How Businesses Benefit From an ISO Certification?
Becoming ISO certified is an investment of will, time, and money. To do it right requires the buy-in of senior management and the organization as a whole.
The process for ISO Certification can take as little as 6 months or up to 18 months depending on the resources allocated. The price typically ranges from $15,000 – $100,000 where the most common variables that impact cost are the size of an organization, the industry, and internal resources. One may ask, given the expense in time and money, why do so many companies become certified?
To answer this, we’ll take a look at 5 great reasons and outcomes that are derived from the process of becoming certified. We will start with the first benefit that we often see as the catalyst for organizations to go down the path to certification:
Sales Opportunities
Some organizations start looking into the benefits of certification because it is a requirement or preference to win new business. Being ISO Certified can open new markets and opportunities to you that are not afforded to non-certified companies. In fact, a report that analyzed 92 case studies in 2015 found that 60% of companies that adopted ISO saw significant revenue increases.
In addition, in situations where ISO Certification is not required, it can certainly be a differentiating factor that prospects will find interest in and be a point of comparison.
Lastly, better execution leads to better delivery of services and goods to your customers, which will not only result in repeat business and customer retention but in many cases lead to warm referrals.
Cultural Benefits
When a company decides to become ISO Certified, it means that the decision has been made to take the business down the path of excellence. Part of the journey to conformance is establishing a policy of quality with roles, responsibilities and authorities being defined. This is great for any business culture because it connotes progress, where progress directly impacts happiness. In short, it can improve the morale of your people.
Taking the first step towards ISO Certification may be the only way management spends significant resources working on the business, as opposed to working in the whirlwind that is the business. Going through the process of becoming certified forces decision-makers to make the time to work on their business by implementing efficient processes leading up to the audit.
When your organization goes down this path, you enrich and transform its culture by shining the light on executional excellence and customer satisfaction.
Business Improvements
ISO Certification’s aim is to instill processes that make the business more efficient and consistent. Sales opportunities aside, this is another primary reason for approaching The ISO Edge to become ISO certified. ISO Certification helps businesses
Become more efficient and smarter about the way they operate
Gain greater clarity on how their organization works
Deliver a consistent standard that meets their customers’ needs
Identify new opportunities and assess risks
Engage their leadership
Take the pulse of their customers
… and more.
Through the process, we’ll help flush out your company processes, uncover new opportunities and eliminate redundancies which will save time, money and frustration. Indeed, applying strong business fundamentals not only increases your bottom line, but adds to the financial health and wellness of your organization which serves everyone in the company org chart.
Tax Benefits
Efficiency is created through the strong processes that our business consultants help you implement as part of your journey to certification. Fortunately, that is not the only way you can save money. Depending on your country’s tax code, there are a number of tax incentives put in place that take the form of cash refunds and tax savings.
Regular Audits
At first glance, regular audits from the outside might sound like something not to be desired, but really, it’s like a health check for your organization and can uncover things that may have otherwise gone unnoticed and unactioned until it is too late.
The audits also help in the retention of the organizational memory. Here’s what we mean: We’ve all had the experience of consuming products or goods from established businesses that have a way of doing things, where the people you’re dealing with have been there for years and years. We’ve also had the opposite experience of dealing with businesses that didn’t seem to know what they were doing and the people you spoke to haven’t been there long.
An ISO Certified company has the attention to detail and the documentation to ensure that the yearly audits go smoothly. The benefit of this is not so much the renewal of the certification in and of itself. It’s much more than that because it means that as people move in and out of the organization, the way of doing business stays constant and the standards for quality remain at high levels.
Becoming ISO Certified The Right Way
The difference between success and failure has much to do with the partner you choose in this process. It is important to choose an organization with professionals that have experience and expertise with your kind of organization. In addition, it’s important to pick one that understands the importance of working with you based on your unique goals and vision.
Ask us how we can help you become ISO certified.
