Bank Manager coming to see you? Do you need to think about this? Oh yes…..
It’s true that some bank managers will undertake this visit with blinkers on and only look at your numbers. However we talent spot bankers and I have personally trained bank managers on how to undertake visits to business premises.
A good banker believes that a visit to your premises is critical to understanding your business. So what might they see and learn from?
Firstly – and perhaps most importantly – the real you! It is extraordinary how different you can be in your own environment compared to sitting in the bankers interview room.
But consider also that if he/she has their eyes open and antenna out – they can also form an impression, perhaps from:
- When they first pull into the car park – the type and state of cars there will give them a ‘quick first impression’ of you and the people you employ.
- The state of your building – not just the fabric and decoration but the signage, branding and image it portrays.
- How well they are treated when they enter. They will be able to tell whether they were expected or not and can learn a lot from the attitude of your staff in that first experience.
- How ‘friendly and organised’ is your reception area if you have one. Are there magazines about? Often they will reveal a personal interest of the owner (“I always bring my golfing/sailing magazines in when I’ve finished with them”). Are they up-to-date/tidy?
- Who else may have visited you recently? When ‘signing in’ to a commercial premises I always like to see who has been there before me. Funny how often you see that one of your competitors has also been there a day or so before your visit.
- Anything on the walls? Do you have all the right statutory notices up, have you won any awards or certifications (e.g. IIP).
- While waiting for you – listening to the staff. Are they gossiping, complaining about the management, recalling problems with the business or products etc (try listening like this when you next visit a business yourself – its scary!).
- How phone calls or discussions with customers are being dealt with – do these reveal good relationships or angry clients?
- How long you keep them waiting (it seems like some people like to do this with bank managers!)
- The state of your office or workspace – it says a lot about a business person
- How efficient your workplace appears. Note this is not about ‘tidiness’ (it may be important but it is productivity and efficiency that will be spotted by the talented).
- How prepared you are for the meeting
- Whether you can answer predictable questions
- Whether you know your competition (I personally used to grab the yellow pages and ask a business owner to tell me about their competitors advertising – try it – it can be very revealing)
- Whether you use a business plan
- If you monitor the key drivers of your business using some kind of ‘dashboard’.
- Whether you understand your accounts.
- How up-to-date you are with your figures and whether reports are available.
- Anything revealed about your leadership style (do you seem to have the respect of your staff and how do you treat them).
All this is mainly outside of the normal discussion you would have.
Worth doing a bit of an ‘audit’ on yourself if it is important to you.