ISO 10002 Customer Satisfaction. Complaints Handling

Manage customer complaints effectively and you’ll have more chance of meeting their expectations as well. And you can quickly turn customer complaints into customer satisfaction instead – especially when you view complaints as an opportunity to improve what you do and how you do it. ISO 10002 can help you to achieve this whatever the size or nature of your business. The customer complaints management system is a basic but essential requirement for any business – especially businesses that want to become and remain successful.

Customers expect more and more from the service you provide. And your competitors are working harder to meet these expectations. You can too with ISO 10002, the international standard for customer satisfaction. It provides you with guidelines for putting in place your own complaints management system – helping you to identify complaints, their cause and how to eliminate them. ISO 10002 will also allow you to identify areas in your business where you can improve and eventually remove the cause of complaints. The standard outlines management controls and processes that help you to handle customer complaints more effectively and efficiently – making sure that more customers are satisfied with the service you provide.

• Achieve operational efficiency to identify trends and causes of complaints
• Resolve more complaints by adopting a more customer-focused approach
• Engage staff with new customer service training opportunities
• Integrate ISO 10002 with ISO 9001 to improve overall efficiency
• Monitor and continually improve your complaints handling process.

There are many reasons to work with us to introduce and implement customer complaints management. That’s because we established the first complaints management system standard in 1999 (BS 860). This provided the foundations for the international standard ISO 10002. We can use this experience and knowledge to help you become an expert in managing customer complaints with your own ISO 10002 management system.

Top tips for implementing ISO 10002

1. Get commitment and support from senior management.
2. Engage the whole business with good internal communication.
3. Compare existing management processes with ISO 10002 requirements. 
4. Get customer feedback on current complaints management.
5. Establish an implementation team to get the best results.
6. Map out and share roles, responsibilities and timescales.
7. Adapt the principles of ISO 10002 management systems to your business.
8. Motivate staff involvement with training and incentives.
9. Train staff to understand and use the ISO 10002 management system.
10. Regularly review your ISO 10002 system to make sure it remains effective and that you are continually improving it.

We make the certification process simple. After you apply we appoint a client manager who will guide you and your business through the following steps.

1. Gap analysis 
   This is an optional service where we take a closer look at your existing complaints management system and compare it with ISO 10002 requirements. This helps identify areas that need more work before we carry out a formal assessment, saving you time and money.
2. Formal assessment 
   This happens in two stages. First we review your organization’s preparedness for assessment by checking if the necessary ISO 10002 procedures and controls have been developed. We will share the details of our findings with you so that if we find gaps, you can close them. If all the requirements are in place, we will then assess the implementation of the procedures and controls within your organization to make sure that they are working effectively as required for certification.
3. Certification and beyond 
   When you have passed the formal assessment you will receive an ISO 10002 certificate, which is valid for one year. Your client manager will stay in touch during this time, paying you regular visits to make sure your system doesn’t just remain compliant, but that it continually improves.

ISO 10002 will stand alone as a single management system in your business. It can also be integrated with other management systems that share similar requirements, especially ISO 9001 Quality Management. You can use your ISO 10002 knowledge to develop quality management within your business or vice versa. Try using PAS 99 as a framework to identify and integrate common management system requirements for better performance.

Customer complaints can have just as big an impact on smaller businesses. That means ISO 10002 can also bring big benefits. Regardless of the size of your business, the way you manage customer complaints has an equally important role to play in setting and meeting customer expectations. We understand that you may have tighter budgets and less time, which is why we work with you to overcome any obstacles you may face. So we will help you establish an ISO 10002 system that not only enhances your reputation, but also allows you to keep improving, growing and winning new customers.