Yesterday, Wall Street Journal carried a piece about the spin-off company from Dun & Bradstreet–Small Businesses Seethe at Credit Service Using Dun & Bradstreet Name.
In addition to realizing I’ve never used that verb other than in past tense, it was a striking story and quite familiar. With Descant, I set out to “co-create” a platform as well as pilot it with scores of business owners and the financial advisers they trust most. Seethe is a good word to describe what I hear when they talk about the credit industry.
At the same time, I’ve engaged many credit analysts to ensure that our profile framework is complete and that they’ll be thrilled when their business clients and partners use it. In spite of intensive conversations and their observations about data quality issues, I found them to be less than familiar with how the credit industry affects small businesses.
Now I wonder if that gap is due to businesses not feeling they can talk about the problem with their lenders and other stakeholders.
I always want to hear stories about credit, even when the experience is good, but I really do hope to flip the conversation. Would you like to feel proud of how your company is portrayed in credit evaluations or longer-term credit monitoring? How important is it to know your evaluators understand your business and your dreams for it?
Let’s make small business clout and impact our shared objective in commercial credit. Please let me know your thoughts in this post or send me an e-mail: lreimer@descantlabs.com.
–LaVonne
descant labs 