Don't Leave it 'Til It's Too Late

My brother in law currently health wise is not doing well, and waiting on a transplant. The past 8 + months has been stressful for the Family, but especially for my sister in law, and obviously my brother in law.  The stress levels have recently gone up, as he is has recently been admitted to Hospital.

My sister in law and brother in law have shown strength, bravery, positivity , love and have continuously put on a brave face for their nephew and nieces, who love them ‘around the world’.

They play a big part in our children’s lives, and followed us from Chicago to Arizona to be close to them (and us).

The love shown to him has been unparalleled by his wife, who will not leave his side while he is in Hospital. We have suggested she go home at night to sleep, which is like blasphemy to her that we could even make such a suggestion.  The bond, and love shown between the two of them in unbreakable.

Family is extremely important, and the bond between siblings/family should never be broken by anyone. I can never comprehend when I hear someone say they have not spoken to their sibling, parent etc.  for x amount of years. (We are in 2020 pick up the phone, send a text to that one person you have been too proud of to reach out too –make the first move).

As my father emphasized the importance of Family when I was growing up, I am doing with my kids. I know in my heart, if I ever needed my Family they would be there (and if they were not my father would smack them!).

My sister in laws sisters have shown this kind of love for their sister and brother in law. We are all worried at the moment, but need to stay strong and brave. We are optimistic and I know in my heart that he will receive the transplant he needs.  Family is important during the ups and downs. The love you get from your parents, siblings, husbands and wives cannot be measured.

As my brother reminds me, “Live for the day, as you do not know what tomorrow is going to bring, but make sure to provide for the future as you never know what is going to happen.”

Keep moving forward, and go phone your Family!

2015-2019 Articles: What does Potty Training have to do with Business, Prospecting, Credit, Customer Service, Team Sport to Parenting

