Whoever wants to start a business, be it a trader or a businessman, always to expand it while gaining indispensable trust from customers. Central pillars of which are loyalty and trust. It is all about catching the eyes of new customers and initiating loyalty from existing ones. To achieve these goals, one must provide premium quality to customers. But how do we measure the premium quality?
That is why it becomes important to define ‘quality.’ As we understand, quality is a subjective term, and there are no agreeable definitions. Hence, it becomes a ‘contested term.’
How do we know that business holds all premium and superior quality internationally recognized?
That is where an ISO 9001 certification comes into the picture. If you have ever been to the market, you must have seen the certificate or probably have heard about it from somewhere. Businesses who are a tad conscious about the brand would choose to register a trademark in India online. Now, maintaining quality is not just about setting up a brand. The ISO 9001 certificate is something that speaks volumes of your quality. Let us check out what an ISO 9001 certificate is & what it is all about? And how does it affect your business?
Defining: – ISO 9001
ISO (International Standard Organization) 9001 is preliminarily known for its ‘quality management system’ (QMS) worldwide, located in Geneva, Switzerland. It provides the certificate for the quality standards for various small/medium/big businesses, industries etc. Generally, it requires the standard criteria that a company should comply with to meet new and existing customers’ requirements and expectations.
It becomes necessary for your business to get ISO 9001 because it is globally recognized and accepted beyond the borders where your business is located. It gives a certain kind of global recognition to your business. Further, it suggests that your business complies with all the international standards from internal operations to external and from manufacturing to logistics.
Before granting ISO Certification to any business, the agency verifies that acquiring business meets all required standards through auditing. It needs to get renewed every three years through the process of surveillance audits from time to time. This means any business should constantly have to deliver and maintain prior existing quality to customers. It works as an incentive for both parties (proprietor to the customer). For former constant improvement and growth of business and the latter its satisfaction.
Benefit and importance of ISO 9001 Certification
ISO 9001 provides quality management for all types of companies and organizations regardless of the type of goods and services they deliver to customers, irrespective of sizes and differences of activities.
Few benefits are listed below:
A corwd-puller
In today’s globalized world and with many competitors playing the same game, it becomes difficult for a business to get recognized or attract sympathizing customers. That is where ISO 9001certificate plays the role; it buttresses the business that meets all the QMS standards and quality globally. It makes it easy and less troublesome for customers to approach and to trust the organization/business.
Brings Confidence and trust
If you look at the research across the globe, it positively proves that customers or companies would trust firms with ISO 9001 certificates. And why is it so? Because it gives better customer care and after-sales services. For that, a company must set out a standard operating procedure (SOP) for all sorts of processes, which gives customers immense satisfaction while strengthening confidence.
Enabling Global Expansion
While engaging with foreign partners to enter a joint venture with a local company, foreign partners are always looking for a company with ISO 9001 certificate to believe that business complies with global QMS. Every company is looking for a foreign partner they can engage with because it provides growth and helps to establish global footprints.
Drives Quality Staff
Hiring qualified and deserving employees would become easy once you have an ISO 9001 certificate. Those who are seeking the job would look for a company that could provide them a better platform.
Sometimes, even non-ISO holding firms could pay a better pay scale. Still, they cannot provide better working standards and efficient productivity to employees because they do not comply with the QMS clause.
Fast-paced imprimatur from government
It is a prerequisite for any business to get prequalified approval from various departments to acquire any governmental contract. One must get through cumbersome and lengthy pro forma procedure from one department to another with no guaranteed success at the end. With ISO 9001 certificate, your business gets recognition duly from the government while bidding with other rivals to get prestigious and lucrative governmental projects.
It has some other benefits as well, such as efficient management in the company. Lively ambiance among the employees, one can find the deficiency and could try to solve it, time-saving, decreasing company cost, constant assessment for enhancement and growth, and last but not least, better sales and marketing opportunities.
In a nutshell, for a business, it should be advisable to acquire ISO 9001 certificate. The importance and benefits of ISO not only provides the above mentioned benefits but also gives a chance for enhancement and improvement for the company. To sum up, the importance and benefits of the ISO 9001 certificate in Martyn Redstone’s words, “externally we have built a better reputation with clients. Internally we have a much stronger structure and a valuable way to find areas to improve the business.” The ISO 9001 certificate signifies all that.