Thanks to its brand new Pre-Decision Process, the Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) will be able to claim a near-100% VetBiz verification rate.
I chose the word “claim” deliberately. The 100% verification rate isn’t real. It’s the equivalent of an attorney winning her first court case and boasting to prospective clients that she has won 100% of her court cases. (We attorneys can get in huge trouble for that, by the way). That isn’t necessarily what the CVE will do, but it is important it frames its new verification rates in a way that isn’t misleading.
Here’s how the VetBiz Pre-Decision Process works. When the CVE evaluates a VetBiz application and determines a business is not eligible for the VetBiz Program, it sends the business owner an email notification. This email notification informs the business owner of the evaluation “findings” which prohibit the applicant’s inclusion in the Vetbiz Vendor Information Pages (VIP). It provides two choices: accept a denial letter, or notify the CVE of the intent to withdraw the applicant company from the process within 48 hours. If the applicant chooses the latter option, the business owner can later go in his VetBiz portal and edit any documents found problematic in the findings and resubmit.
Unless the email goes to a spam box, or the veteran business owner is asleep at the wheel, the applicant will withdraw. This is because there is absolutely no incentive for choosing the option of a denial letter. Accordingly, what would otherwise be a denial will not be counted in the VetBiz statistics reporting the percentage of denied applications.
Interestingly enough, information about the Pre-Decision process is not yet included on the VetBiz website. (I am aware of the process due to my status as a VetBiz verification counselor and from speaking to veteran business owners who have recently run the VetBiz gauntlet). I’m curious to see what information the CVE will provide in the near future – namely, when the process was implemented and how withdrawals will be counted in verification rates.
According to the Average Verification Processing Time table on the VetBiz website, the denial rate is a mere 7%. Just a month ago, it was listed at 30%. Given this drastic change, it appears that this reflects the implementation of the Pre-Decision process. The result is a dramatic skewing of verification rates. Any veteran business owner considering verification will look at the table and think the process is a cakewalk, which isn’t true.
I’m not trying to get down on the CVE here. All veteran business owners who would otherwise receive a denial letter benefit from the new Pre-Decision Process. If an applicant company corrects the issues with its application in an expedient manner and resubmits its application, verification will likely take a much shorter period of time than if the applicant filed a request for reconsideration. At the same time, however, when veteran business owners apply to VetBiz, they should know what they’re getting into it. A claimed 7% denial rate doesn’t do that.
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