Building Lending Partnerships to Expand Engagement with Business Owners
About Us
Who We Are
SMB Lending Strategies is a multi-faceted consulting firm which works with our clients to identify and build highly effective business lending referral relationships to support strategic initiatives and enhance relationships with desirable customer segments, fueling revenue growth and building brand.
We work primarily with:
- Wealth Management Firms
- Financial Services Companies
- Banks & Non-Bank Lenders
- B2B Product/Service Providers
- Alternative/Specialty Lenders
Why Work With Us
While the opportunity is very significant, the intersection of business lending/strategic partnerships brings some interesting nuances that you just don't encounter in the standard sales and business development process.
As a driver that's been down this road many times before, we know what works in this space and perhaps of equal importance, what has historically proven to be a waste of resources.
Our expertise saves our clients time, money and helps them avoid the potential pitfalls of trying to stand up a business lending offering without the benefit of experience to guide them.
Our Approach
We focus on two, key factors as we begin to build the offering for our client: what they are looking to accomplish by adding business lending to their offering, and the likely borrowing needs of their specific clientele. We make the critical investment of time and effort to understand our client's industry, business model, distribution channel and existing capabilities.
With our client's business philosophy, available resources and prioritized initiatives always in mind, we work closely with our client's leadership team to create a detailed game plan that will help them achieve their goals for the relationship with as little expense, frustration and delay as possible. And then we work with our client to execute that game plan, making adjustments along the way to assure that the program delivers the desired result.
A note from our CEO
In the past 12 years, I have successfully identified, built and managed a wide variety of strategic business lending referral partnerships, including for the two largest, publicly traded, non-bank lenders in the SBA's 7(a) program.
I've grown these relationships, including with three of the largest wealth management firms in the world, from the ground-up to high-value, recurring streams of opportunity with some terrific and unexpected, added benefits for everyone involved. I've learned how to determine which relationships offer true opportunity and of equal importance, which are likely to be a waste of time and resources - as well as exactly what will be needed from both partners to maximize the potential of the relationship.
I am very passionate about the significant potential in these relationships. I'd love the opportunity to discuss your goals and your challenges, answer any questions you might have, and see if a business lending resource makes sense for your organization.
- Adam E. Epstein
Business Lending - Value Proposition (By Industry)
- Financial Services/Wealth Management
- Satisfy/retain clients, attract new relationships and grow AUM, NNM and deposits with no balance sheet risk
- Create deeper relationships to open the door to offer more products and services
- Non-Bank Lenders
- Strategic relationships that offer a potential flow of high-value opportunities
- Deriving more business from existing relationships
- Banks
- Satisfy more customers, retain/grow deposits and attract new banking relationships and cash management opportunities without making loans outside of credit policy
- B2B Businesses
- Create stickiness and derive incremental revenue from the client base you've spent marketing dollars to acquire
Financial Services/Wealth Management
The Opportunity
A business lending offering provides financial institutions, independent advisory firms (RIAs), broker-dealers and financial services companies the opportunity to meet key client needs, attract new relationships, fend off competitors and build their reputation and brand.
While incremental revenue, retained relationships and new business opportunities are great measures of success, we have found that the best relationships are ones where the offering enables the strategic partner to unlock a client segment that is crucial to the growth and success of its own, core business.
We have witnessed first-hand how a business lending offering can open the door to the highly desirable business owner client, for lending, wealth management, investment, cash management, insurance and benefits, business services and other related services that an institution offers and might want to provide.
Our Specialized Program
While much of the lending world is fixated on a low touch "fintech" model that adds speed and reduces lender expenses, we focus on building an offering that meshes the benefits of emerging technology with a highly consultative approach that delivers exceptional client experience, enhancing the Advisor/Client relationship at every opportunity.
While most business lenders talk a good game, many are just not prepared to deliver the level of customer care that a Financial Advisor needs to help them expand their relationship with the high net worth and emerging affluent client.
We help our clients choose one or more lenders that we know will meet the specific needs of their desired clientele and set service standards to assure that the lender consistently delivers the customer experience required to have the partnership meet its goals and objectives.
Scope of Services
We have built highly successful business lending referral relationships for Broker-Dealers, Independent Financial Advisors (RIAs) and Financial Services firms. The services we provide include the following:
- Identify partners that fit a client's specific business model and clientele
- Craft an RFP that flushes out key issues
- Guide the due diligence and contract process
- Create a detailed game plan for the partnership
- Set partnership goals/performance standards
- Create product education and compliant marketing
- Engage key resources to create awareness
- Establish useful reporting & metrics
Strategic Partnerships - Non-Bank Lenders
The Opportunity
High-value strategic relationships offer non-bank lenders a unique opportunity to materially impact sales, revenue and profit margins. Rather than growing volume by chasing opportunities on a one-off, jump ball basis, a well-chosen, well-built relationship offers the ability to enjoy a consistent flow of higher quality opportunities with improved economics - a win-win outcome for both parties in the relationship.
Whether these partnerships take the form of straight loan referral or a more detailed lender service provider relationship, we can help a non-bank lender find the right partners and set up the relationship for success.
