NAID CONFERENCE: Panel Offers NAID Certification Thoughts

Establishing credibility with potential customers is one of several important reasons to obtain certification status offered by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), Phoenix, several shredding company officers believe.

At a panel discussion conducted at the NAID Annual Conference, held in San Diego in mid-May, three different NAID members who have obtained certification described how it has helped their companies in a competitive sales arena.

Chris Ockenfels of Document Destruction and Recycling Services, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, says that initially—when his company was among the first to obtain certification—it helped “set us apart” in the market.

Additionally, Ockenfels said the process of obtaining certification helps provide “a good operating plan to follow” for information destruction companies.

Fellow panelist Tom Thompson of Data-Guard Inc., Chicago, concurred that NAID certification “gave us credibility in the marketplace with our customers,” and compared it with the CPA status obtained by accounting firms.

Thompson also indicated that he has, on some occasions, been able to apply a premium pricing structure because of the NAID certification.

Panelist Michael Pittmon, Advantage Document Destruction, Longview, Texas, noted that NAID certification does not offer the full advantages of something like a CPA designation because the NAID name is not as well known as the CPA designation. “We have to educate people about NAID and even about commercial shredding,” Pittmon remarked.

Ockenfels and Thompson recommended that NAID-certified companies take advantage of newer marketing materials now available from NAID that help explain who NAID is and why certification is important.

“We would have jumped on using the NAID publicity material earlier, if it had been available,” Thompson commented.

Session moderator Tim Oberst of Ohio Mobile Shredding, Columbus, Ohio, said he has found that NAID certification can be helpful when it is noted in responding to government RFPs (requests for proposal), as a way of demonstrating corporate good standing and responsibility.