SalesWitness Certified
SalesWitness Certified is for businesses that pass an independent mystery audit of every enquiry channel they offer. It is earned on the evidence, valid for six months — continuous on SalesWitness Watch — and every badge links to a live certificate page, so it means something to the people who see it.
Sample certificate number
Why it matters
Reviews tell people what happened after the sale. Nothing tells them whether an enquiry will be answered at all. The mark does: it says your replies were checked, on every channel you offer.
Our shoppers send real enquiries and record what comes back over seven days. Your team doesn’t know which one was us. The score comes from the record, not from a questionnaire you fill in.
Every badge links to its own live page on our register. If a certificate lapses, the badge changes by itself. A badge that doesn’t open a matching certificate page isn’t ours.
How to earn it
We mystery-shop every enquiry channel you offer and score each reply on nine criteria. Included in the SalesWitness Audit, SalesWitness Watch and SalesWitness Multi plans (SalesWitness Multi: a certificate per site).
Below the line? Your portal shows exactly what stands between you and the mark — the channel, the number you have, the number you need — and when your next audit is.
Once you pass, a reviewer checks the evidence and issues your certificate. You get a badge that links to your live verification page.
Two tiers
Below 80 there is no public mark. Your portal shows “Working towards certification”, with the exact gaps to close and the date of your next audit.
Not a one-off
Month 0
Certificate issued
A reviewer confirms the evidence. Your certificate number and verification page go live, valid for 6 months.
On SalesWitness Watch
Continuous
You’re audited every month. Each month that meets the standard moves your valid-until date to 6 months after that audit — nothing to book.
With the one-time SalesWitness Audit
Re-certify to keep it
A re-certification audit before the 6 months are up renews it under the same number. We remind you 45, 30, 14 and 3 days before, on expiry and once after.
If it slips or lapses
30 days to fix it
Gold can drop to Certified; below 80 the certificate is suspended until a re-audit passes. Not renewed in time, it expires and the badge shows “Not current”.
The badge
The badge is an image served from our register, so it always reflects your certificate’s current status. It must link to your verification page — that link is a condition of using the mark.
Where the badge leads
Sample verification page
example.com
Status
Active
This certificate is current. It is valid until 1 March 2027, subject to surveillance audits.
Channels audited
What this mark means
Independent mystery shoppers contacted this business on every enquiry channel it offers and scored how it replied — speed, accuracy, follow-up and conduct — against a published standard. It certifies how enquiries were handled, not the business’s products or services, and it is SalesWitness’s own standard, not an ISO or government certification.
Questions
No. SalesWitness Certified is our own published standard. It is not ISO, not a government scheme, and we are not accredited by an accreditation body. We publish every rule so you — and your customers — can see exactly what it means.
6 months. On SalesWitness Watch it is continuous: you are audited every month, and each month that meets the standard moves your valid-until date to 6 months after that audit — nothing to book. With the one-time SalesWitness Audit, a re-certification audit is needed before the 6 months are up to keep the mark.
We remind you 45, 30, 14 and 3 days before your certificate expires, on the day it expires, and once 14 days after. You can book a re-certification audit (the SalesWitness Audit again) — if it meets the standard, the certificate is renewed for 6 months under the same number — or move to SalesWitness Watch so it never lapses.
“Not current”, with the reason (expired, suspended or withdrawn), and your verification page shows the status. The badge changes by itself within an hour. Once a certificate has expired you must stop describing the business as certified and remove the badge within 30 days — or renew it, and the same badge code shows it as current again.
Yes. If standards slip, a Gold certificate drops to Certified, and a score below 80, an unanswered channel or a red flag suspends it with 30 days to put things right. A certificate that isn’t renewed expires. The badge on your site updates itself.
Nothing extra: certification is included in the SalesWitness Audit, SalesWitness Watch and SalesWitness Multi plans. A re-certification audit is the SalesWitness Audit at its normal price; on SalesWitness Watch renewal is included. The fee is the same whatever the audit finds, and no plan guarantees a certificate.
On SalesWitness Multi, certification is per site: each site is assessed on its own channels and gets its own certificate, number and verification page.
An audit counts towards certification for 90 days after it is published. How you respond to public reviews is reported alongside the audit, but it is not a pass/fail condition.
No mark yet. Your portal lists the gaps and your next audit date. Fix them, get re-audited, and if you reach 80 on every requirement you are certified.
Only a band — “90+” or “80–89” — unless you choose to show the exact score. Businesses that don’t pass are never published.
No. Listing is opt-in. Every certificate has a public verification page either way, because that page is what makes the badge trustworthy.
Start with the audit
Every certificate starts with a mystery audit of your real enquiry channels. If you pass, you’re certified. If you don’t, you’ll know exactly why.