By: Veronica Signorelli, Senior Credit Investigator and Technical Liaison July 2008 This month’s segment begins with the topic of confidentiality. Please do not share the results of the BCCA reports with your clients. One of the more serious repercussions of this can be the withdrawal of future sales from the very media outlets that were kind enough to provide a reference in the first place. The strength of BCCA’s reporting, focusing on media references, will be compromised if our members are afraid to provide the necessary information for fear of reprisals. Please do what you can to maintain the confidentiality of our membership because we all depend on each other to be successful. Next, BCCA would like to introduce its new program for sharing ‘bad debt’ information. We are compiling a list of companies that are reported to us as having been sent to collections. The list is located in the Members’ Only section of the BCCA website. The list is still in its infancy but if you have a client that is presenting you with collection problems, please feel free to contact us so we can initiate an investigation. You will receive a free copy of the report, and other members will be warned as well. And don’t forget to explore some other items while you’re in the Members Only section: Ask the Experts, Online Membership Directory, Online Credit Handbook, Top Requested Reports for 2007 & 2008, and more. As always, we appreciate your business! June 2008 First,
we would like to thank all of our attendees and speakers for the So summer is here and with it, new advertisers. Please take a moment to inform the sales department of BCCA’s involvement in checking references. We’ve had an incident where an AE was contacted asking if they knew who BCCA was and why we were checking references. Since the AE was unaware of our involvement, the client was advised to tell their vendors not to release any information to us. Needless to say, this slowed us down immensely in obtaining the required information, and was an unnecessary delay. The next item falls in the category of “for your information.” In an attempt to acquire as much information as possible for you, our members, we are required to submit a request for 5 consecutive business days. This is not meant to inconvenience you and we hope you can appreciate our desire to provide you the best and most complete reports. ANY response is appreciated, even if you have no record of the company in question, and that will also halt repeated requests on that company. Thank you for your help and your continued support! March 2008 In the past few months, we have had an influx of new members join BCCA. So first and foremost, I would like to take a moment and welcome them. Welcome! As we have been working on getting everyone familiarized with our services, a common question from the new folks is, “What is the difference between Dun & Bradstreet and BCCA?” So I put on my investigator hat and, well, investigated. Dun & Bradstreet charges their clients a fee so that they can have access to their entire database. Included in their reports is data on company financials, detailed industry trends, company and industry payment trends, and any derogatory information about the subject company that may exist. It sounds pretty comprehensive until you think about our industry, broadcast. BCCA specializes in providing industry-related information. Sure, you can see that a company pays its equipment vendors on time, but they pretty much have to, or they won’t have product to sell. BCCA contacts other broadcast and cable companies to see how promptly the subject company pays their advertising invoices. We dig deep, by contacting members who have ordered a particular report in the past, as well as by contacting those in a particular market when the references provided to us were especially thin on a credit application. We consult the Standard Directory, or Redbooks, as well as subscribe to daily financial publications, all of which is included in our reports to give a better overall picture of their financial health and ultimate ability to pay YOU. This is not to say that we do not contact vendor references, but our main goal is to obtain pay history on advertising invoices, so that you can compare apples to apples, and make your decision accordingly. Of course there is also that added benefit of interacting directly with the BCCA staff, should you choose to do so. You are not limited to online searches, hoping to find something. Feel free to call us and discuss your need of a particular report. Every single BCCA staff member is a true specialist; we know the type of information you require, and that every application is time sensitive. Providing the information you need with a personal touch is the biggest difference. And we look forward to working with you!
February 2008 With the many concerns about privacy in the past few years, you have probably noticed that it has become increasingly difficult or downright impossible to obtain certain information without a client’s authorization. That is why we recommend that you forward a signed copy of your credit application to us along with your report request. Banks will not provide any information to us without it. In order to make things easier, one member has taken the additional step of requiring their potential advertisers to sign a release of information not only to their station, but also to BCCA. This handy release, addressed to both financial institutions and reference companies, accomplishes the following: First, the client is aware of BCCA’s involvement in checking their references. Many times we have received phone calls from our members’ frantic clients demanding to know just who we are and why we are in contact with their bank or vendor. This goes a long way in preventing potential panic attacks. Next, this release proves our legitimacy to those companies outside of our industry. Even if the reference company does not recognize who BCCA is, they will recognize that we do have a legitimate need of this information, and will be more likely to release it to us. Something as simple as including BCCA’s name in the release statement will prove greatly beneficial to everyone. The reference company/bank will have the documentation they need to be in compliance with privacy laws, and the investigators will be able to easily provide you with the information you need in order to arrive at your credit decision in a timely manner.
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