Templates and records · ISO 9001 · Clause 9.1.2

Customer satisfaction survey for ISO 9001

A survey is the most common way to learn how customers perceive you, but not the only one the standard accepts. What matters is that there is data, that it is analysed and that it reaches top management.

In one sentence

ISO 9001 requires you to monitor customers' perceptions of the degree to which their needs and expectations have been met and to decide on the method (9.1.2); a survey is one such method, alongside meetings, complaints or warranty data, and what is mandatory is to retain evidence of the results (9.1.1) and take them to management review.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: ISO 9001 · Clause 9.1.2 Clauses are cited using the numbering of the 2015 edition, the same one the Academy uses; certificates issued against it remain valid during the transition to the 2026 edition.
Type of information: Mandatory record The survey is optional; monitoring results are retained (9.1.1)
Who fills it in: Sales or customer service Quality analyses the results and takes them to management review
When: At whatever frequency is decided After delivery, as an annual campaign or continuously; what matters is being able to compare periods
How long it is kept: Set by the organisation The standard sets no periods: it asks you to decide on retention and disposition (7.5.3.2). Covering at least the three-year certification cycle lets you show the history at recertification.

What the standard requires

What ISO 9001 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

The standard asks you to find out how customers perceive the degree to which their needs and expectations have been fulfilled, and to determine the methods for obtaining, monitoring and reviewing that information. The examples it gives in a note include surveys, feedback on delivered products and services, meetings with customers, market-share analysis, compliments, warranty claims and dealer reports.

Those results are analysed and evaluated (9.1.3) and are a mandatory input to management review. For all monitoring and measurement, evidence of the results must be retained.

So a company with four customers can comply through well-recorded annual meetings; one with thousands will need a survey with a stable sample and scale so that years can be compared.

Read it in context: Performance evaluation, in the ISO 9001 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Monitoring method and frequency
Customer or segment, and who responds
Questions on a fixed scale (for example, 0 to 10)
Aspects rated: quality, lead time, service, documentation, price
Open question on improvement
Response rate
Result by aspect and comparison with the previous period
Actions arising from low ratings
Date of analysis and of presentation at management review

Example

Example: 2025 annual campaign

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Method	Annual online survey of the 40 customers who placed orders during the year
Responses	29 of 40 (73%)
Product quality	8.6 out of 10 (8.4 in 2024)
On-time delivery	7.2 out of 10 (7.5 in 2024) · lowest-rated aspect
Sales service	8.9 out of 10
Recurring comment	Five customers ask to be warned in advance when an order is going to be late
Action	Automatic notice to the customer when the expected delivery date changes · sales · 31 March
Management review	Presented on 27 January 2026

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

The survey is sent out, but nobody analyses the results or acts on them.
Changing the questions or the scale every year, which makes trends impossible to see.
Treating the mere absence of complaints as satisfaction.
Complaints and claims are not cross-checked against the survey data.
The results do not appear in the management review.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Surveys and customer complaints are centralised in the same module, with their follow-up.
2The results feed the process indicators, which calculate themselves.
3Complaints follow the same route as a nonconformity: cause, action, owner and deadline.
4The period's data reaches management review already aggregated.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

Are satisfaction surveys mandatory?

No. ISO 9001 requires you to monitor customer perception and to decide on the method, and a survey is only one of the possible ones. Recorded meetings with customers, analysis of complaints or warranty data are also valid if they provide useful information.

How many questions should it have?

Just enough for the customer to answer. Five to ten questions on a fixed scale plus one open question are usually sufficient; a long survey lowers the response rate and produces worse data.

Do complaints count as measuring satisfaction?

They are a source of information on customer perception, but on their own they are not enough: the absence of complaints does not mean the customer is satisfied. The sensible approach is to combine them with an active method.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

ISO 9001:2015 — Quality management systems. Requirements ISO · 2015 ed., with Amd 1:2024
ISO 9001:2026 — Quality management systems. Requirements ISO · 2026 ed., published 16 September 2026