Communication Skills:
“It’s our ethos/ culture. This is the way we been doing it for 20+ years. If you do not like it, why did you leave xyz?” When you hear this statement, there has generally been a miscommunication. You may even be labelled a complainer or non-team player which may be difficult to come back from.”
https://bit.ly/33IDGkf
Creating a List for Success:
As a manager you are only as successful as the people you are managing, thus as you will see I had everyone set goals for themselves.
https://bit.ly/2QcnROI
Sales: Generating Leads:
https://bit.ly/2XaSgP6
Never Give Up:
“This lesson is often forgotten, as we all feel the need for instant satisfaction. My daughter of five has learnt early in life that to succeed you need to put in the hard work. This early lesson will only benefit her as she gets older.”
https://bit.ly/32DOSgI
Creating a Winning Team:
As in Sports, it is not always the team with the best players that wins, but the one that is well organized and has strong leadership.
https://bit.ly/33IETYP
Customer Service/ Being a Solution Provider
Many large institutions miss this mark on customer service. As the economy deteriorates, or your company looks to cut costs the first employees to lose their jobs are the non-revenue generators. This generally is your customer service team and marketing team. As these teams get smaller and smaller, more and more emphasis is being placed on the sales generators to provide the additional customer service.              
https://bit.ly/2q8QxgP
Being Customer Centric:
With competition in all Industries being highly competitive what are you, your business and employees doing to differentiate yourself from your competition? Are you speaking with your employees to find out what is working and not working to be able to provide the stellar and WOW Customer Service Experience?
https://bit.ly/2CE0K7H
Credit Score Dictating what job can get.
Approximately after 1 1/2 weeks he was informed that they were rescinding their offer due to his credit score “dings” and “dents”. Unfortunately Brad had been one of the thousands of citizens who had been caught in the Housing Bubble. In 2009 one of his properties he owned had gone into foreclosure. Due to delayed credit reporting it only started showing on his report in 2013.
https://bit.ly/2NZCHoU
Team Sport helps creating winning Business Teams:
If the players do not work together the team will ultimately lose the game. Even with a  ‘Star Player’ if they do not work with the rest of their teammates the team will ultimately lose more than they win.
https://bit.ly/2NI06fZ
Employee Happiness:
As the economy starts to shift into the positive, and the job market opens up companies need to start placing more emphasis on their employees 'happiness'. CEO's need to look at shifting gears before they lose their best employees to companies that realize this before them, and move quicker than them.
https://bit.ly/2QeDWDw
Patience: Everyone Learns at their own pace
“There is no royal, flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it. For if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard.” – C.J. Walker
https://bit.ly/32MW0Yg
Make sure you Present yourself well.
In life and in work we are continuously on a ‘stage’ giving ‘presentations’. Some people are better in presenting themselves or their message than others.
https://bit.ly/2O7vfYV
Crash course in Business Lessons
Sometimes you have to take a backseat (“siblings may get recognized for their achievements before you”) - In business work with your specialists, and have faith in them to take the lead. Recognize their achievements.
https://bit.ly/33Hzm4H
Business Loan Lessons for when applying for a Loan:
Please note the ‘M’s and the ‘C’s’ do overlap.
https://bit.ly/2Ocv4Mi
Remember to Relax and Take a Step Back and see the full picture
“Do you want to live in a crying house or fine house?” “If you want to live in a fine house then stop yelling.” After being taken back a little by this question, it reminded us that as a human being you control the situation and environment that you would like to live and work in.
https://bit.ly/2NHh1z5
Choosing the right Partner
As Elon Musk stated, he is able to make change within his vehicles quicker idea (get an approval) than his larger competitors as Tesla is more nimble and has less layers of management (less bureaucracy) to answer too.
https://bit.ly/2X5YRu0
Prospecting:
Sorry I am not interested. Sorry, I am not looking to change. Sorry, I am happy where I am. Sorry, it is too much effort.…..anyone in sales has probably heard these phrases
https://bit.ly/373lvIa
I understand that they cannot, and do not want to respond to every call, email and drop-in they receive. However, I do believe if a Salesperson/ Solution Provider shows initiative, does their research, and thinks outside of the box a courtesy call or email would be justified. This courtesy in the long or short term could be rewarding.
https://bit.ly/2CBl5KL
Sometimes you need to make your own luck when looking to a new career/ job
There are hundred different reasons’ you may be looking for a new position. Your reason for looking/ leaving your current position will be one of the first questions you will be asked
https://bit.ly/2NFwFuW
Common Courtesy:
Today, when you email someone internally or externally from your company it’s a 50/50 chance they will respond in a timely manner or at all. The same seems to be the case when leaving a voice message, and the odds drop I would say to less than 30 % response rate when sending someone an Evite. Has technology been slowly eating away at our common courtesy.
https://bit.ly/32GP0Mn
Technology Destroying Communication Skills
 We are losing the capabilities of being able to read body language and tone of voice as there are fewer conversations happening on a daily basis. This in turn is leading to an extremely politically correct society, as we cannot distinguish what is a joke or not.
https://bit.ly/2Q8OaFA
Emigrating:
The first piece of advice I was given after arriving was too talk slower and enunciate. South Africans tend to swallow their words and run their sentences together. After fourteen years I still sometimes need to remind myself too talk slower. If you were looking to give yourself advice in life and business today what would it be?
https://bit.ly/32AsEMw
Networking Groups:
When you were climbing the ladder of success, would it not have been great to meet your future self to give yourself advice on what you should have done or not have done.
https://bit.ly/2ph9X2Q
Starting a Networking Group:
Creating a networking group can be a lot of work, throw up many roadblocks, yet can also be very rewarding.
https://bit.ly/2NGoDSi
Leadership:
How important is leadership within an organization?
https://bit.ly/34T3ytM
So what can we learn from this transformation of a side languishing in 8th position in the Premier league?
https://bit.ly/2Kje71w
Believe in yourself:
To put it another way the odds of Simon Cowell to become the next Prime Minister was 500/1, for Hugh Hefner to admit he's a virgin 1000/1, Andy Murray to name his first born Novak 500/1.
https://bit.ly/2CFqAIE
How’s your Driving?
If I was a hiring manager and saw the candidate drive in the manner outlined above prior to coming into the interview I may have some preconceived ideas about the candidate. Rightly or wrongly they may have an additional hurdle to overcome during the interview.
https://bit.ly/371SUTe
Overcoming Obstacles. Keeping yourself happy
During the process of overcoming the roadblocks and set-backs what did you do to keep yourself happy, and moving forward?! It is easy to digress into depression when things do not go the way you had planned or envisioned.
https://bit.ly/34NUZjY
Working on your Vacation:
So what do you do, when you are on vacation and have Cell Phone Reception and you continuously hear the beep of a new email coming in? Are you able to switch off?
https://bit.ly/2NGEwrV
Organizing a Golf Day.
 Our enthusiasm, belief in our group, people we knew and what we were looking to achieve drove us forward. We were excited to assist our community in making new connections and raising funds for a Non-for-Profit of our choosing.
https://bit.ly/2NKHc8d
Parenting:
If you followed all the 'rules' of today you would drive yourself and everyone around you crazy. Your child may grow up expecting everything to be done for them, not understand that everything is not put on a silver plate, that there are winners and losers (in sport and in life).........Yet........they Will all be in touch with their feelings and have lots of trophies
https://bit.ly/2CC0xSx

