What Defines a Good Banking Relationship?
Law firms are attractive customers for banks; banks are valuable allies for law firm cash flow management. The key to developing such mutually beneficial business relationships is adequate preparation. Not every lawyer can properly represent every client, and not every bank is appropriate for every law firm. In picking a bank, understand the niches in which it specializes - high wealth individuals, large commercial accounts, small or mid-sized businesses. Get suggestions or recommendations from your accountant, local bar association and clients of the firm. Generally, your choice should depend on convenience and personal relationships
The lawyer/banker relationship must be open, candid and built on trust. Good bankers are creative people who will find a way to assist a good customer of the bank. Bankers can be more creative if they understand the lawyer's goals and business, which requires you to maintain an ongoing process of education with your banker. Don't just limit yourself to your loan officer or branch manager. Getting to know a senior manager - a vice president or even the president of the bank - will be your ally in the long run. Ensure that both the senior personnel and your regular contact understand your firm's business, marketing and receivables plans.
The longtime managing partner at an 80 lawyer firm told me, "We want a bank that knows our business and understands our problems as a professional service firm, and that doesn't pigeon-hole us along with manufacturers and retailers. Responsiveness is equally important. We look for bankers to have a sense of urgency in answering our requests, and to maintain ongoing working relationships through contact people we know and can rely on. Our current bank is not a global giant, but it has the resources to serve us - and the desire and commitment to do so." Similarly, the head of a small, thriving family law practice said, "I believe I get the personal service I need from my bank because my banker sees that I am a viable, thriving business. They know and have confidence in how we are managed, and can help with my business needs - whether it's financing our office facility, or covering occasional client check overdrafts."
It's a simple truth. If you have established an ongoing relationship with a bank so that it understands your law firm's business dynamics and is comfortable with your business sophistication, the foundation will be prepared for the bank to fully meet your needs.
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