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Commercial Banking Update
February 10, 2010
By: Rick Gardner
As you know well, 2009 proved to be a very challenging economic year for businesses in Alabama. Although the 2010 forecast appears to be better, there will still be challenges and hurdles to overcome. I am often asked what a business should expect from their bank to better their business’s chance of success. Whether it’s your own business or your client’s business, there are two expectations that every business should have regardless of the economic environment. The first deals with communications and the second deals with a challenge to think differently regarding reducing costs and improving productivity via financial products and services.
First, expect an open, two-way communications channel between your business and your banker. The simplest communications can begin with a request from your banker for updated financials or additional tax information. While this request is important in keeping your banker up to date on financial performance, it may not engender two-way communications that offer you any insights or ideas for improvement. Even more valuable communications are those that occur when your banker is listening as you explain your current situation. When this occurs then your banker becomes a real partner in your growth and should be proactively presenting solutions to your business problems. Communication can come in several forms, but the most successful companies have a two-way, ongoing dialog with their bankers. Such dialog not only creates a stronger relationship, but it allows the banker to better understand your business and to assist you in managing those troubling situations that develop from time to time.
Your banker has the responsibility to keep that dialog open and robust. Your banker also has the responsibility to be responsive to any request you may have and to get an answer back to you in a quick and concise manner. Additionally, it is their responsibility to keep you informed of the bank’s policies and guidelines, and to give you plenty of notice should policies change, explaining to you the rationale that has created that change. With this type of proactive relationship, both the business and the banker can avoid “surprises” that are seldom in anyone’s best interest. Your expectation should be that you have a banker who is consistent in presenting you with relationship value-added ideas rather than ultimatums.
The second expectation deals with how we view change and think differently about problem solving for your business. The solution sets that your banker can now offer are changing on what seems to be almost a daily basis. It is your banker’s responsibility to make you aware of any new product or service that they can now offer and to communicate the benefits it may deliver for your business. I was recently reading in the American Banker that today's business leaders are looking for a commercial banker who proactively shares ideas that can help them meet the growing demands of their clientele and achieve their business objectives. We find that to be true. That’s why we recommend that you expect commercial bankers to use a joint call strategy, introducing a team of bank specialists to effectively explore and meet complex business and personal needs, introduce a broad array of products and services, design comprehensive financial solutions and present compelling, multi-faceted recommendations.
We consistently communicate to our bankers that it is not our customers’ responsibility to investigate what we can do for them. That is our job and it is our job to get the right people involved to make sure we can communicate, educate and originate the products and services that will help our customers to be successful. As an example, consider Remote Deposit Capture. A few years ago, the only way you could deposit checks was by going to the bank or using a Lock Box. Today, businesses can utilize Remote Deposit Capture to deposit checks at their places of business using new, modestly priced technology. No more trips to the bank or lost productivity by having to send someone to the bank every day just to deposit checks. You can deposit them from your desk, ensuring a steady cash flow without the daily bank visits. There are many more examples such as this one and new solutions being introduced every day.
By making the time available to learn what your bank can offer when your banker contacts you and by being forthright about the needs of your business, together you can often uncover opportunities to save your business precious time or money. If you find yourself in a situation where you do not enjoy such a relationship with your banker, then I would recommend that you re-evaluate your current banking relationship and consider starting a relationship with a bank that will value your business.
Author: Rick D. Gardner