During a capital raise a few years ago, one of my executives expressed concerns about our prospective lender's plan to call our largest customers.  He was worried it would send the wrong message.

I said, look, you can't expect the lender to put up capital without speaking to our customers.  You would certainly not lend money without doing it - so why should he?  

But I couldn't deny that the guy had a point.  The moment the lender calls the customer, he becomes part of that (often delicate) relationship.  What he says to them, and how he characterizes the capital raise, can have strong implications, and influence that relationship on a variety of levels.  One wrong thing said, and we could find ourselves simultaneously raising capital, but losing customer confidence - or worse.

After thinking about it a little, I suggested we talk to the lender and come up with an agreed "script" for the call - an approach we could all get comfortable with.  So that's what we did. And it worked very well.  In some cases, it turned a potential negative into a quite successful PR exercise.  

Here's what we ended up agreeing on: "Hi, I'm calling from [Bank X].  Company Y has approached us for expansion capital to help them grow the business and we'd like to talk to you about your relationship with them."

"Expansion capital" turned out to be the critical phrase - and a good choice of words.  We got calls from some of our customers right after they hung up.  What they asked was, "Wow, you're expanding?  What are you up to?"

That gave us a great opportunity to reconnect and tell them about some of the new things coming down the pipe.  It also provided a good window into their mindset upon hearing the news.  

Crucially, almost to a person, our customers were extremely supportive of our capital raise.  Why?  Because, pitched the right way, more access to capital equates to more staff in your call centers, more inventory, a wider selection of product offerings, potentially lazier or more forgiving collections staff (!), better marketing and brand-building support, and a better quality of talent interfacing with your firm - all things that help customers improve their own businesses and internally support purchasing decisions.  

Nothing is worse in business than having not enough lender contacts when you come across a great opportunity.  But let's face it -  growing your network of lenders beyond those three business cards you originally got on the golf course, or from Dad or Mom - or the local Rotary Club dinner - is tough.  

But it's also necessary.  Three people simply cannot provide you with a very good sample of the kind of deals that are out there.  And unless they are each willing to lend to you on different terms, they may not be able to offer you nearly as much capital as you need.  

To get the best financing deal for your business, and maximize your access to capital, we suggest that ensure you have these three things working for you: 

1. A wide network of potential lenders
2. A multi-tiered approach to the financing
3. A confidential process for sharing data and contacting the most likely financing partners

Most institutions focus on a single form of debt financing - such as ABL (asset-backed lending) , mezzanine debt, or specialist approaches to lending.  What one lender might view as the maximum you can expect to borrow could be radically different in the eyes of another lender - that's why it's important to be able to cast your net widely when it comes to researching terms.  

At LenderExchange, we offer a fully-automated "tiered approach" to structuring your financing, enabling you to maximize the different forms of debt that are available to you by enlisting the help of from hundreds of lenders in the US and Canada.  When you build a Request for Proposal (RFP) using our RFP Builder, our LenderMatch(TM) algorithm takes your inputs and automatically calculates what portion of your debt should come from the ABL lenders, how much should be apportioned to the Mezzanine Lenders, and in what proportions.

We then go a step further, and provide a full list of all appropriate lenders in each category (Senior, Junior, Mezzanine), including the lenders we think would be most likely to lend, based on their past history.  We then make contact with them on your behalf, allowing you to send your RFP directly to every lender on the list.  If you want, one of our experts can even provide feedback and suggestions on how to best structure your RFP.  Simple!

These lenders are chosen by LenderExchange based on their ending history and the confidential inputs you provide (this system is the "match" in LenderMatch) - so the chances are good that you're going to be able to grow your network, and get the structured financing you need.  

Interested in our process?  You can sign up for free and build a rRFP (Request For Proposal) at no cost.  We charge a small fee for distributing, if you decide you want to reach out directly to the lenders.  

Give it a try - and please let us know how you do!