Clause 8 Operation
8.2.1 Customer communication
Clause Criteria
Communication with customers shall include:
a) providing information relating to products and services;
b) handling enquiries, contracts or orders, including changes;
c) obtaining customer feedback relating to products and services, including customer complaints;
d) handling or controlling customer property;
e) establishing specific requirements for contingency actions, when relevant.
Explanation
When comparing this clause to the corresponding Clause 7.2.3 of ISO 9001:2008, the key criteria remains, with a couple of additions. It has been expanded to include new requirements to obtain ‘customer views and perceptions’ instead of ‘customer feedback’.
There are a number of questions which can be asked with regard to how the organization addresses the requirements for customer communications during the processing and delivery of its products and services:
How is information relating to products and services provided?
How does the organization control communication with its customers, including feedback and handling complaints?
Are communications regarding the control of customer property relevant?
Are there any requirements for incident management or contingency planning, relevant to customer communications?
How the organization establishes customer requirements is an important factor for consideration. What needs to be communicated to ensure that expectations are clearly understood, must to be determined.
Note: Terms of reference in service level agreements and other formal contractual agreements come into focus at this point of an audit.
Chief Explainer:
Phil Byrne