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ISO 9001: 2008 5.2 Customer focus

The standard requires that "...Top management shall ensure that customer requirements are determined and are met with the aim of enhancing customer satisfaction..."

Customer focus is one of the eight key principle concepts of a quality management system which can be used by top management in order to lead the organization towards improved performance.

All organizations have customers, whether these are external or internal. Failure to meet external customer needs will often result in the loss of business and ultimately the failure of the organization. Likewise, for internal customers, who are less than satisfied with the service they receive, you will often find that top management will implement new ideas, this for example by a reorganisation, moving managers around into different positions, bringing in trouble shooters, all of which could lead to department closures, or employees being moved on or having their contracts of employment terminated...

You may argue that this is not true of all organizations, for example some government run departments are perceived by the general public to be poorly run, not customer focused and its been that way since the darn of time. However, eventually, whether by the electorate voting in a new power, via public campaigns, bad publicity or maybe even official watchdogs taking action, they will sooner or later need to get their house in order or face sweeping changes designed to re-establish public confidence in the services they provide.

Therefore, it is a fundamental requirement that top management need to understand and have processes in-place to determine the needs and expectations of its customers, they should also pro actively seek to fulfill these needs and expectations. As organizations grow and expand into new market opportunities, it is quite possible they lose sight of the core business reasons why they exist in the first place. It is often worth reflecting on three key questions.

1. what is our business (i.e. the mission),

2. what should our business be (i.e the direction),

3. what will our business be (i.e. the vision).

By understanding the answers to these key questions top management should be able to extract;

1. who the customer is,

2. what the customer needs,

3. where the market is,

4. what the customer values,

5. what the customer expects, and

6. is there market growing.

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