Truist Business Lifecycle Advisory Beyond transactions: The added benefits of Truist Business Lifecycle Advisory

If you’re used to thinking of commercial banking as transactional, it can take a bit of a mindset shift to speak with your relationship manager more often and more openly. Here’s what you can expect from your Truist relationship manager.

• Listen to you closely. We know your business is your passion, and the more you share about your needs and objectives, the better we’ll be able to serve you.
• Ask follow-up questions to gain clarification and to dig deeper into important areas.
• Share a bit about themselves, their purpose, and Truist’s culture.
• Ensure you always feel valued and respected, especially when sharing sensitive information or thorny challenges.
• Offer an honest assessment of your operations and goals—even if it’s not necessarily what you want to hear but is what you need to know.
• Supply several options for solutions—including ones outside our suite of products and services.
• Bring in partners from across the organization and beyond so you have the right team to help meet your needs.
• Provide advice to help you make decisions today that will keep you on track to meet your long-term goals.

This last point is the crux of Truist Business Lifecycle Advisory and one of the key factors that sets it apart from transactional approaches.

“Every company is different,” says Jodie Hughes, head of Commercial Banking at Truist. “But we also know that companies in the same lifecycle stage can face similar challenges. Our job is to take our knowledge of your industry and your spot in the business lifecycle, overlay it with your strategic objectives, and use that to come up with tailored solutions that will help you reach the next level.”

• Describe your entrepreneurial journey. How you got to where you are today can provide important context for your current and future goals.
• Spell out your long-term plans and your stretch goals (those that are higher effort and may be higher risk).
• Share information about yourself, including your business goals, your personal goals, and the values that matter the most to you in life.
• Open up about all business challenges and concerns, including those you may feel sensitive about.
• Introduce your team—at all levels—to the Truist team.
• Invite the Truist team to tour your facilities.
• Review their advice and insights and ask questions to arrive at a plan you feel positive about.
• View the relationship as a long-term, collaborative one.
• Embrace regular check-ins with your relationship manager.
• Feel free to reach out at any time for any reason.

Each stage of the business lifecycle comes with a unique set of challenges and opportunities that can benefit from a unique set of lifecycle-targeted solutions and insights. But even businesses in the same stage will have numerous differences. Taking a combined approach—uniting your knowledge of your business with your relationship manager’s expertise—can provide you with the most tailored and nuanced guidance.

Your relationship manager will ask questions to learn more about you and your business. You can improve communication, too, with these suggestions.

Old habit: Learning how to talk to your banker
New mindset: Letting your relationship manager learn how to talk to you

Working with some commercial banks can feel like going back to school. They load you up with glossaries and guidelines on how you should learn to communicate with their bankers. We take a different approach.

“We work to ensure that no client leaves a meeting with their Truist Business Lifecycle Advisory team without a full understanding of our role, the strategy we’re discussing, and how our relationship will evolve moving forward,” says Hughes. “We stay away from jargon and cliches and are transparent about our process. And we invite our clients to be just as forthcoming with any questions they might have.”

Old habit: Minimizing your business challenges
New mindset: Sharing information more freely

Worried that any negative information you share with your banker may impact the care, services, and terms you receive? With Truist, that’s not the case and having all the facts can enable us to provide more targeted, effective, and thorough advice.

Of course, share any positive changes as soon as possible, too. They may enable your Truist advisory team to renegotiate terms on a loan, free up working capital to accelerate growth, or build enterprise value in preparation for a business transition.

Old habit: Meeting only annually or when there’s a problem
New mindset: Connecting more often

Many experts recommend talking with your banker quarterly—at a minimum. But Truist Business Lifecycle Advisory works best if clients talk with us much more often. Here are a few times it’s especially important to connect:

• You experience an urgent issue (like fraud or a security breach).
• A particular topic or type of challenge is keeping you up at night.
• You’re weighing a big decision or new opportunity.
• You’re considering making a major change or transition.
• Market and rate fluctuations have impacted your bottom line.
• You’re considering buying or selling a significant asset.
• You’re looking to add to your team—or to pare it down.
• You’re looking to expand into a new region or line of business.
• You wonder what others are doing to solve specific challenges.
• You just want to check in because it’s been a while.

Old habit: Ignoring your business lifecycle
New mindset: Identifying what stage you’re in and what that means

The business lifecycle impacts every aspect of your company, and many financial and operational best practices differ depending on the stage you’re in.

Take your personal wealth, for example. Early on, you may have much of your personal wealth tied up in commercial equipment, real estate, and other company holdings. After that early stage, however, different strategies can be a better fit and can liberate working capital to protect your household finances and personal credit from business volatility.

If your personal wealth grows alongside the company’s revenue, you may need a wealth manager to help you invest your money wisely. And as your company becomes established, you may look toward creating a trust or another vehicle to preserve your legacy. Finally, if you decide to sell your business, you may benefit from considering how to manage the sudden influx of capital.

“Your and your company’s needs and goals are always evolving—whether that’s over the course of years or days,” says Hughes. “We keep the lines of communication open, so we’re prepared to offer proactive advice as your situation changes. Then, we can offer financial solutions that keep your overall strategy in focus.”