Bankers wear capes, too! How funding superheroes work together
Alternative and traditional funding solutions unite to make the perfect financing team — working together to help clients at the bank and beyond!
Want to provide the ultimate level of customer service to your customers and potentials? It’s time to dust off your cape and join forces — Avengers style.
The Avengers all had similar goals, but very different approaches, to saving the day. Yet, when they united for a common goal (like preventing a supervillain from world domination), they were unstoppable.
The same goes for banks and alternative funding partners. Together, these forces are able to provide powerful funding solutions for customers of all types.
If you are a banker who specializes in helping businesses secure financing, then you know the incredible importance of creating and maintaining strong customer relationships. However, your meticulously cultivated relationship could be in jeopardy if your customer doesn’t qualify for a traditional loan. By working with an alternative funding partner, you can stop saying no and start saying yes!
Time to save the day
When a customer (or potential customer) comes to you for help, reassure them that you’ll do everything in your power to accommodate their needs. They came to you looking for a solution to their problem and although your bank may not be able to help, you can always offer them alternative lending options, working with a partner who understands the role you each play.
Keep villains at bay
If you aren’t familiar with all the options available to your customer, you leave them vulnerable to potential evil-doers. Not all ‘lenders’ are created equal. There are some who might entice business owners with promises of low rates and false credibility — but your client may not realize there are caveats including contractual constraints and hidden costs.
Your reputation is on the line, so it’s crucial to feel confident with the referral partners your work alongside. Get to know their solutions and processes so that you can develop a high level of trust in advance.
Want an easy resource to explain invoice factoring to your client? Download this eBook and feel free to share. Invoice Factoring Guide.
Put competition aside for the greater good
It’s easy to think that bankers and alternative lenders are competitors (after all, both provide funding to businesses in need). However, as with superheroes, both want the best for their clients — and to ultimately satisfy their needs to grow their business.
As a banker, having a trusted preferred alternative lending partner can greatly alleviate the stresses of not being able to traditionally accommodate a client. Often, clients don’t know which solutions best suit their business, so they’ll trust you to guide them. By leaning on the expertise of a lending partner who can, in turn, give you accurate advice quickly, it can help to secure prospects and retain clients.
Outline a bridging program – Avengers style
Every superhero has their strengths and weaknesses, but when they band together, they become an unstoppable force. Creating a program that bridges the gap can also help you to gain higher market shares and enhance your bank’s overall image.
In the case that a prospect is desirable, but their financial status or length of time in business disqualifies them for traditional lending, creating a bridging program can go a long way to securing them as a future customer.
Your alternative funding partner can also assist the bank in picking up the deposits and some of the ancillary services to start working with the client. As they become qualified for bank financing, they could transition into traditional commercial lending.
In the instance of a current customer, they might be maximized on their line of credit. Alternative lenders can step in to fill the gap for as long as the client needs it. The lender can extract themselves when you say they can now be accommodated with traditional lending.
Alternative and traditional funding solutions unite
Teaming up with those who have your client’s interest at heart, provides you with more resources to save the day.
Depending on the industry, or the economic landscape, there may be a slower ramp-up to when a client is ready for traditional banking. But now, not only have you provided your clients with reassurance and a trusted ready solution for the present, but you have also created a roadmap for their future business growth, getting them where they need to be for traditional banking.
Do you have a client that hasn’t met all the criteria for lending? Send them this quick guide so they know what steps to take next.
Now if that’s not a hero, who knows what is?
With the Liquid Capital Bank Alliance Program, we help banks grow their market share and strengthen client relationships. Learn more about how this exclusive program can work for you and your customers here.
About Liquid Capital
At Liquid Capital, we understand what it takes for small, medium, and emerging mid-market businesses to succeed – because we’re business people ourselves. Our company is built on a network of locally owned and operated Principal Offices, so whenever you’re talking to Liquid Capital you’re talking directly to your funding source and a fellow business person.
