BSI customer satisfaction standards

If customers are disillusioned with the level of service they are receiving, many will move to a competitor.

To help organisations improve levels of satisfaction among their customers, BSI British Standards has published two standards in this area:

BS ISO 10001 Customer satisfaction - Guidelines for codes of conduct for organisations provides guidance on the design and implementation of a customer satisfaction code of conduct. Implementation of the standard will potentially reduce confusion about the products and services a customer will receive and will explain what will happen in the event of a quality problem.

BS ISO 10003 Quality management - Customer satisfaction - Guidelines for dispute resolution external to organisations is designed for situations when complaints cannot be resolved within an organisation. It gives guidance on facilitation, advice and decision making within the dispute resolution process, including direction on the selection of resolution services and the involvement of top management in the process.

Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards, said: "Many people will have experienced poor customer service and this can damaging be to an organisation. Customers are not afraid to turn to a competitor if they feel they have been treated poorly. It's also very important that customers are aware of how their complaint will be handled and how disputes will be resolved. BSI is now offering a suite of customer satisfaction standards which have the potential to address these issues and improve customer confidence."

BS ISO 10001 and BS ISO 10003 now form part of a suite of customer satisfaction standards, available from BSI British Standards. Used in conjunction with BS ISO 10002: 2004, Guidelines for Complaints Handling in Organisations, an organisation can implement comprehensive and effective systems for dealing with customer satisfaction from complaint prevention and handling through to dispute resolution.

Both standards are suitable for use by a wide range of organisations, including small businesses.