Certification and service. An oxymoron?

Perhaps.   A certification service provider is really only as good as your primary contact.  And if you happen to be a small / medium business, you may not even register (no pun intended) on the certification provider’s radar.  There are many fundamental reasons why you get varying degrees of service and attention from the certification fraternity.  Here are a few.

If you wish to have the biggest market recognition from your certification trade mark, then realise, they also attract the ‘big end of town’ as their client base.  What this means is that 80% of their revenues come from 20% of their clientele. And if you just happen to be in the bottom half of the client pool, then you aren’t even afforded a primary contact.  You must deal with the operations department for things such as auditor availability, audit dates, reschedules, etc. Got a problem with a certificate?  Different department.  Got a problem with an invoice?  Different department.  And so on.  And remember, the largest provider is also one of the very few that has employee auditors which comes with its own pros and cons (and another post).  However, these guys do have resources and do have people in just about every location in Australia.  I just wish they would stop charging travel within metropolitan areas.  It looks so petty on an invoice.

Most other providers have a client manager mentality and that means your auditor is your primary contact.  This stream lines your communication and allows you to form a relationship with that person meaning you don’t have to induct that person into your workplace or quality system every time they show up.  It means they can truly add value once they learn the culture of the organisation.  However, not all providers allow these ‘client managers’ to actually book audits, which means you still have to go through some sort of back office bottleneck to get a date set up or changed.  Some don’t allow these people to quote on additional sites or additional risk systems.

Just keep in mind, there are certification providers who do all this from your primary contact and ensures you get the best level of care and service you deserve.  And if you are not, you get to resolve with them first to ensure the best outcome.  If not, it is just a phone call or email away to request a replacement auditor (or provider) and let the journey begin again.