Prospecting - Knock Knock Anyone There?

When reaching out to prospects I believe you should look to position yourself as a Solution Provider, and not come across as a ‘Salesman’. Your goal should not be to sell or push products, but to provide insight in how you and your Team offer customer service (which I believe is lacking currently), solutions and ideas on how you can assist now or in the future.

Prospecting is hard work, yet can be rewarding. Business Owners, CEO’s and CFO’s are constantly bombarded with emails, phone calls and drop-ins which can get overwhelming and ‘irritating’. Getting a response can be difficult.

I understand that they cannot, and do not want to respond to every call, email and drop-in they receive. However, I do believe if a Salesperson/ Solution Provider shows initiative, does their research, and thinks outside of the box a courtesy call or email would be justified. This courtesy in the long or short term could be rewarding.

Business Owners, CEO’s and CFO’s should remember that the people calling on them have their own connections, and businesses they work with which may be useful to their business (or themselves personally), and how you interact with them will dictate whether they will make those connections/ referrals.

One of my colleagues laughs at me, when I get ‘upset’ that a prospect has not responded when I have gone the ‘extra’ step in my prospecting process ( e.g. written a personal handwritten card, dropped off a book in a subject matter I know they enjoy etc.). All someone is generally looking for is an acknowledgement, and a polite thank you I would love to meet, or thank you for reaching out but not interested at this time.

When saying no thank you, be polite. When you are polite, and still saying no, the person calling on you they may still look to refer your company Business, or connect you with people who may be beneficial/helpful to you or your company.
I recently had a prospect thank me for my efforts, let me know that their banker is their good friend, and had been with them for many years. The best present they could give me was my time back, as they were not a good prospect for me. I respected their response, and appreciated their candor. If I ever have a business that requires their type of service, I would be happy to provide their contact details.

On the flip side, a prospect (who is in marketing, which made their reply even more surprising to me) replied thank you for reaching out, please do not contact me further. (FYI: They had not been bombarded with phone calls, drop in’s, or emails….which can be annoying). Their abrupt response left a ‘sour taste’. This particular Marketing Company concentrates within a specific Industry that I have connections in. If I had received a polite no thank you, or even better a meeting with them, I would have been happy to make introductions. Being Polite does not cost anything, even to people you do not know.

Both emails had the same message that they were not interested, yet the one company will get referrals and respect, while the other will not. Life is short, so better not to burn bridges.
Be polite when replying, respond when you notice the person reaching out is doing their research, and is not the ‘same’ as everyone else calling on you. You never know how they can assist you, or who they may know that they can introduce you too.

“E-mail has some magical ability to turn off the politeness gene in a human being.” – Jeff Bezos
"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going." -Sam Levenson
Keep moving forward.

