Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is the customer’s perception of whether their expectations regarding a product or service have been met, and it has a direct impact on their loyalty and overall experience.

ISO 9001 certification and other quality management standards require an understanding of customer satisfaction. To assess customer satisfaction, we can follow the requirements of the ISO 10004 standard.

How to gauge customer satisfaction

To gauge customer satisfaction, you can use various methods, such as:
Customer satisfaction surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys, featuring questions on key aspects of your product or service, ISO certification or business plan: product or service quality, customer service. Thanks to online satisfaction surveys, we can easily analyse the results statistically. They also allow you to gather customer feedback and identify areas for improvement as you see fit.

The main drawback of the survey is ensuring there are enough responses to make the results representative.

Indirect indicators or customer satisfaction KPIs are useful when you wish to assess trends or behaviours associated with the customer experience. They can form part of the process monitoring indicators in your ISO 9001 certificate or your balanced scorecard.

The most common indicators are:

  • Behavioural indicators: Repeat purchase rate / order frequency; Retention or loyalty rate; Customer lifetime value.
  • Churn indicators: Contract cancellation rate / churn rate or Decrease in purchase volume per customer.
  • Service or product quality indicators. Number of claims and complaints; Incident resolution time; Return or rejection rate.
  • Commercial or marketing indicators. Effective referral rate (customers who bring in others); NPS; Social media interaction or online reviews.
  • Operational indicators: Level of deadline compliance / on-time deliveries or Customer specification compliance rate

Analysis of non-conformities and complaints managed through our ticketing system. This data provides an indication of the organisation’s quality and is linked to customer satisfaction.

Do not rely solely on complaints as a means of gauging customer satisfaction, as most dissatisfied customers do not lodge complaints but simply stop being customers.
Sales representatives can collect the information gathered during their visits to customers. A satisfaction questionnaire or survey, similar to the one mentioned above, can be provided, in which the sales representative records the satisfaction scores. Whilst this method addresses the issue of low response rates, it has the drawback of losing the customer’s direct feedback as it passes through the sales representative’s filter.

This involves tracking sales to each customer via the dashboard. It assesses their level of loyalty. It identifies those customers whose spending has decreased or who have simply stopped buying. This method must be accompanied by an analysis of the causes of lost business, so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken to minimise the loss of business.

Feedback or comments from your customers via digital tools such as ‘Google Maps’. With our community manager service for social media management, we can enhance the collection of feedback and analyse your online reputation.

ISO software for measuring customer satisfaction

Our Gesttic method, based on Microsoft 365, uses the following tools to assess customer satisfaction:

  • Forms: we customise the survey you need to assess customer satisfaction, using NPS (Net Promoter Score) or a more standard survey.
  • Social media reviews, such as those on Google, LinkedIn or any other social media platform. We aim to assess satisfaction based on the online reputation we identify.
  • Management indicators, via Power BI or Pivot Tables, through which we indirectly gauge customer satisfaction.

Other key features of our Gesttic methodology include document management, non-conformity management and improvement actions, and the training portal.

FAQs: Customer Satisfaction

Is it essential to monitor customer satisfaction?

No, but it is important, because customer satisfaction indicates whether the company is meeting customer expectations, which helps to build customer loyalty and encourage recommendations.

Customer satisfaction is a mandatory requirement in various management system standards. Notable examples include:

  • ISO 9001 – Quality management systems. It is mandatory, in accordance with clause 9.1.2. It requires the organisation to establish methods for obtaining, monitoring and reviewing customers’ perceptions of the extent to which their requirements are met.
  • IATF 16949 – Automotive quality. It reinforces the requirements of ISO 9001 and includes ‘specific customer satisfaction indicators’ defined by the automotive customer.
  • EMAS – European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. Although not directly required, engagement and communication with interested parties (including customers) is essential.
  • IQNet SR10 – Social Responsibility. Requires the views of stakeholders, including customers, to be taken into account in the responsible management system.
  • UNE 66102 – Management Systems Consultancy. Stipulates that consultancy firms must assess customer satisfaction as part of the monitoring of their services.
  • ISO 10002 – Complaints Management. It does not require the assessment of overall satisfaction, but focuses on how to manage complaints effectively to improve the customer experience.

Measuring customer satisfaction through surveys, ratings, direct feedback, reviews and other metrics related to the customer experience, using the following main methods:

  1. Net Promoter Score (NPS) – How likely is a customer to recommend your business to a friend?
  2. Customer profitability score – What profit do individual customers generate?
  3. Customer retention rate – When do your customers return to buy? How loyal are they to your brand, company or service?
  4. Conversion rate – The rate at which an offer, call, enquiry or website visit is converted into a sale.
  5. Relative market share – How large is your market segment compared to your competitors in the same market segment?

The Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a simple and easy-to-interpret metric that provides insight into the level of customer satisfaction with a company, as well as their loyalty to it.

The NPS can be applied to all industries and service companies. It can be compared over time within the same company or across different companies. Customer satisfaction can be measured with a single question. The most common is: “How likely are you to recommend company X to a friend, colleague or family member?”

Satisfied customers tend to make repeat purchases and recommend the company, which boosts sales and reduces customer acquisition costs.

Furthermore, satisfied customers enhance the company’s image. This builds a positive reputation and instils confidence in future customers and partners.

Customer satisfaction helps a business stand out from the competition for several reasons:

  • It means that customers value the value proposition of the business plan and the Quality Management Certificate.
  • Having satisfied customers means fewer complaints and claims. If customers are satisfied, they are less likely to complain and more open to providing positive feedback.
  • Collecting and analysing satisfaction data helps identify weaknesses (SWOT) and drives continuous improvement in the quality of the product or service.