In my first blog posting I mentioned credit reports were the credit story of a business.  In this posting I’d like to provide you with some insights on the raw materials that are brought together to become the chapters within the credit story.

You may think it’s simple to compile information to create the story.  However that’s far from the reality.   There’s no tool that easily links payment information, public record filings or collection experiences from thousands of suppliers.   There’s no magic tool that scrubs and standardizes all the information.   If you’ve ever tried to combine data from multiple customer databases where there’s not a common link you’ve experienced the painful reality of what it takes to create the story.   The story is in the data but putting it together is the challenge.

At Experian, a team of magicians (a.k.a. data analysts and technology experts) come together and create tools that sift through information.  Through these tools and a bit of magic we determine what can be brought together to begin the story for a new business or add a chapter for another.  At Experian this process occurs within our BizSource^SM database using our TrueSearch^SM matching engine.    In my next blog I’ll share my thoughts on these powerful tools.

Reporting your commercial accounts receivable experiences to commercial bureaus is not a new idea, but “give to get” consortiums that provide access to exclusive content are increasing in popularity as one way to get a competitive edge in today’s challenging market conditions.  These credit “co-ops” provide access to premium risk tools such as highly predictive scores, portfolio benchmarking and proven collection services. Another consideration is that if you are not reporting your data, you may find your account experiences conspicuously absent in the bureau scores and reports you rely on to make your credit decisions. It also might surprise you to know that bureaus provide special pricing incentives to data contributors, providing “found money” to budget beleaguered credit departments. You can find more details about how data reporting can make you more profitable here.