Customer Feedback / Customer Satisfaction

[Brian L]

Hi Everybody ,
I'am in need of some advice in relation to drafting a procedure to satisfy the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 clause 8.2.1 , If anybody has ideas in this area i would be most grateful in hearing them.

 

[Trakman]

Hello Brian,

Customer feedback is divided into two types: Positive and negative. (complaints always abound, however how do you deal with the customer that calls up and has an improvement idea?)

Typically, different people in your organization will receive this +/- feedback. Your "procedure" needs to focus in on:

a) how this is reported to your company (forms?, email?, surveys?, cust service reps?)
b) who is responsible for receiving this information and reporting it
c) how to collect this information (via a common "form", generic emails, a simple networked access database, or?)
d) who is responsible to collect the information, sort it into a meaningful collection, ready for analysis
e) what is done with the collection of information (statistical analysis?, preventative/corrective action report initiated and forwareded to engineering, etc...)

This of course needs to be tied into and be an element of CQI. (however large or small you want to make it)

I believe that what they are seeking is to have customer input drive changes/improvements to the finished product/service. Only you can clearly identify how this applies to your industry.
Keep being inventive.
Trakman.
(ps. get registered, this is an awesome site!)

 

[Jim Biz]

As an additional thought - those little cards you fill out at a hotel/motel come to mind.

We're adapting our procedure to address both sides of the issue incorporating current mechanics for customer complaint recording, and developing a brief customer survey we can send out. (Have talked with some places that telephone their cutsomers every day and ask about their delivered products, quality etc. They track & document all feedback looking for trends.

Regards
Jim

 

[Brian L]

Thanks to Trakman and Jim Biz for the advice
Regards

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Brian L

 

[Dick M]

One aspect of our Customer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction Program. Our Process Quality group surveys each of our customers by mail each year (prorated monthly). All surveys returned (typically 60% per year) are forwarded to the area managers for action. These managers are required to follow-up with corrective action on any complaints contained on those surveys - i.e., those displaying a score of "D" or "F" (on an A to F scale) or marked "Worse than Most" in comparison to our competition or containing a negative comment. All corrective action activity is reported to the Process Quality group for "close-the-loop" documentation. Survey and complaint follow-up stats sheets are published on our intranet monthly.
All non-responders to the mail survey are surveyed by telephone - if possible (some organizations simply refuse to be surveyed).

 

[energy]

Feedback is described by Khanhoum as any after sales communication that requires a response. Neither he nor the standard mention positive or negative feedback. Complaints are for the negative communications.
We choose not to include what may be considered "positive" feedback. Thank yous and atta boys are nice to see. To us, it means we just did our job. It may be seen as a seesaw used to weigh the good vs the bad. That's not the intent. Constructive criticism, suggestions by your Customer is Feedback, period, if you choose to respond to their input. Just trying to save somebody some work. JMHO

energy

 

[E Wall]

I've been hearing other terms such as 'passive' or 'active' related to Customer Satisfaction. Also to be remembered is that you must address all customers - Internal and External, so we're not just talking 'end user' anymore.

The measureables your company uses should be a mix of 'passive' and 'active' methods for determining customer satisfaction. Examples: Market Share; Customer Retention; Acquisition of new customers; Satisfaction; Profitability; and Customer Feedback,

From "Measurements of Customer Dissatisfaction" from Kaplan, R.S. and Norton, D. P. 'The Balanced Scorecard':

Many customers do not go to the trouble of complaining. They simply take their business to one of your competitors. Customer dissatisfaction indicators include complaints, claims, refunds, recalls, returns, repeat services, litigation, replacements, downgrades, repairs, warranty work, warranty costs, miss-shipments, and incomplete orders.

There are numerous sources of information concerning customer satisfaction - direct complaints and comments, questionnaires and surveys, reports from consumer organizations, reports from the media and sector studies.

One of the easiest ways to ask customers for help and one the usually turns up very valuable information is the focus group interview. Any capable facilitator who understands the objective of the research can usually do a good job. The real trick is thinking through the findings, interpreting what the group participants have told you and relating it to the quality of your product or service.