Your BBB is one of the most recognized, utilized and reliable sources of information on business reliability in the US. Most consumers & businesses know, respect and believe in the BBB and prefer doing business with BBB accredited businesses, because they know that BBB accredited businesses are committed to a high level of quality, ethics and customer service excellence. By being an Accredited Business of the BBB, a business tells its customers that it manages its operations honestly, fairly, and with integrity. BBB accredited business status also extends customer assurance by letting people know you are committed to customer satisfaction and will settle a customer dispute in a fair manner, without government intervention. The overall value is knowing that 70% of the people who utilize the BBB, prefer to get involved with a BBB accredited business.
BBB accredited business status provides you with access to a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Advertising Opportunities
- Marketing Tools To Help You Create New Business
- Online Visibility & Marketplace Exposure
- Services That Protect Your Money & Safeguard Your Business
- Instant Access To BBB Services & Information
Member Identification Program (MIP)
This unique marketing program is available to your company as part of your BBB accreditation. By signing the Member Identification Program ('MIP') Agreement stating that your business will use special procedures (such as mediation or arbitration) to resolve complaints, the MIP program provides you with the following benefits:
BBB Logo Usage
Your business can use the special MIP Torch Logo in all your off-line printed advertising and business materials, including:
- Business Cards
- Invoice, Bid or Quote Forms
- Stationery
- Direct Mail
- Newspaper, Radio & Television
- Billboards
- Direct Mail
- Printed Business Documents
- Company Vehicles
Over 90% of the public recognizes the BBB logo. It is rated one of the highest of all institutions in credibility and public confidence.
Request a Bid
This benefit provides BBB accredited businesses with an opportunity to provide information and pricing about their products or services at the request of potential customers. By filling out a form on our web site, customers and businesses will be connected with BBB accredited businesses offering the information, products, or services they are seeking. This provides people with a quick and easy way to do business with BBB accredited businesses, and provides you with an opportunity for business potential. To be eligible to participate in the Better Business Bids Program, your business must be enrolled in the MIP Program and must have a working e-mail address.
Promoting MIP In Your Accredited Business Reliability Report To give people the added assurance they need to feel confident getting involved with your business, your BBB Accredited Business Reliability Report will include your MIP program participation by clearly stating:
"This business participates in the BBB's Member Identification Program. This business has agreed to use special complaint handling procedures including mediation and arbitration if necessary to resolve disputes."
This lets customers know they are getting involved with a BBB accredited business that follows ethical, socially conscience business practices and is committed to customer service excellence.
Dispute Resolution Center Services
Through the MIP Program, we also provide you with an expedited complaint resolution service. As a MIP Accredited Business, we will contact you via email or mail within 48 hours of receiving a complaint and our trained Conciliation Manager will work with you and your customer to resolve the complaint. If the problem cannot be resolved, we are able to work with you and your customer through a process of either Mediation or Arbitration. Our goal is to work with you and your customer to assist in a resolution.
BBB Accredited Business Listings And Type-Of-Business Reports
Every day people call or visit the BBB to request information on which business to do business with. Although we do not recommend or endorse any business, we do provide, free upon request, Type-of-Business (TOB) reports which list our accredited businesses in the requested business categories. Appearing on these lists gets your business in front of potential buyers who feel more confident doing business with BBB accredited businesses.
Type-of-Business lists are also available on our web site. Accredited Businesses are listed by business category. People can then access your online Accredited Business report directly from this listing, and if you have your own web site, we list your URL in your online report and activate a "live-link" so that people have direct access to get to your homepage from your BBB accredited business report.
BBB Accredited Business Directory
BBB accredited businesses are listed in the BBB Accredited Business Directory, which is a publication that is distributed by BBB. This directory contains a listing of all current participating BBB accredited businesses, and your basic business listing is included free as part of your BBB Accredited Business Benefits Package. Consumers and businesses can quickly and easily locate BBB accredited businesses in their area, because the directory is broken down by Type-of-Business listings. Copies are made available to the public for free.
Accredited Business Direct Access To BBB Services & Information
Through membership, we offer an "Accredited Business's Hotline" that can be used by all your employee's. This number provides you with instant access to local or national information about businesses or charities that you may be thinking of getting involved with.
