The Relationship Manager

When selecting a Relationship Manager for a case, bear in mind that RapidRatings, the Target, or both parties may contact this individual during the Solicitation Process. They are the direct contact between your company and each supplier that our team is contacting, and while they may not need to know everything about us, they should understand the basics of the program and understand how to react in certain situations.

When will RapidRatings contact the Relationship Manager?

Typically, we call these "Escalations" i.e. cases we are unable to complete without your support.

The email to the Relationship Manager comes from the Solicitor, or Analyst working on the case.

We ask that Relationship Managers respond directly to this person.

There are four typical scenarios that we've seen occur:

1. Invalid Contact: Our team received an email bounceback on the contact that was provided, and requires a different contact. The Relationship Manager is expected to send this new contact
2. Partnership Confirmation: A Target has requested confirmation from your organization that RapidRatings is an authorized third party.The Relationship Manager is expected to send this confirmation to the Target
3. No Business Relationship: A Target has communicated to RapidRatings that they are neither an existing nor prospective supplier to your company. The Relationship Manager is expected to confirm to us if this is true, and request a cancellation if needed
4. Request For Copy Of Our Report: Since RapidRatings is facilitating this program on your behalf, dissemination is your prerogative, and we thus direct all requests for copies back to you. The Relationship Manager is required to make this decision and answer the Target

When will the Target contact the Relationship Manager?

This list is not exhaustive, but we have seen some frequent questions come up time and again, covered briefly below:

1. Target reaches out to Relationship Manager with more questions: 

1. Please ask them to contact RapidRatings directly with these questions
2. We will take the time to fully answer your Target’s questions and ensure that they understand the objective of this program, the broad strokes of our ratings methodology, and the steps we have taken to ensure the confidentiality of the data we receive

2. Target is resistant to sharing financial information: 

1. Occasionally, our Network Outreach team encounters resistance from suppliers, for which our Solicitors are trained
2. Companies may cite bank reference letters or their longstanding business relationships with your company as appropriate substitutes for participation
3. In these instances, please refer them back to us, reiterate the importance of this comprehensive risk management program, and assure them that their company is not being singled out for scrutiny

3. Target wants to know which entity financials to submit: 

1. This will be determined in part by which entities of a Target you actually work with but we generally recommend the rating of a direct parent organization as a reliable proxy for the rating of a subsidiary
2. In most cases, our clients are comfortable relying on these parent ratings to make inferences about the risk of any direct subsidiaries
3. Even when an explicit guarantee is not present, there is often implicit support from a parent organization for reasons of reputation or business continuity
4. However, we can provide a rating for a subsidiary as long as it regularly produces, and is willing to disclose, standalone financial statements with the level of detail that we need