CMA Daily News

anscers RFI Service Updates

About six weeks ago, CMA launched a beta test version of an enhanced RFI service on anscers.com that allows registered anscers users to send RFIs to companies listed as references on credit applications. I am pleased to report that the many CMA members have tried this new service with positive results, and I would like to thank everyone who gave us your honest feedback so that we could continue to improve this new service. Based on feedback from CMA members, a number of changes have been made to the RFI service on anscers, which are detailed below. This service will continue to be offered for free during the month of June, so I encourage everyone who still clears references to give it a try and give us your feedback. Thank you again for your support.

1. ACTIVE RFI (Main Page):

A.    Added Group Filter (upper right) – displays only for members of multiple groups.

B.     Added “View Report” icon for accessing the RFI Report. This icon only displays when you have submitted or responded to an RFI.

C.     Removed “view report” link from “Subject Company” column and replaced with “view confirmation” (see detail on Page 5) that links to a PDF document of the RFI Confirmation Page (see detail on Page 5); link is only available to the company that submitted the RFI and to Administrators.

D.    In the “Requested by” column, the Business Type and Group ID can be clicked to display full text (in the example above: EMPL = Employee; AA = Test Group; EE = Employee Group).

2. RFI REFERENCES PAGE:

A.    Subject Company Name now appears in the header (example above: “Add Your Reference #1 for Test Company 0045ht”); as more references are added, the header text reflects the reference # (Reference #2, Reference #3, and so on).

B.     Length of Search Results box has been extended to display more results.

C.     A field has been added for the Subject’s “Account Number” (not required).

D.    The “Additional References” option has been moved to the bottom of the form (additional references are those that already exist in the anscers database).

3. RFI CONFIRMATION PAGE (NEW)

After user clicks “Submit RFI,” a new RFI Confirmation page will display and includes the following information:

•         Instructions about viewing the live and archived RFI Report.

•         RFI expiration date.

•         RFI Subject Company.

•         List of References user added that received the RFI by fax.

•         Number of additional anscers References that received the RFI by fax.

•         Credit Groups that received the RFI.

The RFI Reference Code, which is included in parenthesis next to the Subject Company, contains the Company ID (seven digit number after the hyphen) of the reference company. This number can be used as a reference to identify trade responses from reference companies that appear on the RFI Report.

The RFI Confirmation is available as a PDF document to RFI Submitters by clicking the “view confirmation” link next to the Subject Company Name on the ACTIVE RFI Page. (see first screen above). Once the RFI has expired, the RFI Confirmation will be available on the User Billing Page in the My Profile section of anscers.

4. RFI EMAIL DAILY SUMMARY (formerly known as “Email Digest Mode”)

Credit Group members can choose to receive a single email each day that will include all RFIs submitted within the last 24 hour period. The Daily Summary email is scheduled for release at 4:00 pm PST each day, and will include a list of all RFIs submitted to Credit Groups of which the user is a member, since 4:00 pm the prior day. The page where users update their preferences has been renamed to “Communication Preferences” and is still located on the “My Account” page. As a point of clarification, the Reference RFI preference controls how a user receives RFIs when named as a reference; at the present time, RFIs are delivered to references by fax only; if a user chooses the Web option for this preference, the user will not receive a fax RFI reference request.

Sample RFI Daily Summary email:

You can now buy recorded Webinars!

Now you can purchase recordings of selected Webinar programs. When you purchase a recorded Webinar, you will be provided with an Internet link to the recording, which you can view as many times as you like for 60 days. To view and hear the recorded program, you will need to have Internet access and speakers connected to your computer. See (and hear) what you’ve been missing!

To access Recorded Webinars, log into anscers.com and click on the Events tab.

Note: If you purchase a Webinar you also get access to the Webinar recording for 60 days.

RFI Reference Instructions & Info

anscers RFI Reference feature which started its Beta on April 16, 2007 has resulted in lots of great feedback, and a few questions about how to properly use the feature.

This information document will explain all the choices available with the RFI Reference feature. The focus will be on what happens when a Group Member uses the new feature.