Healthcare Financing

As more healthcare practices are being Consolidated, Acquired, Sold Expanded etc. I have provided some example questions for Dental Practices (many would be relevant to other Doctor Fields), and financials that would be required to help with a smooth lending experience. (By having this information ready, it will quicken the underwriting process, and hopefully prevent some headaches.)

On the lending side Financial Institutions can assist with Acquisitions, Expansion, Practice Buy-Ins, Working Capital/Term and Equipment Purchases. (Generally looking for the practice to be in existence for 2+ years otherwise seen as a startup)

HEALTHCARE FINANCING:
Some Options Available: Physicians, Dentists, Veterinary Services, Optometrists, Mental Health Specialists etc.

With conventional underwriting Banks are generally looking for cash flow of 1.2 or greater (subject to time in business, strength of guarantors, length of loan etc.).

1. Acquisitions/ Expansions/ Buy-ins subject to the strength of the borrower (and time in business) options up to 15 years (subject to strength of the borrower and time in business) and 100 % financing (conventional financing). SBA options can provide alternative options
2. Real Estate: up to 10 year terms, 25 year amortization and up to 100 % financing. (There are also SBA options which provide alternative options.) You/ Client should be provided ALL options.
3. Working Capital/ Term Facility: up to 10 year terms, 10 year amortization and up to 100 % financing. (SBA options provide alternative options)

Borrower Information:

• What type of Practice? (e.g. what procedures will be performed)

Staff : Current /Proposed
Dentist(s)
Office Manager(s)
Administrative
Dental Assistant(s)
Hygienist(s)
Associate(s)
Other

• Resume
• What is the borrower’s basic business strategy, key factors to success, and primary competitors? 

Loan Request

• Purchase Price
• Business Evaluation (if available)
• Sources and Uses (i.e where funds are coming from, and what they will be used for e.g. equipment, buildout, purchase of real estate etc.)
• Practice Acquisition:
• Who are the primary customers and how are payments received (e.g. Fee for Service, Insurance/PPO etc.)? 
• What is the borrower’s basic business strategy, key factors to success, and primary competitors? 
• Why the borrower would like to purchase this specific practice. 
• Discuss any procedures performed by the seller (i.e. crown & bridge, fillings, endodontics, etc.) that will not be maintained by the borrower? Will the borrower maintain the existing production of the seller?
• Why is the practice being sold? What is the transition plan? Will the seller have a non-compete agreement
• Is there an Associate working in the practice? If yes, please address the following:
• Why have they elected not to purchase the practice?
• Does the Associate plan to remain with the practice post acquisition? 
• What is their compensation and will that change post acquisition? 
• What is the associate’s non-compete agreement and will that change post acquisition?
• What, if any, concerns are there regarding patient and/or staff attrition?

Practice Startup (less than 24 months in existence)

• How many days per week (current/proposed) is the borrower working as an Associate? What is the distance between their Associate and proposed practice location? 
• Is the borrower currently under a non-compete agreement? If yes, how many years are remaining and what are the distance requirements?

General Questions:

• How many active patients do they have?
• How much of the revenue comes from routine hygiene visits?
• What new services will be added or removed?
• How does / will the practice do to ensure high patient retention?
• Does/ Will the practice take advantage of the demand for cosmetic dentistry?
• Breakdown of procedures income generated.
• How many chairs?
• Hours of operations?

Provide any additional information you believe is significant to this request.
FINANCIALS:

• 3 Most recent Years Business Tax Returns (of current Dental Practice and Dental Practice purchasing
• 3 Years yearend Balance Sheet and income Statement (internally prepared is fine) – if available
• Interim Financials current year v. previous year (Balance sheet and Income Statement)
• 2 Years Personal Tax Returns
• Personal Financial Statement (Owners of 20 % or more) - the bank will provide
• Accounts Receivable and Payable Aging
• Projections
• If Startup (Business Plan)

Please feel free to reach out with any questions. If you have some good advice please share in the comment section.



