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In response to a recent informal survey, bankers gave several reasons for meeting with their clients: tradition; because that is what the competition does; to entertain clients (golf, lunch, or a baseball game); to determine whether the client is still solvent and capable of paying off a loan (or the current month's banking services bill); and to provide another "call" against the banker's list of objectives (so that the banker's job is secure for at least another month). The most important reason bankers should meet with their clients--to review bank products and services as they relate to clients' business requirements--was not mentioned by those bankers surveyed.
The reasons the bankers gave are outdated and wasteful. Both those bankers surveyed and their clients should work at improving their relationships.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSULTATIVE RELATIONSHIPS
A consultative relationship between client and banker helps to ensure a mutual, long-term business commitment. Consultative selling requires the banker to ask probing questions in order to fully understand a client's products, services, markets, competition, regulatory constraints, staffing issues, and other business factors. This is...