HOW CUSTOMER FOCUS ensures client satisfaction

Customer focus involves determining customer requirements and ensuring that processes exist to meet the requirements and achieve customer satisfaction. Enhance customer satisfaction by ensuring that customer requirements are identified.

The principal message that Top Management must convey is that the objective of the business is to satisfy your customers by ensuring a process exists to achieve the following:

• Identifying customer requirements;
• Meeting customer requirements;
• Enhancing customer satisfaction.

When auditing customer focus, you should assess whether customer satisfaction is adequately determined and whether appropriate corrective action is undertaken when things go wrong.

The customer feedback process should be audited as a process in its own right and not just as a clause in the standard. Determine how this process is planned, implemented and improved as these factors will affect the processes’ ability to provide meaningful information about the effectiveness of the management system.

Top Management must also ensure that customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements are identified and consistently met and that the focus on enhancing customer satisfaction is maintained.

Top Management must also determine and address the risks and opportunities that can affect conformity of products and/or services and the organisation’s ability to enhance customer satisfaction.

You should seek and record evidence that Top Management is taking a ‘hands-on’ approach to the management of the management system, so be prepared to constructively challenge Top Management’s commitment.

Top Management’s commitment can likely be demonstrated by their actions, and by their views on the what the Management System policies mean to the everyday activities of your organisation, as well as policies’ relationship with your organisation’s strategic direction.

• Are Top Management attending management review meetings?
• Do they support the QMS Manager (or equivalent) during day-to-day activities and with improvement initiatives?
• Do they lead the way and take accountability for the effectiveness of the QMS?
• Have they ensured that responsibilities and authorities for relevant roles are assigned and understood?
• Have they ensured that responsibilities and authorities are communicated?
• Have they established, implemented and maintained policies and objectives?

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