Tweet

Selling Yourself & Your Ideas to Banks - Part 2 - Your Presentation

Guest post by: Barbara Garro

Article Overview: In Part 1, you received an overview of the mental mindset necessary to present yourself in the most attractive manner to bank loan officers, negotiating pointers from Roger Dawson, and some of the basic mechanics of a business loan from the bank's viewpoint. In Part 2, you get from Somers White a comprehensive walk-through to help you make a successful presentation to prospective loan targets.

Selling Yourself & Your Ideas to Banks - Part 2 - Your Presentation

A weighty factor in getting bankers to say yes is information presentation. The presentation must show an understanding of how bankers think. Somers White says, In my opinion, the cut is made in the first 90 seconds.

Somers White has been called the hope of the hopeless borrower. What he does for clients is polish their presentation skills. If you have 1,000 people with the same risk, I would be able to get my client the loan when the other 999 would get turned down, says White.

Here are some ways to move yourself through challenges to success:

1. Turn a no into a yes
2. Increase your ability to borrow more money and/or increase your line of credit
3. Negotiate extended terms and/or a lower interest rate
4. Eliminate personal guarantees

One problem, says White, is that often small business owners don't know how to access the system. They feel they are up against a stone wall when they go into this place that may be a cross between a Grecian temple and a washroom. Many small businesses, especially, do things that make it hard for the loan officer to okay their loans. Often they see their business problems as banking problems, for example.

Small business owners have to understand they are the deciding factor about whether they get their money or not. Yet, they may never be told the real reason they were turned down. There is no profit in a bank telling you bad news, like you have poor management. The bank doesn't want to make an enemy.

First paint a clear picture to the loan officer in an efficient, organized manner--

• How much do you want?
• For how long do you want it?
• What are you going to do with the money?
• How are you going to pay it back?
• How are you going to pay it back if something goes wrong? (Think collateral and personal guarantees no borrower likes.)

Here are White's Seven C's of Bank Credit--

1. Character - Maybe 50% weight may be given to this, but if you tell somebody you have good character, they won't believe you. You have to show your strength of character by inference, not by being a blowhard.
2. Capacity to Earn Money - refers to your Profit & Loss Statement
3. Capital - refers to your Balance Sheet
4. Cash Flow - Most people talk in terms of earning. They should talk in terms of cash. earnings plus depreciation equals cash flow.
5. Conditions - What are the economic conditions nationally? What are the conditions locally? Can you put a positive spin on the conditions of your industry in your location/s?
6. Current Management - How are you doing today? As soon as you get your financial statements done, that's when you go to the bank, when they are fresh. Old information doesn't create the same confidence as fresh information.
7. Collateral - You can never give the bank enough collateral. If you get into a collateral battle, you always lose. Male bankers, says White, are people who wear both a belt and suspenders. They want to feel secure. Here's how White suggests you handle it when a bank asks you for more collateral. Ask the banker, If it's a bad loan, and I increase the collateral ten times, does it make it a good loan? The answer is no, because no banker ever made a loan planning to foreclose. So the question brings bankers back to reality and reminds them it is not the collateral that makes a good loan.

Here are White's Two Keys in Persuading Bankers--

1. Play Down Negatives Before Bankers Bring Them Up - White says, Realize you don't get the loan because you had 20 positives, but rather that you were able to answer two negatives. People think they are going to hide an elephant in a phone book, instead of looking at their financial strengths and weaknesses as a banker would. This way, when the loan committee brings up the negatives you have armed your loan officer to make your loan look good in the final test.
2. Put Your Loan Application in Writing - White says have all your information neatly typed up in a nice folder, including your explanations of the negatives. When the banker starts looking at your financial statements, White says, Put your negatives on the table. Say, for example, If I were in your spot, I would want to know why my inventory is so high. Say and spell everything out in writing so everyone who needs to know has it straight from you.

Practice if you want to present well. Think about how much practice you get negotiating bank loans. Even if you have borrowed before from a bank, White gives the analogy that the loan officer has probably negotiated 200-1,000 loans in the interim. He says that's why you rarely, if ever, hear cocktail talk about how somebody bested the bank. White suggests you practice your presentation several times before you actually sit down with the bank.

White's final advice is to leave nothing to chance. An ideal scenario (if you can pull it off) is to meet at a choice restaurant. Arrange in advance for a table so you can sit with your back to the wall and pay in advance. White says, this way you have the banker's complete attention and maybe a feeling of indebtedness for the lunch. If you must meet at the bank, go into the bank the day before and talk around until you feel comfortable there. On the day of your appointment, White suggests you pump yourself up by playing marching music. And always arrive 15-30 minutes early, so you have a chance to relax.

After you leave the bank, write yourself a memo that covers all the important points discussed. Then, send a copy to the banker with a note White says should read, I have prepared this memo for my files. I thought yiou might like to have a copy. I will assume everything is okay if I do not hear from you.

Cash is the lifeblood of your business. Get the money you want by creating a positive image in the first 90 seconds and retaining it with a polished, planned presentation. Sure, it's a lot of work to move banks to yes decisions. Cash is the lifeblood of banks, too. Banks only want to lend to bankable borrowers. Present yourself as one.

Related Articles
  Selling to a Group – Make a Dry Run
  SMEs - SMEs and South African banks
  Banks Cant Sell
  SME's - a link between funding and a compliance model
  Professional Presentation Skills
  Nine Ways To Jazz Up Your Sales Presentations
  Dealing With the “S” Word
  Benefits to Delivering a Good Customer Experience - Plat5 Consultancy Pvt Ltd
  Can You Really Quit Your Job?
  9.3.4 Commercial banks: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  The "Cold Call Presentations" Myth
  Selling Strategies for the Scared
  Discover the 8 Secrets to Successful Presentations
  Consultative Selling
  Presenting Without the Fear
  Presentation Success: The First Question You Must Ask
  Presentations - Easy as 1 - 2 - 3
  Fine Tuning Your Presentation Skills
  4. Penetration Selling -- Penetrating Your Prospect's World
  Direct Sales Party Presentation Training

Article Tags: bank loans, business loans, Getting the Money You Want, negotiating with banks, Presentation Skills, Roger Dawson, Somers White



Related Forum Posts
Re: Interested in Pinterest? - This means pinterest is here to stay and this is what ideas is all about. Ideas make the world go round. Ideas is the fuel of this economy.
Re: Essential Leadership skills - Vision Values Mission Strategic Thinking Decision Making Communication Team Bonding People Development Coaching / Mentoring / Guiding / Grooming Presentation Thanks Robert
Patent information - I'm also interested in Part 2. Thanks.
Re: A Post About Posts - Great to be here with you Ideas
Re: Internet Users Hbk http://www.internetscamsanonymous.com - Thanks for the thought Ideas


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Substance Abusing Employee

The Biggest Domain Name Myth

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.