Scope of Services
Our overall game plan for building successful strategic lending referral partnerships for non-bank lenders includes the following:
- Identifying worthwhile partners from
- The lender's existing relationships
- The universe of potential relationships that serve business owners
- Creating and delivering tailored presentations to court potential partners
- Managing due diligence and contract process
- Creating a customized game plan for the relationship
- Writing and delivering partner product education
- Creating targeted marketing and messaging
- Spreading partner awareness
- Managing referral intake
- Actively participating in customer service
- Tweaking processes to match partner needs
- Establishing needed metrics/reporting
Strategic Partnerships - Banks
The Opportunity
For banks and other financial institutions, whether they currently lend to businesses or not, a relationship with one or more strategic lending partners can help address lending opportunities outside of the lender's comfort zone, enabling them to satisfy customers, attract new relationships and enjoy cash management opportunities without incurring expense or taking on undesirable credit risk.
These relationships can be structured in a variety of ways:
- On a simple referral basis, where opportunities that do not fit the bank's current lending criteria are simply passed to a strategic partner for consideration and execution
- On a lender service provider basis, where opportunities are passed to a lending partner for processing and funding, but at credit approval, on a loan-by-loan basis, the bank is offered an opportunity to fund the fully underwritten loan using its own balance sheet
- On a participation basis, where post funding, the bank may be offered an opportunity to purchase a certificated participation in all or part of the closed loan
Scope of Services
Our overall game plan for building successful strategic lending referral partnerships for banks and other lenders includes the following:
- Presenting the potential of the offering to senior management
- Identifying and vetting appropriate partners
- Managing due diligence and contract process
- Creating a customized game plan for the relationship
- Writing and delivering product education
- Creating compliant marketing and messaging
- Spreading partner awareness
- Managing referral intake
- Prescreening opportunities
- Adjusting processes to match partner needs
- Metrics/Reporting
Additional Services - Sales Support
Strategies and solutions to help sales management and BDOs attract more opportunities and close more business
We believe that the sales function in many organizations does not reach desired goals because salespersons, from management to BDOs, are asked to deliver a skillset that requires extremely diverse talents that may not be natural in one person. While a great sales manager may have the technical and organizational skills to lead a team effectively, that does not necessarily mean that they have the tools to develop a marketing strategy to grow the business, or to mentor team members to execute on that strategy. And likewise, BDOs that can structure a deal effectively and move it through the underwriting process, might just not know where to find, court, capture and manage productive referral relationships.
We have had significant experience and success in supporting the sales function, filling in capability gaps and offering the opportunity to meet management's revenue expectations: Our support includes:
- Getting more business from existing relationships
- Helping identify potentially high value partners
- How to triage relationships
- Marketing, messaging and presentations
- Understanding value proposition
- Maintaining a CRM
- The importance of touches
- Industry affiliations and conference strategies
Additional Services - Marketing
Creating and maintaining awareness through effective marketing and persistent messaging
In the business lending space, effective marketing sits at the crossroad of the right message, the right audience and the right time, based on current market conditions. You can have the best product in the world, but if your core customer is not aware that it exists and how it can benefit them, well.......
In our experience, even the most capable marketing departments are challenged by the nuances of the business lending space. Understanding product detail, current market trends and value proposition for various audiences requires the involvement of a subject matter expert.
We have deep experience supporting the marketing function, including:
- Developing an overall strategy and targeted campaigns
- Creating effective product education
- Writing marketing and social media content
- The urgency of messaging "touches"
- Identifying and reaching a target audience
- Building brand
- Engaging internal subject matter expertise
- Knowing the changing pulse of the market
- Measuring campaign results
- Utilizing a CRM
About Our Principal
Adam E. Epstein, Esq.
With over 25 years of experience in lending and business advisory services, Adam most recently has served in an executive capacity for the two largest, publicly traded, non-bank lenders in the United States Small Business Administration’s Small Business (7a) Lending program.
Adam specializes in identifying, building and guiding all aspects of business lending referral relationships with banks, financial services/wealth management advisory firms, asset-based lenders and other high-value strategic partners that serve business owners, helping them satisfy and retain more of those customers and their deposits/assets, attract new relationships, unlock strategic client segments and enhance their brand. Successes include growing relationships from concept to annually recurring multi-million dollar revenue streams with two of the largest financial services firms in the world.
Additionally, based on extensive product, process, sales, marketing, talent management, legal and compliance experience, Adam has served as Executive Director – Strategy, working with C-Suite leadership to assess a wide variety of challenges and develop and implement responsive sales, marketing and process initiatives to improve customer experience, referral source satisfaction, workplace culture and revenue growth.
Prior to entering the business side of the lending space in 2012, Adam was a Partner in a NYC banking boutique law firm, serving as legal counsel and adviser to financial institutions, businesses, family offices, and high net worth individuals, specializing in business and commercial real estate finance.
Adam is a graduate of Tufts University and the Maurice A. Dean School of Law at Hofstra University and is a Member in Good Standing of the New York State Bar.