When you need someone to handle your customer’s belongings—at the other end of a long-distance move, to assist with specialty items like their pets and artwork, to provide and support essential products and services, or in any number of other situations—you want to work with a company you know is reliable, ethical, and conscientious. You want to work with someone you trust.

In our industry, trust is built one move and one transaction at a time. It’s the result of a business relationship that develops incrementally, often over the course of years and decades. A trusted partner is one that you know will treat your customer as they would their own, and will work diligently to resolve any issues that may arise during the move.

Sometimes, though, you need to look outside your circle of trusted partners: a customer is moving to a region you’ve never shipped to before, an old partner has left the business, a company you’ve never heard of wants to engage with you. How do you know where to look, or whether a new partner will meet your standards? Traditionally, we rely on word-of-mouth; asking around about a company’s reputation can provide some assessment of their reliability, but the feedback you get is subjective and often anecdotal and won’t always paint the whole picture.

IAM has several programs and processes in place to help give you a more complete and objective assessment of our member companies, and help you make informed decisions when selecting an organization to partner with. We have codified this goal at the top level of our strategic plan: Enhance the customer experience by ensuring professional and operational excellence.

Membership in IAM represents the initial step; to become a member, a company must be sponsored by two existing members, after which its approval is subject to feedback from all members. All members are bound to adhere to the IAM Code of Ethics, which clearly states the values to which our members are committed and embodies the ethical responsibilities of our profession. The Association is also committed to helping resolve issues which may arise between member companies (more about this process below) and assisting with resolving claims under the Receivable Protection Program (RPP).

The processes above have been in place for some time, and continue to evolve with the times. They provide assurance that IAM supports our members in doing business with one another. A second layer of verifiable accountability is added by the Validation system in our directory, the IAM Mobility Exchange (IAMX). A Validated member company has undergone an objective review of its credentials and capabilities, and its relevant licenses, certifications and industry association memberships are displayed in its listing.

With our new IAMTrusted Moving Company (ITMC) designation, we have added another level of accountability and assurance that a member who has achieved the designation has undergone rigorous training and agreed to adhere to strict standards of professional conduct. In the pages to follow, you’ll learn in depth about the programs and processes IAM has developed to help you engage with fellow member companies in an environment that begins with trust.