Unexpected business benefits of ISO: laser-sharp focus

22 Jul, 2019

ISO 9001 is designed to support growing businesses as they strive to achieve their objectives. It also helps stop your team from getting distracted, freeing up your team to hit your objectives faster.

As part of ISO 9001, we check that your quality objectives align with your business objectives. This is the ideal time to check as a management team that your business objectives are still fit for purpose. Business objectives can sometimes become outdated, meaning you’re in danger of achieving objectives that aren’t going to drive your business forwards as well as they could. Why waste time on achieving these when you could be focussing your attention on objectives which will allow your business to reap rewards?

Turning down ‘distracting’ business

We encourage you to share your business objectives with your team so they can make informed decisions, such as when a potential client asks for a product or service that’s achievable but not quite in kilter with your goals. However lucrative the potential contract could be, you need your team to stand back and think it through before deciding to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. That’s because spending time tweaking your products or services to meet one client’s needs when you could be focussing all your efforts on achieving your core objectives is a sure fire way to hold your business back.

ISO 9001 supports this decision making process by ensuring objectives are clear, up-to-date and understood. This makes it easier for your staff to ask themselves not if they ‘could’ deliver a product or service that meets the potential customer’s needs but whether they ‘should’. If it’s not in the best interests of the company long-term, it could be best to say a polite ‘no’. Turning business down like this may seem counter-intuitive but the reward is clear: you will achieve your business objectives sooner if you keep your eye on the goal.

How do quality objectives differ from business objectives?

Quality objectives are focused on getting things right for the customer first time. Sample quality objectives are:

• A x% increase in customer satisfaction (rated good or above)
• A return rate of under x%
• A re-work rate of under x%

Business objectives are related to the growth of the business, examples include:

• Increase market share by x%
• Increase profit margin to x%
• Increase referral business by x%
• Implement a quality management system
• Recruit two new members of staff into the Customer Services team

Objectives should always be SMART. This helpful acronym ensures that objectives are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Timed

What’s the best way of achieving ISO certification for my business?

If you have no prior experience of ISO 9001, we recommend that you attend one of our training courses prior to taking up our certification service. We offer online, classroom or onsite courses, so there is something to meet everyone’s needs. Request a quote today or take our free Introduction to ISO 9001 online training.

If you’d like to hear real-life ISO stories, visit our case study page. There you can discover how ISO 9001 helped Woolcool develop an award-winning business.