ISO 9001:2015 Certification 2022: Passed with Flying Colours!

Countrywide Signs’ quality and continuous improvement practices have once again been put through their paces… and we’re happy to shout that we’ve smashed it. We achieved the highest pass mark for our annual ISO 9001:2015 audit.

The quality we offer to our customers is second to none. In fact, we’re so proud that we highlight it as one of our clear USPs in business. As a franchisor, we believe strongly in the importance of aligning the quality of service, communications, and product throughout the network. This not only applies to our estate and lettings agents, but also to the quality level of support, training and communication provided from us to our franchisees. We are the only national property sign franchise to hold this international certification.

Managing Director, Tony Williams commented on the result: “Countrywide Signs is the only franchised UK national estate agency service with the ISO 9001:2015 certification. The recent independent review clearly shows that our franchisees, their operators, and the Countrywide Signs head office team provide customer service to the very highest standards. My co director Justin Pearce, and I, could not be prouder of the network and head office support team. We congratulate every single one of them for the exemplary way they have provided ‘outstanding’ customer service to the estate agency profession during 2021. Our current and future customers can be assured that these high standards will continue throughout 2022 and beyond.”

What’s Involved in an ISO 9001:2015 Audit

Annual ISO 9001:2015 audits mean that our practices as a business are scrutinised by an independent panel of specialists. There’s no bias and all findings are based on facts. The evaluation covers a number of key business areas, evaluating both how head office conducts training, operations, and internal communications; as well as how the individual franchisees perform in relation to their own customer service and communications.

It’s quite a task to document and gather the required data for submission. For the Franchisees, this included survey reports sent to agents at two points over the course of the past year. The survey gives agents the opportunity to leave feedback (good or bad) and rate the level of service received based on a 1–5-star rating. Results show our franchisees scored an average a rating of 4.6 which is fantastic!

The annual audit conducted by QMS International allows us to review processes, tighten up procedures and address areas of concern. While no review is ever without its failings, those areas that don’t make the grade are an opportunity for improvement.