Online accounts for standards and certifications can and should offer so, so much more. They can simplify and streamline engagement with the standard at every step of the way, starting before people even decide to work with you. 

An irony inherent to many standards is that to properly apply a standard of performance, one must often account for significant variability. For example, if an airport and an office building each wanted to showcase their focus on human health and well-being, they might both pursue a WELL Certification. However, what makes for a people-first airport is not exactly the same as what makes for a people-first office.

Accounting for variability

In the bad old days, employees from the airport and from the office building would have to spend hours, if not days, combing through a PDF – or, more cumbersome still, printed – copy of their chosen standard, picking out what they think applies to them and what they think doesn’t, all before they could even go to their bosses with an idea of what the standard requires of them, what the application process and timeline looks like, and what stakeholders will be involved. It’s a hard sell to the first person who needs to be your advocate.

Enter a new phase

With a properly set up online account and digital standard, you can get all that information in that person’s hands practically instantly. Considering that some standards require an email inquiry and subsequent wait to even begin to look at the standard, that’s a huge improvement. During the process of setting up an online account, the user can input the specifics of their project, product, or other path. This information can be used to tailor the user experience to showcase only relevant parts of the standard, so the person trying to decide if this is right for their office building doesn’t have to flip past pages about baggage claim areas.

In fact, quite the opposite. 

Using an account can simplify the onboarding process by immediately bringing to the fore the information most necessary for an organization to act:

• Requirements of the standard specific to their use case

• What actions will be required, and on what timeline, to pursue the standard

• Which stakeholders the documentation will require information from

That empowers that first-line advocate we talked about to come straight back to their boss with an informed, clear strategy and set of next steps.

The utility of the online account doesn’t end at the point of sign-up, of course. Another incredible synergy of an online account and digital standard is the ability to keep an up-to-date checklist. The account allows the checklist to reflect what has already been completed, while the digital standard maintains the list of requirements – again, tailored to the project. Having this information readily available in a parsable, visual format helps users know what’s been done, what needs doing next, and whom they should look to for help with it. It also streamlines collaboration, so team members can see others’ progress in real time.   

While a smart standard accounts for many of the foreseeable variables in the field, there will always be edge cases and questions. It only makes sense to provide a way for those to be addressed in the “one-stop shop” being cultivated by embracing an online account and digital standard. By providing online support in the same platform, you make it easier for users to find the answers they’re looking for, in the very same interface where they’re tracking their progress and taking their cues. 

The kinds of questions you are likely to receive in the certification space are typically more technical and involved than your average customer support inquiry. For this reason, Syscore recommends asynchronous support. Once your team has had a chance to confer and weigh in, and with the right management and middleware, the answer can appear directly in the account interface, so all team members can view it. 

Further aiding transparency and collaboration, online accounts empower a more open digital review process. In that same spirit of collaboration, the online account helps keep the review process from becoming a “black box.” Users can track the progress of their reviews, and reviewers can easily work with users to address gaps in documentation, lingering questions, or quick feedback. Without the ready-made communication platform of the online account, too often, the only time an issue with an application is communicated is at the end of the process, potentially resulting in a rejection that may never be rectified.

Make success simple

The combination of online accounts and digital standards can help breathe life into the frequently plodding, labyrinthine certification process. It opens up new lines of communication, new avenues of collaboration, and new windows of transparency. This is a powerful combination that makes it easier to:

• Decide to engage with your standard

• Pursue certification intelligently and strategically

• Clarify and address application issues

• Achieve certification

All told, that makes your brand and your standard easier to engage with, easier to partner with, and easier to grow with.