When you’re looking for an e-commerce funding solution, every potential partner says they’re committed to your success. Six months in, the reality could be a different story. So how can you identify business partners that are truly committed to quality?
Allow us to introduce ISO certifications.
At SellersFi, we offer the only financial solutions built by e-commerce experts for e-commerce entrepreneurs. That means we’re also committed to your growth and security. And we’ve got the ISO certifications to prove it.
Understanding ISO Standards
- What Does It Mean to Be ISO Certified?
- What Are ISO Standards and How Are They Measured?
- ISO 9001: Quality Standards You Can Count On
- ISO 27001: Security Standards That Protect Your Business
- The Benefits of Having Both ISO Certifications
- Fueling Growth in E-commerce Today and Tomorrow
What Does It Mean to Be ISO Certified?
ISO certification is a standard set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). To get certified, companies must comply with specific management system requirements. ISO standards cover a wide variety of areas including quality management, information security, environmental management, and occupational health and safety.
Funding providers get a bad rap — and justifiably so. Trusting a financial partner with your business’s future is tough. You can’t leave it in the hands of a shaky start-up or partners with confusing terms and hidden fees.
ISO certification is an internationally-recognized method for measuring a company’s commitment to its customers’ future and its ability to deliver on its promises. Whether you choose to work with us or another funding partner, these are the standards to look for.
What Are ISO Standards and How Are They Measured?
Each ISO standard has a long list of stringent requirements that an organization must pass to become certified. These requirements are set by technical committees using a consensus-based process.
ISO committees include a wide range of stakeholders, such as:
- Industry experts
- Government authorities
- Non-governmental organizations
- Consumer groups
To become ISO certified, a company must undergo a detailed audit to show that they meet the standards.
This audit must be independent. In other words, you can’t audit yourself. It’s typically carried out by a third-party certification body that evaluates whether your processes and management systems comply with the necessary requirements.
ISO 9001: Quality Standards You Can Count On
ISO 9001 is a standard focused on quality management. It provides a framework for businesses to ensure they consistently meet customer and regulatory requirements.
To become ISO 9001 certified, a company must show that they do the following:
- Establish and maintain a documented quality management system
- Understand customer needs and expectations
- Define performance metrics related to quality
- Implement processes to ensure its products and services consistently meet requirements
- Monitor quality performance data to find areas for improvement
- Undergo regular internal and external audits to verify compliance
Certified organizations must have a process in place for maintaining a quality customer experience. It’s a few extra steps, but the benefits for both the certifying company and its customers are worth it.
Benefit #1: Prioritizing Your Experience
As a funding provider, we know the best way to ensure our own success is by doing everything we can to give our customers an excellent experience.
That means meeting your expectations, anticipating your future needs, and being there when you need support.
While putting the customer first isn’t exactly a novel business strategy, the difference is in the execution. When you work with a partner that’s ISO 9001 certified, you’ll know. The company is laser-focused on customer satisfaction, and they have methodical processes in place to make sure they stay that way.
As a SellersFi customer, you might not see those internal processes. But you’ll see the results.
ISO-certified organizations often have:
- A deep understanding of customer needs
- Fast response times
- Strong customer reviews
- A focus on feedback
Benefit #2: Promoting Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is a huge focus of ISO 9001. Customer needs are always changing. Certified companies must have processes in place to collect customer feedback and improve their offerings.
This is particularly important when choosing a funding partner. While finance is sometimes considered a rigid and slow-moving industry, we know that e-commerce funding can and should always be evolving.
Shifting interest rates, the emergence of new tools — you want a financing partner that adapts to those changes and offers you solutions that evolve as you do.
On the surface, ISO 9001 seems to be about customer experience. But it’s really about process and consistency. A company that has innovative products but never solicits feedback from customers likely won’t make the cut.
ISO 27001: Security Standards That Protect Your Business
ISO 27001 is a similar standard to ISO 9001, but it’s all about information security. It outlines the best practices for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continuously improving an information security management system.
The requirements for ISO 27001 certification are similar to those for ISO 9001 in that they involve documenting a plan and evaluating its performance.
ISO 27001-certified companies must:
- Establish and maintain a documented information security management system
- Conduct a risk assessment to identify security threats and vulnerabilities
- Implement security controls to address the threats discovered
- Monitor the effectiveness of the security controls
- Undergo regular internal and external audits to verify compliance
Is it a lot of work? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Becoming ISO 27001 certified is about the journey, not the destination. Going through these requirements was a golden opportunity for our team at SellersFi to evaluate our current processes and make improvements based on globally-recognized best practices.
What does it mean for you? Here are the top benefits.
Benefit #1: Protecting Your Business from Security Threats
When it comes to choosing a financial partner, ISO 27001 certification is one way to see which organizations put their money where their mouth is in terms of security.
Financial institutions deal with sensitive data, which puts a target on their back for cyber attacks. Partnering with a financial institution that is ISO 27001 certified shows that they have taken significant steps to protect their information assets.
At SellersFi, we believe you deserve that peace of mind. ISO 27001 certification demonstrates that as a financial partner, we have a robust information security management system and follow best practices to mitigate cybersecurity risks so you can focus on growing your business.
Benefit #2: Avoiding Regulatory Fines
The idea of your financial partner owing regulatory fines might not be keeping you up at night, but we’d like to avoid them — and ISO 27001 standards help us do just that.
By maintaining certification, we know we’re following best practices compliant with the latest international regulations. This greatly reduces our risk of security breaches that could lead to fines, helping us keep fees low for you — unlike less-secure funding options.
Benefit #3: Maintaining Our Reputation and Your Trust
When it comes to financing, trust is everything. A financial partner that is ISO 27001 certified has gone above and beyond to protect sensitive data and maintain robust information security practices.
In other words: We’re in this for the long haul. We’re not just here as your lender — but as your trusted partner in growth. This certification is just one of many ways we will continue working to earn your trust every day.
The Benefits of Having Both ISO Certifications
There are — hold onto your hat — more than 22,000 ISO standards out there for a variety of industries. What makes these two particularly important for sellers like you?
We work exclusively with e-commerce brands and entrepreneurs. And there’s one thing they all have in common — few business partners seem to understand them in terms of their needs, goals, and risk profiles.
As a financial partner with ISO 9001 and 27001 certifications, we’re not here just to claim we can help — we have frameworks and processes in place to make it happen.
As Jon Drummond of Drummond Gaming & Tech puts it, “I wanted a funding provider that understands the e-commerce market.”
Drummond is a SellersFi customer using our Sellers Signals dashboard to track his business KPIs and the ROI on his funding. “Everything I need to know is in Sellers Signals. The information in Signals clearly showed me how my business was performing. I used Signals as a solid predictor of what was going to happen going forward. I haven’t seen a tool like this anywhere. And the integration with the flexible payment options makes everything easy.”
As an ISO-certified financial partner, understanding sellers on a deep level is part of the gig. We use that understanding to develop solutions that solve your current pain points — and your future ones.
Fueling Growth in E-commerce Today and Tomorrow
Choosing a lender that’s ISO-certified will help you find a true financial partner — one that’s committed to meeting your needs, from the products and services you use to the security features you rely on.
At SellersFi, we believe that we need to see big changes in the world of e-commerce funding. With the continued support of our customers, we’re taking action to be the change we want to see.
Reach out to our team to learn more about how we can help support your growth with best-in-class financial solutions tailored to e-commerce.