Reminder: Each loan request is different. The above are guidelines only.

Are You/ Your Business Customer Centric

Is customer service top of mind of your business and employees? With competition in all Industries being highly competitive what are you, your business and employees doing to differentiate yourself from your competition? Are you speaking with your employees to find out what is working and not working to be able to provide the stellar and WOW Customer Service Experience?

There are not many (if any) businesses that do not have another company offering the same or similar service/ product. What has differentiated the companies that have succeeded or failed? There have been small, medium and large companies that have failed due to lack of service, perceived service and bad reviews. When is the last time you ate at a Restaurant with one or 2 stars? Stayed at a Hotel with Bad Reviews? Invested in a Company that continued to get bad press? Or bought a product from a store that had bad service reviews?

So, what does customer service mean to you, your employees and your clients? Are you talking about customer service in your business? What are you providing your employees so that they can exceed their/yours/and the CLIENTS expectations? Are you all on the same page? Good customer service means different things to different people.

I recently did an exercise with a group looking at what customer service meant to us. I have included part of the list below. Please feel free to add what is important to you in the comment section.

• Knowledgeable
• Going above and beyond
• Connections (connect clients to people that will be beneficial for them to meet)
• Genuine
• Owning the Issue
• Honesty
• Dependable
• Setting Clear Expectations
• Putting yourself in their shoes
• Empathetic/ Sympathetic
• Under promise and over deliver
• Exceed expectations
• Kindness/ Courteous
• Responsive
• Proactive
• Provide solutions/ Know what is important to the client
• No surprises
• Clear communication
• Empowered to make decisions
• Do the right thing
• Thanking them for their business    
•  Finding out an answer if you are not in the know  (do not pretend to know 'everything') 

Generally consumers are willing to spend a few extra dollars for excellent customer service, and turn into repeat clients.

Good luck in becoming an ambassador in Customer Service.

“Customers may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel” – Unknown

Keep moving forward.

When you are ready to be unselfish, that is when you can think about being a parent*

There have been hundreds if not thousands of articles/ books written about what makes a good parent. The rules and what is good or bad keep changing. Remember when Time- Outs were good?! Well now they are supposedly bad for your child.

If you followed all the 'rules' of today you would drive yourself and everyone around you crazy. Your child may grow up expecting everything to be done for them, not understand that everything is not put on a silver plate, that there are winners and losers (in sport and in life).........Yet........they Will all be in touch with their feelings and have lots of trophies.

My belief (not saying it is correct) is there needs to be a 'happy' medium in talking out your feelings, and good old fashioned parenting. Let them know that they are not always going to make the team, they are not always going to win, respect is earned not given, they not always going to succeed even when they have done all they can, and on occasion a hiding is just around the corner.

I grew up when winning or losing in sport happened, you earned your trophies, you strived to be the best (knowing you were not always going to win) and if you did not listen or were disrespectful your behind was going too tattooed with your dads hand.

Kids receiving trophies just for participating I believe robs them of many valuable lessons. The goal is to have fun, try your hardest and hopefully win. If you lose you train harder, practice more and learn your limitations. I lost many matches against better players/teams, but every time I played against a better team/player my skill level improved, and I tried harder. The times I did get upset about losing were when I knew I (or the team I was playing in) could have won and I/we did not fulfill my/ our potential. Otherwise I practiced more to hopefully win the next match.

By receiving a trophy for participation what other lessons about life and themselves have they lost out on?!

Growing up with 3 brothers all over 6 ft. respect for our mom and dad (a lot smaller) was very important. We knew who the 'queen' of the house was, and if we ever disrespected the 'queen' we knew that there would be hell to pay. We also learned at an early age when my dad said no, to save your breath and not to carry on asking.

RESPECT from your children is extremely important. If you let your child talk to you in a disrespectful manner or swear at you, you are setting yourself up for many tough years. You are their parent first then their friend.

