Twenty years ago, if a business needed
a line of credit to expand or even get
started, it went to the nearest commercial bank and applied for a loan. In general, the bank was involved in the process
until the loan was either granted or denied.
Today, commercial banks are more
involved in the entire process of providing
funding for businesses.
“Our group is designed to let business
owners know that they have someone they
can call on who knows what they do and
understands their business,” says Michelle
Gupton, vice president senior business
banking relationship manager for Wells
Fargo Bank. “They need to know that the
bank isn’t just trying to push products and
services but also trying to find a way to tailor a program that will fit the company.”
Smart Business talked to Gupton about
the importance of finding the right commercial bank.
What is relationship banking?
We look for external relationships that
complement our internal partnerships.
Internal partners would be the treasury
management team, the wealth management team, our branches and our private
client service mortgage group. The teams
are built around the personal needs of the
client. I have established sources and a rapport with each internal partner so that I
know what service or product they are
able to provide.
The key to developing external relationships is to be active in the community. I
have been successful at developing relationships with CPAs, real estate attorneys,
title companies and commercial real estate
brokers by being involved with different
community activities as well as joining different organizations. The same philosophy
applies to establishing internal partners
and nurturing external relationships. It is
important for you to know what value each
party can bring to your client. It gets back
to ‘knowing your customer’ and ‘knowing your partners’ so that you can make the
right fit. For example, I had a client who
had leased his office space for many years,
then decided to look for a facility that he
could purchase. However, he did not have
the time to take away from his business to
look for the property, so I introduced him
to a commercial broker, who did all the
work. The customer was extremely happy
to be investing in a property he owned versus renting, and all the negotiations were
handled by the broker. It was a perfect fit
for all. Developing strong relationships outside of the internal partnerships ensures a
steady stream of new business, and the
best compliment is a referral.
How has a commercial bank’s role changed
in the last 20 years?
It’s changed a lot — just for the fact that
with commercial banking today, we have
so many more products and services that
we can offer to our clients. The industry as
a whole has moved from being a transaction bank to a relationship bank in order to
encourage competition amongst all of the
banks. It has changed what is required by the banks to stay competitive. We now
offer everything from lending money to
depositing money to investments, insurance products and hedging fuel prices and
offering 401(k) packages for different companies.
Does the amount of money available for
investment determine a client’s eligibility?
In our private client service group there
are individuals that focus on clients that
have less than $1 million in net liquid
assets. Another group focuses on clients
with more than $1 million in liquid assets.
Still another may focus on individuals with
$50,000 in liquid assets. Each business
owner may want to open a line of credit or
invest his or her personal assets, but the
owner’s needs and resources are all different and each requires its own partnership
group.
It’s important to uncover the needs of a
client and put him or her with the right
partner. Because if I put clients in the
wrong groups, it gives them the wrong perception of what we can do for them as their
commercial bank. If we put the client in the
wrong group, it might make the client with
$50,000 believe he or she is not as valuable
as the one with more than $1 million in liquid assets. And that is simply not true. Our
philosophy is if we already have the client’s
business account, personal account,
maybe a home or car loan and some investments and the client is happy with our service, that customer is more likely to stay
with us when it comes time for other commercial banking needs. Clients want a
commercial banker who will take the time
to get to know their business.
MICHELLE GUPTON is vice president senior business banking
relationship manager for Wells Fargo Bank. Reach her at (713)
963-9556 or [email protected].