Walk the talk
What’s the difference between a consultant who only shares information - and one who also applies it to their own circumstances? Only by ‘walking their talk’ can a professional truly understand the physical effort and mental process they expect their clients to undergo, and then guide them through it with insight and empathy. As the only quality certification consultants in Australia who hold the four essential ISO credentials (for quality, safety, environment, and information security), role-modelling our values is non-negotiable at quality.com.au.
ISO standards all emphasise one ‘source of truth’ – the collective documentation of your business processes. We structure these in line with how you do business so they’re practical and valuable to your daily operations. When a situation arises that requires corrective action or process improvement, then those plans are recalibrated as needed. When you make procedural changes that are successful, you can then update the documentation and use that as the new process going forth. However, if the changes don’t deliver the required results, then you can easily return to the starting point without losing any ground.
Successful plans must always include a review cycle, which is one aspect of the ongoing support we offer. We ensure our clients have defined outcomes which are delivered - right down to the small details in planning, reviewing, and fixing things that go wrong. Although a small organisation, we’ve generated 1100 improvements in the last five years, because we understand that details matter.
Let’s look at the privacy statement on websites. Many people don't realise there’s Australian legislation around privacy and how to define a data breach. For example, a client’s VA recently sent the wrong proposal to a prospect. Even though there was no private information in the document, it was still a clear breach of data as it had a description of the other organisation. While fairly harmless in this instance, it became an opportunity for us to look at the workflow within their information security space, including the classification of data which is moved through various platforms. We were able to introduce an essential checkpoint to avoid a repeat of that error without any additional bureaucracy. What would have been the cost of such a seemingly small error if it had resulted in legal action?
Another common situation relates to salespeople who make impossible claims or modify terms to ‘sweeten a deal’. This brings into question their delivery of that information to the potential client and how it’s integrated in their authority within the company. When the sales flow has been through the due process of certification - with a defined one ‘source of truth’ detailing the terms that can only be modified by an authorised person - there will be integrity in what you take to market. This ensures your business becomes known for consistently reliable information and deliverable results, irrespective of the salesperson.
When a business successfully undergoes an independent third-party audit for certification, it demonstrates they are world class and meet international standards. This is the confidence that we work with and offer to our clients.