FREE SELF-HELP CREDITBUILDING
Updated: Jan 26, 2022
Most small business owners don’t realize the most important tool for building business credit is already in their hands. Even more startling is the fact that it is free to anyone who needs it. We specialize in teaching and assisting small business owners to build and manage their corporate credit relationships. The first step to enhancing a solid business credit profile is to make sure you are registered and familiar with the update process.
Do you know how to get a free copy of your D&B business credit profile?
Many people operate under the misconception of having to pay for an outside service to start building their business credit, but D&B does offer free options to give small business owners the ability to actively participate in how their company is portrayed in the credit community, and that can impact the data that flows through normal channels into the D&B database. Oftentimes, some of the simplest transactions that could be working for a company’s benefit fail to flow into the file due to incomplete or inaccurate data, such as old address or misspelling of the company name.
The instructions below are intended to help you to see, print, and download a copy of raw data in your business credit profile. We are hopeful this will allow the average small business owner to have a better understanding of what data is being represented about their company and how to successfully manage that data going forward.
To access DUNSmanager...
Go to www.dnb.com
Search for your company
In the menu bar at the top, hover over D-U-N-S NUMBER
In the drop down menu, click on Update My Company Data
In the drop-down, choose "I have a U.S.-based business"
Fill in your business name, address, and phone and click "Search"
Find your company in the list and click on "View / Update Company Information"
Click "Continue"
Create a new login (or) Scroll down and click on Login if you already have one
Fill in your personal information and click "Continue"
Answer the security questions (may have some trick questions)
Go through each of the pages to update data or dispute slow payments
If you don't already have access to the FREE CreditSignal, click the checkbox for free access to that service from the D&B Dashboard
Review and submit your changes
In the upper-right-hand corner, click the "person" icon and click on "Return to Dashboard"
Scroll down and ACCEPT the Terms and Conditions
The free DUNS Manager does not provide access to your scores or ratings, but the free CreditSignal will give you 13 day access to some of them. DUNS Manager also does not allow business owners to upload vendors or suppliers like a paid service, but it does allow updates to some of the base data, disputes of slow payments, and it provide case/document numbers for any public filings to make it easier for you to get those resolved outside of D&B's system. Once they are resolved, their new status will flow into D&B automatically.
Please understand, we cannot access the DUNS Manager for you or provide any “secret recipe” to help you gain access if the D&B system is not letting you in. We can, however, provide clarifying information about what types of information should be entered into your file to make sure your company is accurately represented.
LESSON: If you are having difficulty with any of the instructions above, please contact us for further clarification. We will gladly provide any information we can. Sometimes, updating the information in your D&B profile isn’t just the first step to credit-building, it’s the biggest one!