ISO 10002-Quality management- Customer satisfaction

Quality management — Customer satisfaction — Guidelines for complaints handling in organizations

You can turn unhappy customers into positive business opportunities with effective complaints management. Satisfied customers are your best ambassadors.

ISO 10002:2014 provides guidance on the process of complaints handling related to products within an organization, including planning, design, operation, maintenance, and improvement. The complaints-handling process described is suitable for use as one of the processes of an overall quality management system.

ISO 10002:2014 is not applicable to disputes referred for resolution outside the organization or for employment-related disputes.

It is also intended for use by organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. Annex A provides guidance specifically for small businesses.

ISO 10002:2014 addresses the following aspects of complaints handling:

• enhancing customer satisfaction by creating a customer-focused environment that is open to feedback (including complaints), resolving any complaints received, and enhancing the organization’s ability to improve its product and customer service;
• top management involvement and commitment through adequate acquisition and deployment of resources, including personnel training;
• recognizing and addressing the needs and expectations of complainants;
• providing complainants with an open, effective, and easy-to-use complaints process;
• analysing and evaluating complaints in order to improve the product and customer service quality;
• auditing of the complaints-handling process;
• reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of the complaints-handling process.

An unhappy customer will tell friends and colleagues about their experiences, damaging your reputation and often you know nothing about it. Implementing a complaints handling process using ISO 10002 will help you turn unhappy customers into satisfied ones and use their input to improve the experience of future customers.

Your customer service processes need to make it simple for your customers to communicate complaints and resolve any issues arising. Complaint management is not about reducing the number of complaints, but taking the information they generate and turning it into an opportunity for improvement.

Smart complaint management will help you to improve customer service standards and deliver an effective complaint handling system to differentiate you from your competitors. Auditing by QNB against ISO 10002 Quality Management: Customer Satisfaction demonstrates that your organization cares about customer feedback and receives, manages and resolves customer complaints effectively.

Certification against ISO 10002 will provide your organization with a high quality and reliable complaint management system, including the following characteristics:

• Visibility
• Accessibility
• Responsiveness
• Objectivity
• Confidentiality
• Customer-focused approach
• Accountability
• Continual improvement

We can either conduct a gap assessment of your management system against the requirements of ISO 10002 or take you through the full certification process.

Our ISO 10002 Foundation Training is designed to provide any organization with the fundamentals of the ISO 10002 requirements. Contact your local QNB representative for further details.

Partner with QNB to improve customer service standards and complaint management with the implementation of ISO 10002.