Losing Your Lender

When a preferred loan officer moves on, small-business owners should treat it as an opportunity to step back and re-evaluate their loan relationships.

Most small business owners, at least once in their professional careers, find themselves in a situation when their lender -- a lending officer, loan officer, or account officer -- leaves the bank. If this hasn't happened to you yet, chances are it will. For businesses just starting out, your relationship may be too small for a lending institution to provide a dedicated lender. But as your business and loan relationship grows, you will eventually work with a "personal" lender and then fully appreciate the benefits of having one.

While losing that relationship can be disrupting, it may also garner new opportunities, though you may not always recognize what they are. More importantly, you must understand the risks and benefits it can bring.

A lender's decision to leave frequently results in a phone call to some of his or her better and more profitable customers. While poaching customer lists of former employers is considered to be unethical (if not illegal) by some and officially frowned upon, it is a reality of life and happens quite often. The loss of a lending officer for one organization means potential opportunity for the other in bringing in new customers through the newly hired lender.

by : Dima Berdiev