Case Study: DNBi CREDITADVISOR

Joan avoided a costly mistake by evaluating risk up-front

Joan is the finance manager at a small firm that manufactures gourmet baked goods in St. Louis. Her company distributes fresh products to restaurants and food stores throughout the area. One of her critical responsibilities is to ensure that her company maintains a positive cash flow. A key driver of positive cash flow is on-time payments. To maintain on-time payments, Joan is particularly interested in:

• Which customers might be fraudulent
• Which customers historically pay slow; so she can avoid them or request stricter payment terms (such as Cash On Delivery)
• Which are Joan’s best customers; Joan may be able to generate more business if she offers more favorable terms than the competition

While Joan has established relationships with all of her customers, she knows that she won’t be the first person to know if a customer is struggling to pay their bills. She maintains an objective view by checking credit references, listening to other vendor experiences, and reviewing business credit reports with D&B.

Joan reviews business credit reports with D&B’s DNBi CreditAdvisor. She likes this service because it’s easy to use and understand. Every time Joan reviews the CreditAdvisor reports, she knows she's seeing D&B's most up-to-date information on her customers. Each CreditAdvisor report includes all of D&B’s proprietary scores and ratings, including the Credit Limit Recommendation. Each report also offers a detailed, aggregation of information regarding public filings, trade payment history, and financials that she cannot find anywhere else. Since business failure rates are high in the restaurant business, Joan also leverages D&B’s alert services. If a customer’s credit profile changes, Joan is instantly notified so she can react before her cash flow is impacted.

Occasionally, Joan will be unable to find a company’s credit report. If a company does not have a D&B D-U-N-S® Number and is not listed with D&B, Joan may choose not to do business with that company. She has gotten burned in the past by doing business with companies that were not listed in D&B’s database. With DNBi CreditAdvisor, Joan can ask D&B to perform a free investigation to research information on companies without a D-U-N-S number. Investigations can help confirm or counter Joan’s concerns.