Part of our mission at the International Association of Online Business Managers is to establish a strong and effective working relationship between Online Business Managers and the clients that they serve. As such, all Certified OBMs have taken the following pledge in dedication to their clients – present and future – and in acknowledgement of their own dedication to the profession.
The Certified OBM® Pledge
This pledge demonstrates the commitment I make as a professional Online Business Manager to my clients.
- I will act and present myself in a manner that upholds the integrity of the International Association of Online Business Managers and its mission.
- I will support my clients at all times to the best of my abilities and with their needs and goals as my top priority.
- I understand that I must maintain clear and professional boundaries between my clients and myself, conduct myself with the highest level of integrity and at all times respect and maintain absolute confidentiality of my client’s activities.
- I understand that I can make no guarantees or warranties, expressed or implied, about any results to be achieved by my clients.
- I understand I must represent myself honestly, not overstating my qualifications or experience.
- I will maintain, store and where necessary properly dispose of any business records created during our working relationship to ensure confidentiality, security and privacy.
- I do not discuss or share confidential information about my clients with any other clients, colleagues or family members.
- When working with clients in the same industry, I will disclose any potential conflicts of interest and keep all information confidential.
- I will implement a Communication Plan with all of my clients to ensure regular communication that will support the relationship.
- I will complete projects and tasks accordingly to the set deadline. If I am unable to meet the deadline, I will let my client know as soon as possible and propose alternate solutions.
- I will not personally take on tasks or projects that require skills I do not have, and will instead look to delegate to a specialist or expert who has the expertise required (with permission from my client to do so.)
- I will acknowledge my mistakes, look for solutions to fix them immediately and verbally discuss this with my client.
- I will be professional and respectful in all my communications with my clients and other members of their team – including email correspondence, instant messages, phone discussions, text messages, voicemail messages etc. – and expect the same in return.
- In the case of any conflict or challenge in our relationship, I am committed to having a verbal discussion to explore solutions and/or alternatives.
- Where possible I will do my best to complete requests with tight or immediate deadlines outside of our agreed upon turnaround times and will let you know if I’m unable to accommodate any of these requests.
- I will consult with my network and other resources as needed to research new tools, skills and get answers where needed.
- I will provide appropriate notice and plan for backup if I will be unavailable to my clients due to vacation or illness.
- Unless otherwise agreed upon in our contract, I will provide at least 30 days notice of termination to end our working relationship and will ensure all necessary materials and information related to work I have done to date are available for future team members.
- When being paid hourly, I will keep an accurate record how my time is being spent on work for my clients, and will provide an accounting of time in accordance with our agreement.
- When being paid flat rate, incentive or by project, I will keep an accurate record of progress on agreed upon deliverables and will provide an update of such progress in accordance with our agreement.
- I will only charge for training time required to learn proprietary systems specific to my client’s business, and will not charge for any additional training time required for the role in which I was hired (as per the skillset shared and agreed upon during the hiring process.)
- Above all else, I will exercise integrity, honesty, and due diligence while carrying out projects and tasks for my clients.