How Do I Stop Being Intimidated By My Banker?

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In This Episode

A phrase that can often strike fear in the hearts of even the bravest of business owners is, “Your banker is on the phone and would like to speak with you.”  Oh no, you think, what could she possibly want?  Does she know about my key employee who is threatening to leave?  Did that upset customer call her to complain?  Will she be pulling our line of credit?

Being the good business owner, you push through these fears and intimidation and pick up the phone to see how you can help your banker.  You’ve never been so relieved to hear a sales pitch as your banker fills you in on the latest greatest cash management tool she wants you to try out.  “Sure thing” you tell her, just relieved she isn’t asking any more probing questions.  You’ve got to keep your banker happy after all don’t you?  There’s got to be a better way!

One of the dirty secrets of small business is that most business owners are afraid of their bankers.  Better stated, most small business owners are afraid of saying the wrong thing to their banker.  And most of the bankers don’t realize how intimidating they can be.  In fact most of them are reaching out to you to help establish or continue to grow your relationship.  So how do you do it better?  How do you keep from being intimidated by your banker?

During the show today we addressed several ways to improve your relationship with your banker.  After all, your banker is your #1 advocate within your bank.  So we talked about ways you can help arm your banker with the information to go to battle for you with folks within the bank.  Whether that means getting you approved for that loan to help with your expansion or provide some short-term relief on debt payments if you’ve gotten a bit sideways or anything in between.  We even shared some stories about folks who have been to the workout group within the bank and lived to tell about it!  If you focus on preparing for these meetings and do lots of practice with your internal accountant and/or CPA you will be much less intimidated by your banker!

 

People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

Join Us Next Time

Join us next week when we chat about Leadership.  More specifically we will talk about How Do I Get Better As A Leader.

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