Give The Banker A Reason To Ask For More

Ty Kiisel, Contributor - via Forbes.com

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Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.”

Of course the knowledge you posses is what powers your business and helps you successfully compete in the marketplace, but the knowledge you share with your banker has the potential to help you build a strong relationship and a great partnership.

Community bankers like to talk about how the relationships they make with the small business owners in the community is what sets them apart from the big regional and national banks in their area. They use the same argument regarding online lenders. My BS-O-Meter goes crazy every time I hear them pull that out as an argument because local bankers at large national banks are interested in building relationships, and just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s not a real relationship either.

In fact, a few years back, some partners and I had a great relationship with our banker. He happened to be part of large national bank, but we couldn’t have asked for more personal attention than he gave us. I don’t think we ever met him at his office; all of our meetings took place at our place of business. In fact, I don’t think I was ever in his office.

I don’t know how it happened, but he wound up doing business with a number of our customers over the years so when we needed a banker, it just made sense to work with someone who knew the industry. He often stopped by just to say hello and see how we were doing. We came to trust him and shared where we were seeing success and where we were facing challenges. Over the years he became a valuable partner. I have since come to appreciate how rare that can be, and since that time, I don’t underestimate the value of that type of relationship.

Last week I wrote about what one bank, Holladay Bank & Trust, was doing to help the small business owners in their community. I’m a big believer in the value of community bankers that do more than talk about how they build relationships—they actually do stuff to build relationships. But a healthy relationship with your banker isn’t the sole responsibility of him or her. Like any relationship, both parties have to contribute. If you have a bad relationship with your banker you need to take some responsibility for it.

 READ MORE: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tykiisel/2013/09/17/give-them-reasons-to-ask-for-more/