Download rfi_reference_doc.pdf

CMA Launches Beta of New anscers RFI Reference Feature

Clearing credit references is a fundamental best practice in credit management. It’s something most of you do every day. Since CMA introduced the concept of RFIs on anscers.com five years ago, industry credit group members have been sending these online Requests for Information to each other to clear references quickly and efficiently. In fact, RFIs have changed the way that many credit group members request and receive trade data, replacing phone calls, faxes, and monthly reports with instant email notifications and information on demand. It’s a great service if you are in a CMA credit group and your group members are named as references or happen to sell to your new prospects applying for credit. But what if your references are not in your credit group, or you do not belong to a credit group at all?

For the last few years, your support team at CMA has been working to expand the anscers RFI service to make it available for companies that do not belong to a CMA credit group, and allow credit group and non-credit group members to request information from reference companies that do not belong to a credit group. Today, CMA proudly introduces the new RFI References feature on anscers.com. Now, all registered anscers users can send a Request for Information to any reference company they choose and to any company already designated as a reference for the subject company in the anscers database. Initially, RFIs sent to references (as opposed to credit group members) will be distributed by fax because of the predominant practice of using faxes to request credit “ratings” from companies listed as references. Our market research tells us that many credit applications do not ask for email addresses.

So why would you want to use anscers to fax RFIs to your credit references? We can think of some good reasons, like efficiency, for one. Particularly if you are a credit group member, it is easier to add a few references to an RFI you are already preparing to send to your credit group, than it is to hand-write separate fax cover sheets and fax them individually to each reference. The new RFI feature will send your request to all references you name with one click of a button. And what about continually checking the fax machine for trade data responses to your request? Not with anscers RFIs – you will be notified by email whenever there are tradeline responses waiting for you, and all that data will be aggregated into a single RFI report, which you can access online anytime you like. Finally, not only will you be able to add your own references, but also you can request trade experience from any past references stored in the anscers database. These requests will be more targeted than even credit group RFIs because you will be connected with companies that have actually sold to, or inquired about, your credit applicant within the last 12 months.

I am very excited about the potential benefits that this new expanded RFI Reference feature will provide for CMA members and anscers users, and I will be especially pleased if this feature will bring some of the benefits of credit group membership to our constituents who are not able to participate in credit groups. RFI References is currently in Beta, and I encourage all of our members to try it while it is free and give us your feedback. To access this service, credit group members only have to start an RFI like they normally would, and the new Reference feature will appear during the submission process. Members not in credit groups can access the service by clicking on the RFI tab at the top of any page, then click the button “Start RFI.” If you don’t see your RFI tab right away, keep trying back as we are still updating RFI access for all registered anscers user not currently in credit groups. Customer support is available at 800-541-2622 option 6. 

Your feedback is extremely valuable to us, so let us know what you think of the new RFI Reference feature, exclusively offered on anscers.com.

Sincerely,

Mike Mitchell

President, CMA Business Credit Services

New anscers.com feature - Order an Experian

A new feature was added to anscers.com last night. We have integrated the ability for you to easily order an Experian report in 7 areas on anscers.com:

• anscers Business Credit Report
• RFI Report
• Group Credit Report
• Group Report
• Submitting an RFI
• Submitting an Alert
• Submitting a Group Report Request

In any of these areas if you want to know more about the subject, click the "order an experian" icon on the page.

A small window will open where you can make your Experian Report selection and tell us how you want it sent to you; email or fax.

CMA Staff will pull the reports and fax or email them to you within the hour. All report usage will be billed at month end on your statement from CMA.

Special Note: If you have an Experian Report Contract through CMA you will be charged your contract price for reports, which will save you money on each report. To find out more about securing a Experian Report Contract through CMA contact Terry Campos at 818-972-5361 or tcampos@creditservices.org.

The Experian Credit Reports that we offer through anscers.com are:

• Business Profile $38.00  Full detail report, trade payment, company background, public record, financials and payment trends. Most comprehensive report. Use for new accounts, key accounts or high balances.
• Commercial Intelliscore  $20.25  One page scoring report includes risk score, trade payment summary, public record data, and company background. Use in high-volume, quick turnaround situations.
• Business Summary  $13.00  Credit snapshot on the current trade experiences. Summary data provided on trade lines, public record and collection data, officers, and employees. Use for low balance accounts, prescreening accounts and updating credit files.

Gather as much data as you can on your customers by using anscers.com and Experian together.

anscers Help Section Being Updated

The anscers help section is being updated. Instructions for RFI have just been added, and more will be coming soon.