Unlock the secrets of ISO 9001 Clause 5.1.2 Customer Focus! Explore our latest article where we demystify this crucial standard, breaking it down into simple, actionable insights. Discover how to seamlessly apply these requirements to your organization's system and eliminate the guesswork. Don't miss out on this essential guide to mastering customer focus within ISO 9001.
Before we break this clause down it would be beneficial to remind you all who Top Management is again. The official definition for top management is …
the person or group of people who directs and controls an organization at the highest level.
I always say that top management are the decision makers. Depending on the structure and size of the business, top management could be the owners, shareholders, board of directors, general manager or even a project manager if the scope of the system is down to a project level only.
Now that we are clear with who top management are again, let’s get stuck into this clause. This clause gets straight to the point by stating Top Management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to customer focus by ensuring that:
a) customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements are determined, understood and consistently met;
This first point is all about understanding and meeting customer needs. And I’d like to note that this is about Top Management understanding and meeting customer needs.
Top Management isn’t just responsible for identifying what these needs are; they also need to ensure they are consistently met. You would have identified the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements back in clause 4.1 and even 4.2, as well as 8.1.
This is about Top Management being on top of this and ensuring these are consistently met. This could be done through Management Review (clause 9.3) where any new requirements, changes in requirements, nonconformances, customer feedback are reviewed. Top Management should then be part of the decision making process regarding the actions to take.
Then the next statement in this clause is:
b) the risks and opportunities that can affect conformity of products and services and the ability to enhance customer satisfaction are determined and addressed;
This is crucial for maintaining the quality of products and services and it is not just about solving problems as they arise but preventing them from happening in the first place. This could look like top management conducting regular reviews of their supply chain to identify potential risks as well as looking for opportunities for sourcing different products or services for their own customer delivery.
These actions are again all a part of clause 4.1 Context of the organization where it is required to determine the external and internal issues influencing the business. As long as Top Management is a part of that process then this requirement is also being met.
And let’s not forget that in clause 9.3 Management review there is an input requirement to consider changes in these external and internal issues. And of course Top Management will be part of the Management Review won’t they?
Then finally this clause states:
c) the focus on enhancing customer satisfaction is maintained.
This emphasizes the ongoing commitment to enhancing customer satisfaction. This is the heart of customer focus – not just meeting needs, but actively seeking ways to exceed expectations. I wrote a newsletter on this recently where I spoke about my own experiences with unexpected customer services. I’ll share this with you here as well then!
Recently I engaged the services of a website designer, Jess who after our first Zoom Call provided the quote; I approved it and then paid the deposit for her to get started. A couple of days later I received this gorgeous gift pack from Jess thanking me for choosing her business to make my website dreams come true. This was completely unexpected and such a grateful gesture which set the high standard for the work and communication throughout the project.
On that same day, I had new house cleaners starting. I have had a difficult time finding someone that actually knows how to clean properly, believe it or not! So, on this day I was keen to see whether my most recent attempt was going to be a success. The new cleaners, Andrea and Jody worked really hard to catch up on the neglect of the previous months to leave the house spotless. I was even more excited, when I found that they had cleaned my pantry and changed my sheets, but the thing that made me most excited was the fragrant toilet disc on the inside of the toilet bowls! My husband came running out of his office when he heard me scream with excitement!
Neither Jess, Andrea or Jody had to ‘go the extra mile’ with these add-ons. All were totally unexpected however gratefully and excitedly received. These experiences were not just about receiving excellent service; they were reminders of the joy and appreciation that come from people putting in extra effort to make a client’s day.
What can you do in your business to enhance your customers experience?
If you'd like to learn more about ISO 9001 Clause 5.1.2 Customer Focus, why not take a look at our other articles on the topic, starting with What is ISO 9001 Quality management systems.
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