ISO 9001 Customer Feedback Survey Template

ISO 9001 Customer Feedback Survey Template: Drive Quality & Satisfaction

In the competitive business landscape, the satisfaction of its clients is a strategic priority. For any standard-conforming organization, the international standard ISO 9001 explicitly addresses the collection and analysis of customer feedback. Specifically, implementing a customer survey is one of the best ways to improve one's quality management system, as well as customer loyalty and satisfaction. This article features an ISO 9001 customer feedback survey template, as well as a brief explanation of how to implement a high-quality customer survey process compliant with ISO 9001 requirements.

Why does ISO 9001 Emphasize the Voice of the Customer?

ISO 9001:2015 is built around seven quality management principles, one of which is the customer focus. Essentially, this principle dictates that an organization's success depends on its customers and, therefore, the company must constantly evaluate their expectations and needs and strive to exceed their requirements.

Clause 9.1.2, "Customer satisfaction," mentions that an organization shall determine the needs and expectations of the customers, obtain customer satisfaction information, determine the methods for gathering and analyzing this information, and employ it to enhance the organization's performance.

For reference, fulfilling the requirements set forth by ISO 9001:2015, specifically 9.1.2, should enable an organization to:

• Monitor customer satisfaction and analyze it in order to determine their expectations.
  
  

• Collect data in order to evaluate the level of satisfaction.
  
  

• Make use of the aforementioned data for the purposes of improvement.
  
  

• Take corrective and preventive action where necessary.

Additionally, although ISO 9001 sets a standard for management systems, the benefits of implementing a robust feedback collection process would extend beyond one's management system. For example, one may use surveys to:

• Build customer loyalty by addressing their concerns and providing the quality level they expect.
  
  

• Improve one's products/services.
  
  

• Improve the efficiency of the organization.
  
  

• Differentiate from the competitors.
  
  

• Boost the image of the brand.
  
  

• Engage and empower employees by demonstrating that the company values their contributions.

Elements of the ISO 9001 Customer Feedback Survey Template

The basic elements of the ISO 9001 customer survey may be broken down into a few key areas. For each of these areas, a series of questions may be asked.

Goals of the Survey

Prior to developing a query document, the goals of the survey should be set. Some of the common goals of a customer survey include:

• Assess customer satisfaction.
  
  

• Benchmark the quality of one's products/services.
  
  

• Evaluate the effectiveness of one's customer service.
  
  

• Discover opportunities for improvement.
  
  

• Obtain specific information (for example, for the requirements for ISO 9001 documentation control).

Depending on the goals, one may select the modes of distributing the query, the questions to be asked, and the methods for data analysis. Additionally, one may identify the target audience for the survey, if any, as some customers may be uninterested in providing feedback.

The Mode of Survey Distribution

Depending on the size of the target audience, there are several modes of survey distribution, including:

• Online surveys: This is one of the most common ways to distribute surveys and is perfect for gathering general feedback. Such surveys are convenient and often utilize software designed for this very purpose.
  
  

• Paper-based surveys: One of the traditional ways of gathering feedback, this method requires manually entering the data into a database.
  
  

• Telephonic surveys: Another traditional method, which can be used to gather qualitative data, although it is rather time-consuming.
  
  

• Email surveys: Surveys distributed via email can be utilized for both internal and external customers, depending on the context.
  
  

• In-app or In-website pop-up surveys: Perfect for obtaining real-time feedback.
  

The Questions to Ask

When it comes to actually designing the questions, the following recommendations can be implemented:

• Keep the survey short and concise: Fewer questions lead to higher completion rates.
  
  

• Ask short, straightforward questions: Avoid using complex terminology or phrasing.
  
  

• Ask both quantitative and qualitative questions: Both are needed for a comprehensive analysis.
  
  

• Avoid asking leading questions: Such questions provide a hint as to what the expected answer is.
  
  

• Ensure logical grouping of questions: Questions should be grouped according to themes.
  
  

• Use a combination of open-ended and multiple-choice questions: This minimizes the effort required to answer the question while still providing the information needed for analysis.

How to Implement a Customer Survey and Use it to Determine Opportunities for Improvement

A well-designed template is only the beginning of one's journey towards quality excellence. Once the survey is designed, it is time to make sure it is employed correctly. The following section covers some of the key elements of the client feedback collection process.

Gathering and Analyzing Customer Feedback

The main purpose of a customer survey is to determine the customers' level of satisfaction. As such, one should utilize the data obtained from the survey to address the concerns and/or needs of the customers.

To do so, one should:

• Determine the frequency of the surveys. Depending on the context, these may be transactional, i.e., sent after a specific transaction (e.g., a purchase), or evaluative, i.e., designed to determine general satisfaction levels and may have a longer interval between them.

• Determine a data collection method. For example, one may utilize online surveys and gather quantitative data, or conduct personal interviews and gather qualitative data.

• Automate the data collection process, if possible. There are many software products designed to collect, analyze, and visualize the data.

• Analyze the quantitative data, such as the average rating, percentage of customers who rated a particular product/service poorly, and so forth.

• Analyze the qualitative data, such as reading the open-ended responses and determining the most common concerns or complaints.

• Segment the data to understand what issues are pressing for different types of customers.

• Make sure that the data is accessible to the stakeholders who need it.

• Ensure that the analysis is performed and the results are presented accurately.

In addition to the above steps, one should also make sure that the feedback is used to improve the processes, such as those related to a quality management system.

Continuous Improvement Based on the Feedback

ISO 9001 is all about the continuous improvement of the organization's processes, including the processes related to customer care. As such, there should be a procedure detailing how the feedback will be processed, analyzed, and used to influence the improvement of products/services.

Some of the key elements that should be covered by the procedure include:

• Presenting the customer feedback and its analysis to the management for review.

• Prioritizing the actions based on the analysis.

• Determining the root cause of the most pressing issues.

• Taking corrective and/or preventive action.

• Reporting the action taken to the customers, if necessary.

• Updating the documents related to the quality management system in accordance with the changes made.

• Taking the action to ensure the effectiveness of the implemented actions.

It is also important to document the entire process in accordance with ISO 9001 document control requirements, as the procedures, records of customer feedback, and actions taken are all controlled documents.

Common Errors to Avoid

Some of the common errors to avoid when implementing a customer feedback survey process include:

• Collecting customer feedback without analyzing it and taking any actions.

• Asking too many questions or making the survey too complicated, thus eliminating the possibility of receiving useful data.

• Sending the same survey too infrequently to receive meaningful insights.

• Using leading questions.

• Ineffectively analyzing the data.

• Being biased towards positive feedback and ignoring the negative feedback.

• Having no time or resources allocated to the project.

Conclusion

An ISO 9001 customer feedback survey template is one of the key tools needed to ensure continuous improvement through customer interaction. By collecting and analyzing the feedback provided by the clients, an organization can make the necessary adjustments to its processes to ensure its products/services are up to standard.