Respect for your children is also important. We grew up with no curfews (from age of 18 -when got drivers in South Africa), as our parents respected our judgement. I cannot recall any of us ever being grounded over the years. Our parents had our respect and we had earned theirs.

LOVE.....there is not a day that your child should feel unloved. There is a difference between like and love. You may not like your child's behavior (or them at a certain time) which you can let them know, but they should always know that your love is unconditional. To this day, I have never felt unloved by my folks. Did I get hidings, was I told no, did they not like me sometimes, sure, but did I ever think they did not love me.......Never.

Let them know that they are not always going to make the team, they not always going to win, respect is earned not given, you not always going to succeed even when you have done all you can, you don't always have to be the best, having fun is important, success takes time, nothing is free in life (besides maybe your love), spend only what you can afford, you going to have to work for your success, you don't have to be liked by everyone, people are not always going to see how brilliant you are, family is extremely important, and YOUR LOVE FOR THEM IS UNCONDITIONAL

Every child and parent is different. If you like time outs, talking out your feelings, the tattooed behind or whichever new age book is currently out that is your choice.
Good luck on your continued  learning journey of doing the hardest job in the world.

* You are never truly ready; however when you are ready to think of someone before yourself that is a good start

I'm Hiring New Clients

I'm hiring new clients! This is an unpaid job with great benefits

You will have peace of mind that I am looking out for your best interest, whether it’s for lending, accounts, credit, treasury or merchant. I'm looking for those who are looking for a Banking Relationship and not a one night stand (transactional based)

 I'm hiring clients that would like a banker that offers solutions that can benefit them, thinks outside of the box and is not a product pusher. I'm hiring clients that would like honest up front discussions, which are looking for a Banking relationship that is not transactional based and for a banker that will respond to their emails and phone calls in a timely manner.

If your current business banking relationship isn't working for you, I'm taking interviews for new clients!

Applying is free ....and includes coffee and a donut.

Although the above is light hearted, I understand the importance of a strong banking relationship and take my responsibilities of managing business relationships extremely serious.

With banks offering similar services it can get difficult to find that right relationship. I say relationship because that is how I believe it should be looked at. As a business owner you should be looking to your banker for more than just taking your deposits, and being an order taker. The term Trusted Advisor is currently being overused in the market, however that is how you should see your banker. You should feel comfortable speaking to them about your business, personal banking and business banking needs.

Your banker an extension of your business who has a team that can assist on the business and personal side and is there to make suggestions.

If a banker jumps in and tells you what they can do for you and how wonderful their bank is without finding out about you and your business that is your first warning sign. By not asking questions they are directing you to what they want and not what you need.

 Warning Signs it may be time to get a new banker or the banker is not the right fit:

• They do not ask questions about you and your business
• They keep telling you how great their bank is and continuously talk negatively of their competition
• They do not introduce you to their team
• They do not respond to your questions
• They sound like a salesman (should be looking to provide services that make your life easier, not just to increase your service cost)
• Only good thing they are offering you is interest rate

 They Should Be:

• Looking for opportunities to connect you with other business owners (not always possible)
• Introducing you to partners within Bank (e.g. Wealth Management)
• Providing you Articles about your industry or your personal interests you may find helpful
• Providing you solutions on your banking and credit needs. (e.g. Could be as simple as letting you know what the bank requires for you to get the increase in the line of credit, and making suggestions)
• Being available
• Asking questions about your business
• Bring suggestions to the ‘table’ without being asked

Choosing a banker and a bank is a big decision. Once you have narrowed down the banks and banker that fit your needs, ask yourself, “Would you mind being stuck at an airport with them?” or “Would you enjoy spending an evening out with them?” If the answer to the question is no, they may not be the right fit for you. Being comfortable and confident in your banker is equally important.


Please feel free to reach out with any questions or if you would like to apply for the position. – Currently offering Owner Occupied Commercial Real Estate Appraisal Fee Waiver (up to $5000 for Loans of $500 000 +) Promotion with FULL Relationship.
linkedin.com/in/ryanjoffe