21-company salute

It’s been a while since I touched on this subject. Recently, I had a conversation with Dick Churchill at the GroundsKeeper, and it reiterated the importance of broadcasting the things we hear consistently to the masses.

Too often, I hear things and share them with those I speak with, or that are most active in ASCA. The point of this column is to get the most important messages out to all ASCA members and snow industry professionals.

Recently, the 21st company earned its ISO 9001/SN 9001 certification. Congratulations to each of them on this accomplishment.

ISO 9001 is a quality management system that ensures you have the processes and procedures to ensure service quality. In short, it ensures that you can live up to what you have agreed to in your contracts. SN 9001 ensures you have implemented the industry standards into your snow and ice management operations.

Here is what I hear most frequently when companies earn their ISO 9001/SN 9001 certification:

• “We were already 85 percent of the way to certification before we even started.”
• “ISO 9001 makes my processes and procedures better.”
• “We have a better company today.”
• “It takes some work, but it is well worth it.”
• “My customers love it because they already were familiar with it.”
• “It is great for sales and marketing.”
• “Now it is not me telling my employees what to do, but ISO telling them what to do. It’s what I always wanted anyway.”
• “It is not nearly as complicated as I made it at first.”
• “ISO is AWESOME.”

I know that we have a small sample size, however, we are now gathering additional data on ISO 9001/SN 9001 companies so we can continue to work with the outside world on further recognizing this certification.

When you combine our 490 ASCA-Certified individuals with the ISO 9001/SN 9001 companies, the initial data is encouraging.

As you know, the initial efforts of Mills Insurance have led to an association-backed insurance program called Snow Removal Insurance Brokerage (SRIB), which underwrites and manages the insurance products.

This program requires that, at a minimum, the company be ASCA-C. In addition, the program recognizes and contemplates ISO 9001/SN 9001, while factoring insurance rates for the ASCA member.

The results are recognized as positively impacting the snow industry, in truth, the whole effort is modeling a new path for the Insurance industry by highlighting cooperation amongst so many moving parts.

Not only do results show that ASCA members in the program have documented positive behavior changes in their operations, it also shows that the SRIB insurance program will fight back and actively works to avoid the historical trends of settling claims without any merit.

Two companies recently shared with me they just reduced their insurance premiums by more than $25,000 by being certified. You or your insurance agent can reach out to Mills by visiting bit.ly/2bgSJsz. We are making huge progress. I encourage you to jump on board.