phone book, and don't hear from him again, it could mean "great, the lead screw is working fine or he would have called" or, it could mean that they had issues with installation, billing, delivery or something that they took care of but the part still worked and they won't be calling us the next time they need another machine detail repaired.

This is why we ALSO monitor our estimating hit/miss ratio. We also monitor sales growth/decline of the type of customers where it makes sense.

When we do a job for a company for the first time - as in the scenario above - our sales rep makes a follow up call or visit and fills out the customer satisfaction questionnaire I mentioned. We don't fax or mail it, the sales rep fills it out while they are speaking to the customer - whether over the phone, email or in person. Then we also do the top 50 customers once a year - same thing, the sales rep contacts or visits and fills out the questionnaire.

We also use a service call report. Sometimes customers call us on-site to evaluate something for any number of reasons - including complaints. Whether we send someone to, let's say, evaluate a machine detail to see if we can determine if it is in need of repair before they disassemble their machine - or because there is a complaint, the technician or engineer fills out the service call report.

We receive performance evaluations from some of our customers, but not many. These may be negative or positive. We receive "kudos" letters occasionally, which we review in the same manner we review complaints. It's all information pertaining to the customers perception of our ability to satisfy them.

We have also noticed a significant decline in responses to our official customer surveys, and have changed the way in which we collect 'satisfaction data' - We don't call it that, we call it 'potential sales information'. ;) I have created a list of questions pre-printed on a note pad, - when the sales person goes on a call, s/he takes the pre-printed questions along. - they are filled in as 'notes' during the visit.

Semi Annual visits are required, and during the conversation, as much of the information is completed as possible, and it does include performance monitoring questions. To make sure that the information gets returned to the company, the reps fill in a 'sales call' report and submit the info to claim their expenses. It seems to be working. - I get a copy of the report, and can chart the performance issues - late delivery complaints etc.

I have had no complaints about the system from our auditors.

Barb

Well said Cari.

If I ever suss out the Kudos thing I will bung you some points.

Any single measure/method is potentially flawed. I believe you must do many things, then look accross your measures for any trends/correlation.

...If I ever suss out the Kudos thing I will bung you some points...

Well thanks. I don't sweat points, the comments are what I appreciate.

Um... suss? :)

8.2.1 Customer satisfaction
As one of the measurements of the performance of the quality management system, the organization shall monitor information relating to customer perception as to whether the organization has met customer requirements. The methods for obtaining and using this information shall be determined. my emphasis

I have never liked surveys as the results are very biased depending on the situation at the time of completion.

I have used reqular meetings of the various functions that are in contact with the customer: sales/marketing. engineering, quality etc. to discuss the feelings that they have as to their relationships with the customer. This gives an allround view and the inputs are different. The actions plans are then developed to cover all the aspects. Data available such as complaints, delivery times are also inputs.
If you have a large number of customers then you can Pareto them to deal with the important ones and maybe add strategic customers that are not fully developed.
Minute the meetings and develop action plans.
This has been approved by registrars and customers.

If I ever suss out the Kudos thing I will bung you some points. Hullo there..:bigwave: Long time no see..

Here it is: See post 172 (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showpost.php?p=74443&postcount=172) in the Karma (Reputation), Chat Rooms and Some Other Contentious Chat (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=6531) thread.

As for the thread subject, I suggest this oldie: Supplier Evaluation and Approval forms - Discussion and Evaluation Examples (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=5148&highlight=questionnaire)

/Claes

Hi Rachel,

I think Groos3, Martin and Cari have basically wrapped it all up but If you are taking a poll and need extra percentage then here is my two cents worth. My Sales Manager dislikes Surveys to customers and therefore that idea has been canned here. We use Customer 'Call Reports', Management Meetings, CARs (internal and external), CCs, Product development meetings (Sales and production), Sales forecasts and market research meetings. All of this is not necessarily documented in our QA system but the auditor (registrar) added it ALL to his last few audits and ticked 'Customer Satisfaction' off. I don't think this is really tyhe spirit of the Standard but it is Sooooo vague. I mean this was one of the MAJOR changes to the standard and it looks as if it was added as an after thought. JMHO

PS: How do your departments relate to each other? How does Department A rate department B's service?

Greg B