The retail sector has seen an increasing number of consumers reporting problems with organizations.

Many people will have had experiences with feeling a low level of satisfaction with goods or services they have at one time purchased. This can be incredibly damaging to an organization in a highly competitive market, such as retail. Customers may move to a competitor if their complaint has not been handled satisfactorily or the dispute resolved efficiently.

In the face of ongoing uncertainty and shifting customer needs as the globe begins recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an urgent wake-up call for retail to make customer service a boardroom priority or risk undermining the recovery.

How does your organization deal with complaints to ensure that customers do not go to a competitor? Could you be losing customers as a result of existing practice or poor management of this process?

Customer service standards are a key enabler of business performance. In an increasingly complex customer experience environment, a bad encounter makes the difference between a one-off transaction and a long-term, loyal customer.

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.

To learn more about customer service standards, click here.

What are the key customer satisfaction standards?

Achieving customer satisfaction is vital for any retail organization. 

Good customer service can lead to customer retention, loyalty, and competitive edge.  We have a range of customer satisfaction standards to help you increase customer satisfaction.

BS ISO 10002 offers guidance on the process of complaints handling related to products within an organization and its use with quality management systems. It’s one in a series on customer satisfaction, the others being:

• BS ISO 10001 Quality management — Customer satisfaction — Guidelines for codes of conduct for organizations

• BS ISO 10003 Quality management — Customer satisfaction — Guidelines for dispute resolution external to organizations

• BS ISO 10004 Quality management — Customer satisfaction — Guidelines for monitoring and measuring

It provides guidance on the process of complaints handling as it relates to an organization’s products and services, including their planning, design, development, operation, maintenance, and improvement. Specifically, the standard covers the following aspects of complaints handling:

• Enhancing customer satisfaction by creating a customer-focused environment that’s open to feedback (including complaints), resolving any complaints received, and enhancing the organization's ability to improve its products and services, including customer service

• Top management involvement and commitment through adequate acquisition and deployment of resources, including personnel training

• Recognizing and addressing the needs and expectations of complainants

• Providing complainants with an open, effective, and easy-to-use complaints process

• Analyzing and evaluating complaints in order to improve the quality of products and services, including customer service

• Auditing the complaints-handling process

• Reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of the complaints-handling process

BS ISO 10002 is for use by organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. It is also compatible with BS EN ISO 9001 and BS EN ISO 9004 and supports the objectives of these two standards through the effective and efficient application of a complaints-handling process. It can also be used independently of them.

To ensure your retail organization is meeting customer satisfaction best practices, add these customer satisfaction standards to your collection today.

Discover BSI Knowledge

Want to access and manage the standards you need to ensure you are protecting your consumers and meeting regulations - all in one place? With a BSI Knowledge subscription, you will have the flexibility and visibility to manage the key standards you need in order to work with your consumers with confidence and optimize your customer satisfaction processes. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to a pre-built module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your standards strategy. Request to learn more.