QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ISO 9001:2015 – RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
What is meant by Relationship Management in ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems
It is when a company maintains an ongoing level of engagement with its interested parties, such as suppliers and customers. Furthermore, it aims to create a partnership between a company and its customers, instead of viewing the relationship as only a business deal.
It is a technology that allows businesses both large and small to organise, automate and coordinate every aspect of customer interaction. This can be achieved using marketing, sales, customer service and support.
What are examples of Relationship Management?
- Sending out a thank you after a customer makes a purchase
- Upsell or cross-sell a client if they buy a particular product
- Offer a birthday greeting with a promo code
- Sending a discount to a customer that has not made a purchase recently
Key benefits of Relationship Management
Interested parties influence the performance of a business. Consequently, success is more likely to be achieved when the company manages relationships in order to improve their impact on the business’s performance.
Relationship Management with its supplier and partner networks is equally important.
These benefits enhance the performance of a company and its interested parties by responding to the opportunities and limitations. There is a mutual understanding of goals and values among interested parties. This includes an increased capability to create value for interested parties. Therefore, sharing resources, competence and managing quality-related risks and a well-managed supply chain that provides a stable flow of goods and services.
Actions you can take to enhance Relationship Management
Identify relevant interested parties such as suppliers, partners, customers, investors, employees and society as a whole. In addition, figure out and focus on relationships that need to be managed. Establish relationships that balance short term gains with long term considerations. Combine and share information, knowledge and resources. Measure performance and supply feedback to enhancing improvement plans. Also, set up development and improvement activities with suppliers, partners and other interested parties. You will therefore need to encourage and recognise improvements and achievements by suppliers and partners.
How do you include Relationship Management in your Quality Management System?
Developing a relationship with your interested parties is equally important, however, businesses constantly ignore this.
Forgetting the management of these relationships is a severe and regular error made in the design and implementation of an ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System. Bad relationships can also drastically damage your profits thus increasing costs and decreasing income. Hence, your revenue is susceptible to risk.
Auditors when doing certification for ISO 9001:2015 often find that supplier management is an area that businesses overlook. So, many companies do not make supplier management important. Businesses that do, earn remarkable returns.
Use SHEQ software
Equally important to all the other principles in an ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System, including Relationship Management will be helpful to all involved. SRM and many of our clients use Mango Compliance Software – www.mangolive.com. Mango makes it easier to get ISO 9001:2015 certification.
Understanding Relationship Management
It takes time, money and determination. Quality Managers take shortcuts so the easiest way to implement Relationship Management is not to do it. They instead decide to make their documents look pretty, thus, as far as they are concerned, the most important task is to make sure the information in their spreadsheets is correct.
Overseeing your relationships is an excellent idea. So, if you just do the smallest amount, you will be ahead of your competitors. Moreover, if you want to include more than the basics and do extremely well in Relationship Management, this is what you can do:
First, when there is a glitch, do not find fault or embarrassment, but take a second to review the situation. Look at the customer, how does this problem impact them? What does the company stand to lose if the customer’s needs are not met? Blaming each other and consequently forgetting about the customer will achieve nothing! Turning an argument between yourself and the supplier into an equally favourable relationship will improve quality, bring down costs and boost market share for both organisations.
“It is very easy to forget that you and your interested parties all want the same thing, namely, a delighted customer. Keeping the customer in focus will enable you to solve the problem together”
Secondly, concentrate on trust, particularly with your suppliers. One theory is “End the practice of awarding business on the basis of the price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust” Relationships are not one-sided. It is effortless to blame someone else. It is difficult, but smarter to work with them to prevent the problem before it happens.
In Summary
The customer and supplier are both responsible for quality control.
Both parties should be independent of each other and recognise each other’s independence.
The customer must give the supplier the exact information so that they know what is to be provided.
They should then come to an agreement with regards to quality, quantity, price, delivery and conditions of payment.
The supplier is responsible for giving the customer the quality that they expect and supply the relevant information upon request.
A decision should be made on the way to assess the quality of the product or service that satisfies both supplier and customer.
The supplier and customer must figure out the process in which they can reach an agreement should a problem occur.
The information must be constantly swapped so that the quality of the product or service can be perfected.
Both customer and supplier should conduct actions such a procurement, production, stock taking, administration work and systems so that a friendly and acceptable relationship continues.
When doing business, both parties should always keep the best interests of the end-user in mind.
SRM is ISO 9001: 2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certified. Let us know if we can help you with the development and implementation of your Quality Management System. Contact our consultants today.
Links to our services:
https://srmc.co.za/iso-certifications/
https://srmc.co.za/mango-software/sheq-software-solution/
Related articles:
https://srmc.co.za/continual-improvement-is-not-a-destination-but-a-journey/
https://srmc.co.za/iso-9001-evidence-based-decisions/
https://srmc.co.za/iso-9001-in-90-minutes-series-1-clause-4-context-of-the-organisation/
