5.1.2 Customer Focus
Customer Focus
Why is customer focus so important? Having a strong focus on customer feedback and expectation facilitates the growth and success of an organization.
Section 5.1.2 of the ISO 9001/AS9100/AS9120 standard requires top management to identify customer expectations and ensure that the organization focuses on customer satisfaction.
Customer focus involves knowing who your customers are, their needs and expectations, and their strategic importance. This section of the standard encourages top management to establish a unified sense of purpose in the organization’s goal for customer satisfaction.
Requirements
As stated in the ISO 9001/AS9100/AS9120 standard, top management must demonstrate leadership and commitment to customer focus by ensuring:
- Customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements are determined, understood, and consistently met. In small organizations, it is common for top management to be personally involved in determining and fulfilling customer needs. Comparatively, in most organizations the top management empowers others to determine and fulfill customer requirements. Nevertheless, as long as top management ensures that customer expectations are met, the standard requirement for this section is fulfilled. Top management can delegate tasks and put together teams that each have a different purpose such as determining the customer requirements, developing procedures for taking orders, or reviewing accuracy of customer requirements. Top management should also provide resources and emphasis effective customer communications.
- The risks and opportunities that can affect conformity of products and services and the ability to enhance customer satisfaction are determined and addressed. This section requires top management to address the risk and opportunities in relation to products and customer satisfaction. Top management should ensure that risks and opportunities are addressed in a meaningful and effective manner through the analysis of action plans, provision of the resources and tools required for implementation.
- The focus on enhancing customer satisfaction is maintained. Top management can ensure that the focus is maintained on consistently providing goods and services that satisfy customer requirements by arranging for inspections and verification activities. Additionally, it is important to open up direct communication with the customer and ask the tough questions. The organization should give customers the opportunity to provide input about what they like or dislike, or what could make them look for another supplier.
Through diligent oversight and communication, almost all the requirements of this section can effectively be confirmed.