You need to fully understand your client's business before you can help

I love my banker.

Whenever banking enters the conversation, I give a testimonial to the fine human being that he is and to the caliber of service I receive from him.

In a recent conversation with a group of bankers, one member asked me what she would need to do to bring my business to her bank. Flippantly, I remarked she would need to hire my current banker to her team. But the real answer is, "I don't know."

Asking prospective clients what you would need to do to win their business is a difficult question for clients to answer. It is a particularly difficult to answer for clients who are happy with their current vendors.

I'm not an expert in banking, so truthfully, I have no idea if the banker who posed the question can offer something that will help me.

I don't know if there are services her bank can provide that will improve my business or my life. I only know I'm happy with how things are working right now, so I'm not actively looking for other options.

Identify areas of need

The banker's job is to identify a potential area of need where he or she can provide a service or solution. To do this, they must thoroughly understand our business.

• It's their job to learn all she can about the way we use our current banking relationship.

• It's their job to learn all they can about the way money is used in our business.

• It's their job to understand our relationship with money — how well we manage our finances, and what our financial goals are. But bankers shouldn't stop there.

Once they have a full understanding of our financial situation they then need to understand every other facet of our operation.

Clear picture needed

With a clear picture of who we are, what we do, whom we serve, how our business functions, the roles of personnel employed, bankers will be able to analyze all they have learned and identify any opportunities to help us improve our business. Then a really meaningful conversation can take place - one that could lead to a change of banker!

When you ask a prospective client what you need to do to win their business - unless they are very well informed about what you do - they cannot answer the question and the conversation travels down one of two predictable paths:

Path A is a pricing negotiation, because almost all clients will be interested in discussing a lower price.

Path B is a "no thank you," because blissfully happy clients don't change vendors without powerful motivation.

Jacqui Sakowski is president of Sakowski Consulting, a Middleton-based sales coaching, training and consulting company.