(ISO: Geneva) -- A new ISO/IEC guide to developing service standards for consumers will not only benefit standards developers, but will also be of value to service providers in reducing customer complaints and cutting the business costs of poor service.

ISO/IEC Guide 76: 2008, “Development of service standards—Recommendations for addressing consumer issues,” provides an introduction to how the key consumer principles relate to standards development. These principles are safety, information, choice, the right to be heard, access, fairness, quality, redress, environmental issues, and compliance with laws and regulations.

Whether a consumer is buying insurance or finding a new hairdresser, there are several questions which may come to mind, such as “Do I trust the service provider?”, “Have I got enough information to choose between the services on offer?”, “Do I understand the contract (particularly where there isn’t one written down)”, and “What can I do if I don’t get the service I expect?”

The guide provides a series of questions related to all stages of service delivery, from first thinking about the service, through engagement or purchase, to service delivery, to after sales or post engagement.

It then identifies the service elements, such as communication, personnel, billing, or safeguards, to which the questions relate.

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