BBB Accredited Businesses can also contact BBB personnel directly during office hours via the "Accredited Business's Hotline" to receive assistance on updating their report information, checking for a BBB report on unknown vendors or competitors, inquiring on Bureau services and programs, or for any other questions they need answered.
Additional Accredited Business Marketing Materials
Through BBB accreditation, we also provide you with BBB Plaques and BBB Decals that are marketing tools which immediately identify you as a BBB Accredited Business and let people know they are getting involved with an honest and reputable company. You can display them in your place of business, company vehicles or take them with you to trade shows or other exhibits.
BBB OnLine Reliability Program
The
BBBOnLine Reliability Program allows Accredited Businesses to identify themselves on the Internet as a reliable and trustworthy business, provided they meet certain program requirements and agree to special complaint-handling procedures when applicable. (Additional fees apply to this program.)
In the same way that local BBB accreditation builds consumer trust and confidence in your company, the BBB OnLine Reliability Program globally extends that same trust and confidence to your online activities. Displaying the BBB OnLine Reliability Seal on your website demonstrates your commitment to the BBB's high standards and separates you from other online companies. This increases your customer's sense of safety, security and satisfaction. This also highlights your level of commitment to customer service and quality globally and proves to customers that your company can be trusted, and that the Internet is a safe place to do business.
Customer Satisfaction Survey Cards Customer satisfaction and loyalty of clients are much more than measures of people's experiences with your company, its products or its services. They directly affect your company’s growth and profitability. Measuring and managing them are crucial to effective day-to-day operations and long-term goals.
Since engaging a new customer typically costs five times that of retaining an existing one, and since word-of-mouth is the most effective and least expensive form of advertising, high customer satisfaction and loyalty translate directly into savings, sales growth and profits.
The Better Business Bureau recognizes that many of our members may not have the time or the money to establish a survey that monitors customer satisfaction. They are designed to provide your business with valuable feedback on your company’s performance while enhancing your image by displaying your commitment to customer satisfaction through the Better Business Bureau.
Educational Brochures
Your BBB can provide you with, at no cost, brochures on business-related topics, such as Schemes Against Businesses or Effective Customer Relations. We can also provide you with industry brochures you can display in your place of business for your customers.
Promoting Your BBB Accredited Business Reliability Report
Your BBB Accredited Business Reliability Report is available for access 24-hours a day through:
- Our automated Voice Response System
- Our website's 'Company Search' page.
International BBB Network
Accredited Business reports can be easily accessed through the network of nearly 128 BBB's across the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Accredited Business reports can also be accessed on the Internet via the national BBB Information System database.
Dispute Resolution Center Services The BBB serves as a facilitator of communication and assists in the resolution of disputes between an Accredited Business and its customers at no charge. Your BBB has a national reputation for fairness because we remain neutral in a dispute. We do not take sides but work to get the problem settled as quickly as possible. In addition to conciliation performed by BBB staff, the BBB also provides trained mediators to meet with the parties and guide them in working out their own mutually agreeable solutions. Binding arbitration is also available. The BBB provides certified arbitrators who listen to both sides, weigh the evidence, and make a decision regarding the dispute.
Membership Support And Tax Deductibility
The BBB is a non-profit organization supported by businesses dedicated to maintaining ethical practices in the workplace. Continued support of the Better Business Bureau through your yearly membership investment makes BBB Programs and services available, and we appreciate the support of companies who help maintain an ethical business community.
The Internal Revenue Service recognizes the BBB as a reasonable and necessary business expense, allowing your membership dues to be tax deductible.
Enhanced SEOBBB Accreditation can help increase your company's organic search positions. BBB Business Review listings are search friendly, which may increase the potential for prospective clients to find your website and help your website's search rankings. Consumers who search for businesses on the BBB website have the option to choose to only look at businesses that are BBB Accredited. BBB also now offers a mobile app to make researching businesses easier from these devices.
Sponsorship Program ParticipationAs an Accredited Business, you are offered additional opportunitities to promote your BBB Accreditation through various program sponsorship opportunities offered throughout the year at a minimal fee. Our latest offering is an exciting new program, the Accredited Business Online Directory Listing with Google and Leadgen. This program allows for premium placement at the top of your type of business category and provides directory listing enhancement. Click the
link for more information on how to participate and sign-up.
