How To Monitor Customer Satisfaction For ISO 9001

Customer satisfaction has a central place in ISO 9001 certification – the internationally recognised standard for quality management systems developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation. ISO 9001 provides a systematic framework through which businesses can achieve and exceed both customer expectations and regulatory requirements, and a growing number of customers now look for ISO 9001 as a benchmark of service quality when making purchase decisions.

According to the 2023 ISO Survey, there were over 34,000 ISO 9001 certificates issued in the UK that year, making the UK the global top seventh country in terms of certified businesses. This figure is projected to increase over the coming year, as many businesses aim to complete their certification before new ISO 9001 standards are published in 2026 (the current ISO standard is ISO 9001:2015).

In this article, we’ll look at the ways through which you can monitor and demonstrate customer satisfaction levels for ISO 9001 compliance, and how HubSpot Service Hub can help streamline your task.

Demonstrating customer satisfaction for ISO 9001: what evidence do you need?

There are various ways that businesses can gauge customer satisfaction levels for marketing and other purposes, including surveys, collating online feedback and reviews, and requesting direct feedback through interviews and informal conversations. However, in many businesses, this process is largely ad hoc, providing a general ‘feel’ for how satisfied customers are, without tying it into measurable objectives. This approach won’t do for ISO 9001 certification. For this, you will need to identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track your progress, establish a method for measuring satisfaction, and implement a system for collecting, analysing, and acting on the insights from data.

So, what evidence do you actually need to demonstrate customer satisfaction for ISO 9001? In this regard, the ISO gives businesses significant flexibility. As long as your measurement method aligns with the ISO 9001 standards for reliability and accuracy, a wide range of data points can be used as evidence. Many businesses use a combination of methods, including The Net Promoter Score (NPS), alongside face-to-face interviews and online feedback to create a balanced qualitative and quantitative picture of customer satisfaction in your business.

Two points are important: first, that your customer satisfaction goals and KPIs are clearly aligned with your business goals and strategies, and second, that you are able to analyse your data to identify trends and patterns in customer satisfaction. A key facet of ISO 9001 quality management is continual improvement. A customer satisfaction monitoring system should let you see how various KPIs have changed over time. This validates the success of your customer service initiatives, while also highlighting areas for improvement.

Using HubSpot Service Hub for your ISO 9001 certification

HubSpot’s Service Hub is an ideal tool for monitoring customer satisfaction for ISO 9001 certification. The platform provides various tools for establishing the relevant customer satisfaction KPIs and metrics, and building an evidence base in support of your goals, while also saving a lot of time compared to spreadsheets and other reporting methods.

Some of the ways you can use HubSpot Service Hub include:

1. Collect customer feedback

Customer surveys

HubSpot’s survey tools can be used to create bespoke customer satisfaction surveys in support of your KPIs. For ISO 9001, it’s important that your surveys are structured to capture both quantitative data such as satisfaction ratings, and qualitative feedback, including open-ended questions about customer experiences.

Automated workflows

The problem with formal interviews and requested feedback is that these often take place long after your customer interactions, so the details may not be fresh in the customer’s mind. For ISO 9001, it is useful to create an ongoing ‘feedback loop’ in which feedback is requested at the source. This improves its relevance and validity and allows you to make more informed decisions. HubSpot’s automated workflows can be configured to send customer surveys after all key interactions, such as after a support ticket is closed or a purchase is made, avoiding any delays in requesting feedback.

2. Managing and resolving complaints

Ticketing system

Service Hub lets you create a bespoke ticketing system to log and track customer complaints. Ticket templates can be configured to include full details about the issue, resolution steps, and time taken to resolve, so you can track improvements in customer service for your ISO 9001 documentation.

Resolution tracking

Custom fields can be used to categorise different types of complaints and resolutions – e.g. defective products, delivery delays, communication issues and so on, allowing detailed reporting and analysis of recurring problems and also demonstrating where objective improvements have been made.

3. Performance metrics and KPI tracking

Dashboard reports

Important customer satisfaction KPIs can be monitored on your HubSpot dashboard, including average response time, ticket resolution time, NPS etc. Regularly review these metrics to identify patterns and areas for improvement. This can help you identify the root causes of any dissatisfaction and implement effective corrective actions. Document any improvement initiatives and their outcomes as part of your ISO 9001 ‘continuous improvement’ process.

Internal audits

This HubSpot data is also useful for conducting internal audits of your customer satisfaction processes, as well as making sure that they align with ISO 9001 standards.

4. Continual improvement strategy

Your ISO auditor isn’t so much interested in how you collect data as in what you do with it. HubSpot helps you to create a structured action plan to address any areas you’ve identified for improvement, setting clear objectives and timelines for resolution. You can then use your customer feedback data and surveys to measure the impact of any changes on your customer satisfaction levels moving forward and make ongoing adjustments as necessary.

Find out more

Get in touch with JDR today to find out more about how HubSpot Service Hub can help you prepare for ISO 9001 certification.

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