The DDS is a statistically derived measure based on past behaviour that assesses the probability of a firm paying its bills in a severely delinquent manner (90+ day past terms) over the next twelve months. In addition, the score is benchmarked by industry, telling you how the company measures up to other businesses in D&B’s information.

To make quick and easy credit decisions without undergoing costly and labour-intensive account analysis, you can order the D&B Company Check right here - simply execute your search for the business you are interested in from the search screen and follow the links at the bottom of the page to order.

If you think your business needs this type of information on a regular basis or you would like to learn more about other products, take a look at our home site, http://www.dnb.com.au or talk to one of customer service representatives on 13 23 33 to have these products explained in more detail.

Interested in researching companies & their activities?
A well-executed business plan is usually backed up with accurate and timely research. Whether you are entering a new market, analysing competitors or simply getting the right background information before that crucial sales call, you want the best business information available.

Dun & Bradstreet has published the leading business information sources in Australia for many years - but the important news is these publications are now available, updated nightly, right here in your browser!

For the latest information on over 20,000 companies in Australia look no further than the popular Business Who's Who of Australia. (http://bww.dnb.com.au)  Annual subscribers can access the service whenever they wish and can use the service to:

 - Identify companies in specific industry sectors
 - Locate companies by geographic region
 - Identify and contact senior decision-makers and their company affiliations
 - Determine exporting and importing companies and their trading regions
 - Identify company affiliations
 - Research competitor activity
 - Look up client lists of banks, solicitors, auditors, accountants and insurance brokers
 - Search for the highest revenue-earners
 - Link to a company’s Internet Home Page from the company record
 - Create their own telemarketing or mail-merge data

If your interest is primarily in publicly listed companies in Australia & New Zealand, the most comprehensive information is found in the well-known Jobson's Online. (http://jobsons.dnb.com.au)

The premier source for over 70 years on companies listed on the ASX & NZSX - Jobson's Online - features detailed data on over 1,400 industrial and mining companies with in-depth profiles on their operations and financial data.

If you would like to know more about the other research and marketing products available, go to the Dun & Bradstreet Marketing site at http://www.dbmarketing.com.au

Want to find more customers?
Every business needs more customers and, if your customers are other businesses, you know the value of targeting the right prospects.

Effective marketing is all about getting your message in front of the right people and, if direct marketing through mail, call campaigns, face-to-face selling & market research is part of your strategy, you know how important data quality is to succeed.

Dun & Bradstreet's databases can be segmented by up to 30 criteria to help you locate the businesses you want to target. Selection criteria includes industry, company size, executive titles and geographical locations.

So to obtain a greater understanding of your marketplace, a higher quality prospect list and more time to spend on profitable customers call a consultant today on 1800 622 898

As an alternative, to utilise an on-line solution for sourcing marketing data try out MarketNet by visiting (http://marketnet.dnb.com.au)

Improve your records of customers & suppliers
Maintaining a database of your customers - past and present - can be a constant drain of business resources and time. Yet it is the quality of information we hold on our customers that is critical to our understanding of how to market to them.

If you've ever been frustrated by duplicate records, wrong addresses, bad phone & fax numbers or haven't been able to identify or analyse the opportunities in your customer file, you'll know the importance of a quality database.

As our core business is rich and timely data,  we can help you improve your records in a number of critical ways:

File Cleaning - this process checks and adjusts your existing customer records to ensure addresses include correct suburb, state and postcodes. We can also update your phone, fax and modem numbers to the correct AUSTEL telephone number standards

Filematching - involves matching your customer database against the D&B database; enabling data to be added to update and enhance your customer records. This is the starting point for our range of analytical and profiling services.

Someone owe you money?
Outstanding accounts can not only adversely affect your cash flow, but can impact your entire business. Maintaining excellent client relations while trying to recover past due accounts is a time-consuming and tricky process.

With 150 years in the business, we understand the value of having an experienced partner providing high levels of customer support to achieving your receivables objectives. You are better off sticking to what you do best - running your business, and leave your collection needs to us.

The advantages of maintaining a partnership with Dun & Bradstreet’s Receivable Management Services is our focus on working with you to control your accounts receivable simply and professionally. We can help you in Australia, New Zealand and Internationally.

As a client of the service you are provided with constant up-to-date information about the progress of your accounts through our Receivable Management System. You'll also enjoy rapid resolution to your debt recovery problems. Seventy percent of all accounts placed with Dun & Bradstreet are collected before legal action is necessary. In fact, accounts placed with us that are less than 150 days old could be settled within 21 days.

For more information on D&B’s Receivable Management Services please call 0800 733 707.