ISO 10004:2018—Quality Management for Customer Satisfaction

One of the key elements of an organization’s success is the customer’s satisfaction with the organization and its products and services. In fact, there is a direct correlation between how happy customers are and how much money a business makes. Research shows that high satisfaction leads to greater customer retention, higher lifetime value, and a stronger brand reputation. ISO 10004:2018—Quality Management – Customer Satisfaction – Guidelines For Monitoring And Measuring provides guidelines for measuring and monitoring customer satisfaction.

How Do You Define Customer Satisfaction?

ISO 10004:2018 defines a customer as a “person or organization that could or does receive a product or a service that is intended for or required by this person or organization.” It defines customer satisfaction as a “customer’s perception of the degree to which the customer’s expectations have been fulfilled.” A customer’s expectation is not always known to the organization, or even to the customer in question, until the product or service is delivered. Thus, it can be necessary for achieving high customer satisfaction to fulfill an expectation of a customer even if it is neither stated nor generally implied or obligatory.

Complaints are an expression of customer service. ISO 10004:2018 defines complaints as an “expression of dissatisfaction made to an organization, related to its product or service, or the complaints-handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected are a common indicator of low customer satisfaction but their absence does not necessarily imply high customer satisfaction.” Complaints can be made in relation to other processes where the organization interacts with the customer; complaints can be made directly or indirectly to the organization. They are a common indicator of low customer satisfaction, but their absence does not necessarily imply high customer satisfaction.

What Is ISO 10004:2018?

ISO 10004:2018 gives guidelines for defining and implementing processes to monitor and measure customer satisfaction. It is intended for use by any organization regardless of its type or size, or the products and services it provides. The focus of this standard is on customers external to the organization.

How Do You Achieve Customer Satisfaction?

To achieve customer satisfaction, ISO 10004:2018 maintains that the organization should first understand the customer’s expectations. These expectations might be explicit or implicit, or not fully articulated. Customer expectations, as understood by the organization, form the primary basis of products and services that are subsequently planned and delivered. Here are a few examples of ways to achieve customer satisfaction:

Experience the customer journey firsthand
Listen and understand your customers
Create a customer-centric culture
Offer proactive multi-channel support
Always ask for feedback
Act on customer feedback and respond to customer reviews
Personalize the user experience
Give support teams everything they need to succeed
Lead with empathy
Leverage Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT) strategies scores
Follow up with customers
Make it easy for customer to get in contact with your business
Respond quickly
Provide omni-channel and proactive support
Create customer loyalty programs