How To Turn A Decline Into A Future Referral!

I’ve declined at lot of prospects in my banking career! At first, I found the process cumbersome because of the regulatory procedures…the forms that needed to be completed and the proper disclosures, etc. But then I realized that I could still get referrals out of the prospects I had to decline! By the time you determine that you have to decline a prospect, you’ve already invested a good deal of time into the opportunity. You spent time marketing, you spent time collecting the package, and you spent some time pre-flighting the deal! If you have to decline a prospect, you might as well try to get something out of all the work done up to that point! How do you turn a decline into a future referral!

The process is really simple! It goes like this: “I can’t help you but I know someone who might be able to!” Don’t just say no to the prospect! Say no and offer up an alternative. This will transform you from the villain to the hero! The assumption I am making is that you have built up your network.  Your network should include other business bankers, loan brokers and non-traditional lenders. There are smaller banks, credit unions and alternative lenders (not talking about subprime lenders) that can do deals that you are going to decline! You can refer a declined prospect to a more aggressive lender in your network. If you have set the right expectations with the lender to whom you are referring the deal, you can expect to get a referral back at some point in the future.  But this is not the end of the story!  If you offer up an alternative solution, you will become the hero in the eyes of the prospect you declined. Every business owner has an accountant. By becoming the hero, you earn the right to get a referral to the prospect’s accountant. You can pitch how you helped the prospect secure the financing needed and make a case to get referrals from the accountant. If it is a real estate deal, you can reach out to the real estate broker as well! You can also follow up with the prospect a year later and determine if they are now bankable! They will remember you because you offered up an alternative solution to their problem! The average biz banker would have just said no and goodbye!

Here is a quick nugget of information to keep in your back pocket when you have to decline a SBA loan. There are alternative lenders called Small Business Lending Companies (SBLCs) that will likely approve most SBA deals you decline.  They can also offer up to 100% financing! Yes, 100% financing on real estate acquisition, partner buyouts, etc. If you want more info on SBLCs, you can drop me a quick email at [email protected] or message me on LinkedIn.

Bizpetrol has information, knowledge and tools that will help you become a Business Banking Rockstar!  You can start elevating your business credit skills using the free Commercial Lending Toolkit at www.bizpetrol.com. You can see all the Business Banking News articles (like this one) at www.bizpetrol.com/blog. You can access a series of how-to business banker guides https://www.bizpetrol.com/Downloads-Free.

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