The current lending environment presents unique challenges for small business bankers. Within these challenges lie opportunities to revolutionize small business lending approaches. By combining time-tested banking principles with innovative strategies, institutions can unlock new pathways to growth. Here are five approaches that lenders at Grow America are seeing transform forward-thinking banks as they generate new demand.
1. Mine the gold in your existing portfolio
Many institutions focus intensely on finding new clients while overlooking opportunities within their existing portfolio. Current relationships represent a goldmine of potential lending opportunities–the key is knowing where to look. Systematic portfolio analytics can identify expansion opportunities, while careful monitoring of deposit account behaviors often reveals pre-qualification and refinance signals. Training teams to spot these indicators and initiate lending discussions at the right moment can lead to natural portfolio growth.
Let’s be clear: competitors are actively pursuing your clients every day. But you have a distinct advantage—you already understand their business and have earned their trust. By proactively showing clients how they can grow with your bank and the unique benefits you offer, you’re not just protecting your portfolio, you’re positioning yourself as their long-term financial partner.
2. Harness AI to deepen customer connections
While “AI” and “authentic relationships” might seem contradictory, artificial intelligence can actually serve to enhance human connections rather than replace them. Even small marketing teams can build AI into their strategic process to create more personalized, industry-specific campaigns that resonate with target markets.
Consider the difference between messages crafted specifically for restaurant owners versus construction company operators. By supplementing human effort with AI capabilities, small business lenders can demonstrate deep understanding of different industries’ unique needs and challenges, increasing their chances of winning the deal.
3. Build meaningful relationships beyond the banker’s circuit
Traditional networking events often result in bankers primarily connecting with other bankers. While these connections are valuable, a more strategic approach to relationship-building can yield better results.
Today, bankers are building robust networks of diverse lending partners with different credit criteria and specialized programs. This approach transforms conversations about loans you cannot make at your own institution into opportunities to demonstrate value by connecting clients with alternative funding sources.
The key is developing relationships with trusted partners who can serve clients that don’t yet meet your criteria. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) like Grow America and other alternative lenders often offer flexible loan programs with more accommodating terms. By building a network of partners with unique credit parameters and program offerings, bankers can make targeted referrals that truly serve their clients’ needs.
This strategy creates a win-win situation: clients get access to needed capital, and bankers maintain their deposit relationship with growing businesses until they’re ready for traditional bank credit.
4. Embrace data-driven decision making
In the rush to meet production goals, one crucial element often gets overlooked: systematic measurement of the activities that drive success. While most lending teams closely track their pipeline and closed loans, few apply the same rigor to measuring the underlying activities that generate those opportunities.
This oversight is a missed opportunity for optimization. The most effective teams identify and track specific, meaningful metrics that drive loan production, using data to optimize their strategies and resources.
This shift toward data-driven decision making mirrors the revolution that occurred in professional baseball, notably depicted in the 2011 film “Moneyball.” The Oakland Athletics transformed their recruitment strategy by using data analytics to identify undervalued talent—much like how modern lenders can use data to uncover overlooked opportunities in their market.
Consider this practical application: A goal of closing $100 million in loans with an average loan size of $450,000 requires closing 223 loans. With a conversion rate of one funded loan for every five leads, this demands 1,115 leads in 2025—approximately 4.3 leads per working day. But reaching these numbers requires measuring and optimizing the activities that generate each lead.
The key isn’t just tracking end results (loans closed) but understanding and measuring the daily activities that generate qualified leads: portfolio reviews, marketing campaigns, networking events, and referral partner meetings. By measuring these foundational activities, teams can identify what’s working, adjust course when needed, and allocate resources to the most productive efforts.
5. Use technology to remove friction
Today’s small business banking clients expect experiences as seamless as their favorite e-commerce platforms. However, when you look closely at a client’s application journey or ask them how it went, unnecessary friction points are often highlighted. As an example, document collection, traditionally a major pain point, can be transformed through strategic use of technology.
At Grow America, this insight has driven the development of streamlined, technology-enabled processes that consistently earn positive client and referral partner feedback. Our application platform’s document collection and processing system demonstrate how modern technology can enhance the lending experience while preserving the personal touch that distinguishes relationship banking.
Looking ahead
Success in today’s lending environment requires a balanced approach that leverages data and technology while maintaining strong relationships. By implementing these strategies—from mining existing portfolios to streamlining processes—lending teams can better serve their markets while meeting production goals.
The most successful lenders will be those who embrace both innovation and fundamentals: using data to drive decisions, technology to remove friction, and relationships to build lasting value. This approach doesn’t just help meet current production goals—it builds stronger client relationships that drive sustainable growth for years to come.