Small business retail advice: 7 tips for keeping your bank or lender on your side

Banks, and small business lenders, are vitally important for any retail business from day to day trading through to long term funding. A healthy relationship with your bank or lender will be vitally important to keeping the retail business healthy.

Maintaining a good banking relationship can be a challenge for retailers. It takes attention to detail and hard work. Retailers can be often sidetracked in their business days and not remember to take of the banking relationship.

Here are 7 tips which can lead to a better banking / lender relationship and thereby provide the business with protection against damage to the relationship.

1. Be on time, every time. With trading figures, annual accounts and any other regular reports that you bank requires you to provide. Being on time will win a tick from them and ensure that you are not on their businesses to watch and be concerned about radar.
2. Send them your newsletter. If you have a customer newsletter, put your bank manager on the list. Treat them like a customer and through this help drive a better connection between their business and yours. Newsletters go on your file and give local branch employees something to show off if they are talking to more senior people in the bank about businesses they like.
3. Ask for regular meetings. You set the agenda for briefing sessions where you let the bank know how business is going and how you are leveraging your relationship with them. Even informal meetings are reflected in internal banking reports and these can strengthen your position with the bank.
4. Recommend the bank. If the bank is serving you well and you are happy, recommend them to others. Be honest in your recommendation, let your friends know why you like this bank and what they have done for you. Let the bank know when you do this as it helps them see you and your business in a broader light.
5. Invite bank employees in. If you are holding a sales or some other event, invite bank employees to participate. They could be good customers. They will also appreciate seeing the business first hand.
6. Be regular. Banks appreciate regularity – with deposits and with payments.  Try and maintain a regular pattern in your business transactions.
7. Write, update and follow a business plan. This should be point #1.  A well thought out and up to date business plan demonstrates how serious you are about your business.  Having this for bank review meetings will encourage them to treat you more seriously than retail businesses without a plan.

Treat the banking relationship as personal and one which needs to be nurtured each week. The better your communication the better the relationship. Be sure to set time aside for this in your work schedule and to include the bank wherever possible and practical.

The business outcome is flexibility when you need it and access for free advice at times of important business decisions.

Good banks appreciate good relationships with their retailer customers. You will find that they invest more time in businesses which invest time in them.

Here at Tower Systems while we are a POS software company, our advice and help for local small business retailers often reaches beyond what is traditional.