ISO 9001 Certification in the Service Industry
It is often believed that ISO 9001 only applies to companies that produces physical product for other companies or directly to the consumers. In the actual sense though, this is not always the case as it can be applied to the service industry just as effectively. By service industry, I mean companies that render a ‘service’. These services can include banking & finance, temporary or subcontracted workers, restaurants, hospitality, computer repairs, office or house cleaning, heating and air conditioning installation or repair, storage, plumbing repair, IT services and others.
For a company to attain and maintain a successful height, they need to consistently provide quality services to their customers. A company might lose customers when these customers notice inconsistency in the quality of the service that they are provided with, that is, when they continuously receive poor services. It is therefore very important and makes good sense for a service company to adopt embrace ISO 9001 quality management system standard.
Putting a system in place to establish procedure, monitor progress, and evaluate performance makes it possible to consistently render quality services to your customer. Additionally, ISO 9001 quality management system enables you raise the bar by adding values to your organization, by helping you identify problems and correct them before they arise, thereby allowing you to be proactive and eliminating their likelihood of reoccurrence.
The following are some very important usefulness of ISO 9001 certification to the service industry.
Consistency of Standards and Documentation
ISO 9001 provides employee with the structure of having documents controlled in way that allows all personnel to work with the same procedures and forms. It helps to unify the processes that are being used by personnel in the company, have them reviewed and approved by management so that they know what to expect. ISO 9001 also provides a framework to have the processes documented and accessible to employees so that they can refer to them when needed. These documentations in form of procedures and others can also be used to train new employee(s) so that work can be done same as others in organization. An example is avoiding unnecessary chaos using same accounting program for a customer’s account or following company protocol when performing IT services on a customer’s computer system.
Quality Checks of the Service Process
This involves knowing if the services provided meets the criteria that are expected just as ensuring that a purchased tangible product (window shade) work as expected. In order for the product to perform as specified, the manufacturer ensures that the product goes through quality checks throughout the process giving rise to a product of high quality. The same process works with the service industry. Service companies need to ensure that quality is built into their processes to ensure that the customer receives the services that they expect.
Established Process for Handling Complaints
It is not impossible that some things go wrong in the course of providing the service to the customer, ISO 9001 quality management systems provides a system-based framework of identifying what went wrong and how they can be corrected. It provides an established process for identifying a problem, replacing or redoing the process, finding the root cause of the issue, repairing or fixing it, and having designated personnel with the right skillset to review it with the goal of ensuring that all were performed according to the company’s processes. ISO 9001 standard provides an approach for documenting all actions or steps relating to the issue for future purpose. This will prevent similar issue from happening again; thereby saving the company cost.
Established Process for Measuring Customer Satisfaction
No company can exist without a customer. Customers are the reasons for establishing a business, so their needs need to be satisfied. If they are needs are not satisfied, in a short time, they will find someone or other providers to provide either the service that they need.
But then, how can you know if your customer is satisfied? The following are some ways to know:
- Are there repeat customers?
- Do they talk highly of the company?
- Do they give the company some tangible feedback of how they are doing?
There is need for service companies to adopt an established method for receiving the above information, analyzing and reviewing them. The information needs to be passed unto the management and all concerned understood by them so that, if necessary, adjustments can be made in the service that is provided. ISO 9001 quality management systems provide an established method for record this information for necessary actions.
With all of these, you can easily see how valuable ISO 9001 is in the service industry as it is in any company that makes a physical product. All of the same processes and structures can be applied to benefit the company.
About the Author
Adebayo is a thought leader in continuous process improvement and manufacturing excellence. He is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt (CSSMBB), Digital Manufacturing Professional and ISO Management Systems Lead Auditor (ISO 9001, 45001 & ISO 22000) with strong experience leading various continuous improvement initiative in top manufacturing organizations.
You can reach him here.
