Page 107 - 25148.pdf

Five Greatest Ideas for
Managing Your Bank

Introduction

I was heavily involved with bank managers back in the eighties when a business
school hired me to run some marketing (i.e. selling) courses. In the end we agreed
that if I had succeeded in persuading most of them to smile at the customers rather
than spit at them I had done a reasonable job. Now I know things have changed and
banks are probably more customer-friendly now, but I guess my prejudice is well
set. In fact one of my current small-business customers finds their local bank manger
very useful, supportive and interested in their business and their success. Other
people I know are not so lucky. In case he is reading this, can I just say that our bank
manager at the moment is first rate?

Anyway, your relationship with your banker is important, so lets look at some
great ideas for building the lender of your dreams.

Idea 54 - Get the basics right

One of the contributors to this book went into a conversation with two business
people who were masters of their trade, but whose business sense made the visitor
reel. The situation was that they owed some £750,000 in an overdraft whose actual
limit was £700,000. They had their houses at risk as guarantees against the bank
lending, and they were, to say the least, worried.

Looking around at the end of February the entrepreneur discovered that no one
had sent out January's invoices. Not only that but there were amounts in debtors well
overdue. The explanation was that they were too busy trying to deliver service to a big
customer in a contract that was worth a lot of money, and eventually cash. But that