What to Look for when Considering a Consultant

Are the consultants you are considering hold certification to the ISO 9001? Do they use a template system and add your business name to it? Do they provide support after certification?

When engaging a consultant, you should do your research; ask for quotes from different consultants. When comparing quotes, try to evaluate, amongst other things, the following:

Is the consultant certified?

Whilst you would expect that all consultants would be certified to ISO 9001, this is not the case. It is not a requirement and in fact most consultants aren’t.

You may be surprised to find that there are no regulations governing this and anyone can declare themselves to be quality consultants.

Are you dealing with an individual consultant or an established company?

Are you dealing with an individual consultant or a company with a team to support your consultant?

Unfortunately, we have seen cases where clients came to us with un-finished systems, because the consultant was not able to finish the job.

The level of support available during and after certification

What level of support will you receive, not just during the development but once you have achieved certification?

Many customers don’t realise that after certification, there are ongoing requirements to maintain the system and the certification.

How much experience has the consultant or company?

How much experience does your consultant have?

Ask how many clients they have successfully certified and how many certification bodies they have worked with.

 Customer service

What level of customer service are you getting from your consultant?

If you wait for days to get a quote, or a reply to your question, or your call returned, this is the service you can expect when your system is being developed and when you need support in years to come.