Setting and Achieving Your 2020 Small Business Lending Goals

Ready to set, meet and exceed your institution’s small business lending goals? We’re sharing our top resources to help your institution achieve your best SBA year yet.

Use these resources to support and grow your SBA lending program

The resources and tips below will help:

• Market your institution’s SBA loan programs to open the door for more small business clients. This includes reaching clients who are already doing business with you and others in your community who may need funding.
• Prequalify potential borrowers to determine the likelihood of SBA approval quickly, before undertaking the full loan application process.
• Offer an SBA loan whenever a client is on the margins of your conventional credit box. This will enable your clients to benefit from access to capital, while enabling your institution to benefit from the SBA’s loan guarantee program. It’s a win-win for all.
• Achieve more with help from Prudent Lenders. As your SBA lending partner, we do the heavy lifting for you. From assisting with initial prescreening through the application, approval, closing and repayment processes, we’re at your side and on your team.

Let’s reach your lending goals, together

First, it’s important to define your lending and non-interest income goals for the year. Zoom out and think big. Then, determine how the SBA loan programs can help you meet those goals. Here are some examples and tips to get started:

1. Goal: Increase small business loan volume

There are many ways that offering SBA loan programs can help your institution increase loan volume while building long-term client loyalty:

• Explore SBA loan options when you have small business client who meets some of your lending criteria but fall short of others. This free e-guide can help you spot potential SBA deals and show your customers that you want to help them get to a “yes!”
• Similarly, consider whether your institution could make a deal work if the loan was backed by an SBA guarantee. In many cases, the answer becomes “yes,” and with every approved loan, you build and strengthen long-term client relationships.
• If you have clients who need more funding than your institution can approve, see if an SBA loan can help round out the deal. Our team can help you explore ways to structure loans to meet you and your borrowers’ needs, while taking advantage of the credit enhancement made available by an SBA guarantee.
• The SBA programs can also help your institution expand into new markets. With Prudent Lenders on your team, you gain immediate expertise and can significantly reduce SBA-program startup costs. We make it easy and affordable to start and expand SBA lending programs.

2. Goal: Enhance your team’s SBA lending knowledge

• Start by building your team’s understanding of SBA lending with our online knowledge base. Access an ever-growing resource library with articles that put useful and relevant SBA information and webinars at your fingertips. And, as always, your Prudent Lenders team is never more than a phone call away or email away.
• The more confident your team is, the more successfully you’ll spot, manage and close deals for your small business clients. Learning key SBA program talking points can help everyone from your marketing department to sales and service teams to deepen their knowledge.

3. Goal: Make the SBA lending process as easy as possible for your institution

• Determine SBA eligibility in just a few minutes early in the process by using our Fast Track Assessment tool. It also helps identify potential weaknesses that will need to be addressed should you move forward with a complete application.
• Working with Prudent Lenders also reduces the lift for your team during the loan application process and throughout the life of every SBA loan. Our exclusive client portal puts SBA lending resources at your fingertips. Get in touch to learn more if your institution isn’t already partnering with us.

4. Goal: Increase non-interest income by selling loans on the SBA’s secondary market

• Selling the guaranteed portion of an SBA loan can help your institution convert SBA guarantees into cash and contribute significantly to your non-interest income goals in 2020.

Let’s work together to achieve your SBA lending goals in 2020

We’re here to answer any questions you may have and to provide guidance and support throughout the year. Let’s work together to meet your goals and achieve your best SBA lending year yet, whether you’re just starting out or taking the lead in your markets.

Best wishes for a great year. We look forward to serving you.