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Podcast Recap: 7 Secrets for Bankers To Become the Trusted Advisor for Small Businesses in 2020

Posted December 19, 2019 by Laura Stidham

Small business banking is being disrupted. Those cliché, predictable conversations that used to get a business banker in the door are slowly vanishing as bank clients begin to expect more out of their banker. For traditional banks and their relationship managers (RMs), this means they must find new ways to remain relevant to small- to...

Building SMB Client Relationships with Insight and Foresight

Posted October 31, 2019 by Susan Bell

Of course every business services firm that calls on small- to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) says they are a trusted advisor to their clients, but reality doesn’t always support that claim. I read a great article this week about how most firms that call on SMBs instead tend to provide “Random Acts of Consulting.” 

Helping Change How SMB Owners Think About Cash Flow

Posted October 25, 2019 by Bobby Martin
“If I had to run a company on three measures, those measures would be customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and cash flow.”—Jack Welch, Former CEO of General Electric

3 Motivations to Become a Better Value-Added Advisor

Posted October 18, 2019 by Bobby Martin

A value-added advisor is someone whose ideas and advice you respect enough to invest time and money into having them around. The business relationship is about more than just the product purchase itself. 

How to Help Small Businesses Compare Their Financials to Their Industry

Posted October 15, 2019 by Bobby Martin

“Are we keeping up with the Joneses?” Owners of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are always interested in how their competition is doing…and how they compare to them financially. Yes, it may be about ego to some degree, but it also tells a business owner how their company is faring financially. Are they middling, above average,...

Adding Industry Knowledge into Your Contact Strategy

Posted September 26, 2019 by Vertical IQ

When it comes to gaining trust with small to mid-sized business (SMB) owners, absence definitely does not make the heart grow fonder. In fact, it’s much more likely that if you’re out of sight, you’re also out of mind. Not a good situation if you want business owners to come to you when they have a need for your services.

Upgrade Your Prospect Presentations with These 3 Tips

Posted September 19, 2019 by Vertical IQ

You’re pulling together a presentation for a new small to mid-size business (SMB) prospect. You have checked it again and again to be sure your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed. Your high school English teacher would be so proud! But perfect grammar likely won’t be enough to convince a prospect that you are the right fit for their...

Which Industries Should I Target?

Posted September 12, 2019 by Bobby Martin

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was developed as the standard for use by the U.S. federal government’s statistical agencies, replacing the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in 1997. Industry-specific NAICS codes are assigned to each business in the country, classifying them for the collection and...

4 Ways to Help SMBs Manage Cash Flow

Posted September 06, 2019 by Vertical IQ

You may have heard the platitude, “Cash is the most important, yet least productive, asset a business has.” It is a bit cliché, but it is also true. Properly balancing the so-called “big three” of cash management—accounts receivable, accounts payable, and inventory—is crucial to the financial success of any business. 

The 3 Local Economic Indicators Every SMB Advisor Should Know

Posted August 29, 2019 by Vertical IQ

The economy is a hot topic lately, with pundits arguing over whether we are or aren’t heading into a recession. Whether you think an inverted yield curve is a recession bellwether or not, there’s no debate that there’s a lot to be learned by looking at economic numbers. But practically speaking, most small business success is dependent...

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