The surviving banker, the one that has not been turned-out due to downsizing, merger and acquisition or institutional failure, has an uphill battle ahead. Making the job what it once was, a successful profession held in the highest esteem throughout the community, is a tall order. But it can be accomplished.

My next several entries will be devoted to elements that collectively will help bankers at every level make a triumphant recovery. When you read this and if you are in finance, accounting, credit or some other department not on the front lines, two thoughts could easily cross your mind: 1.) this does not apply to me and/or 2.) this does not apply to my position with the institution.

When studying the recommended remedies you certainly may discover that nothing listed mirrors any part of your job description. However, as a integral element of a larger entity, rebuilding the much maligned identity of a community bank and banker applies to everyone on the payroll. This is not the time to recite a line made famous by the late Freddie Prinze - "It's not my job man." In this environment, only the truly delusional are brazen enough to utter what could be the last words prior to a pink slip.

There is no magic or silver bullet here. However, every single suggested step has been field tested by professionals serving a wide array of businesses and industries. They work even if your products and services are not the most competitive. Many are basic, yet they are largely ignored. That has a lot to do with attitudes among banking professionals. This is a great place to begin. 

Check your ego at the door

William Hurt starred in "The Doctor", a 1991 film about a successful surgeon suddenly stricken with cancer. Hurt's character had big boy toys and plenty of arrogance. Then, when doctor becomes patient, he is able to look at his chosen profession from an entirely different angle. As you might imagine, our hero undergoes dramatic metamorphosis before the end credits roll. It is possible "The Doctor" is available on demand through Netflix. But why invest an evening with a 20-year-old movie? 

The first steps toward restoring bankers as leaders of the business community involve real steps that lead right out the front doors of the bank and into the doors of local businesses. Personal relationships between banker and customer have always been the linchpin of community banking. These ties have been strained, if not broken, over the last three years.

Prior to the end of banking as we know it, a steady stream of customers would descend on any local bank on any given business day - and of course on Saturdays between 8:30 AM and Noon. Each had different needs from construction loans, to business lines of credit, to interest bearing checking accounts just to name a few.  No matter what the product or service, opportunity was always knocking at the bank's door.

Those days are over. Maybe for good.

The customers you serve, plus the ones you would like to handle, are being courted by other banks and other bankers. These consumers are survivors, just like you. It's also likely these prime candidates have been able to tread water based on their own reserves, good business sense and great fortune. Therefore, if they have kept the doors open through the Great Recession, it is possible a real sense of empowerment has taken hold. In short, you may no longer be considered a necessity.

Just about anyone who has made a visit to his or her local banker has experienced some apprehension, if not a little fear. Sitting across the desk from a loan officer who holds in a file the summation of a person's financial successes and failures is intimidating. There is no doubt in this scenario where the power lies. While a "yes" from the banker is a joyful moment where the consumer's subconscious senses a message of "well done my good and faithful servant," a "no" is humiliating. It is an indictment which induces shame, anger, frustration, resentment and, in recent history, hopelessness.

So when you walk through their door for the first time, don't be surprised if there is no ring for your finger or slaughter of a fatted calf for a feast. You could feel unwanted, like an intruder or nuisance. The reception could be beyond unfriendly. Your customers or potential clients may actually be downright rude, taking this opportunity to unload a ton of recession-era frustration within earshot. You may not even get the chance to say very much. Why, if there is a fleeting moment when you can ask for the business, you may hear the word "no". Thus the tables are turned and you are no longer "The Doctor," but instead the patient.

Taking the giant steps toward the world which has been taught it is perfectly justifiable to blame bankers (this is America where blame must be assigned) is difficult for many community bankers. Not that these professionals have any trouble maintaining high visibility in the markets he or she serves. But there is a wide chasm between holding the gavel for Rotary, Kiwanis or the Chamber of Commerce and calling on a client unnerved by financial stress and uncertainty. 

Yet it is required in order to rebuild the personal relationship vital for community banking. If you are not willing to expose yourself to the marketplace which lies outside the double doors of your bank, rest assured there are other banks sending out their bankers to call on your best customers. And these will then become the newly minted successful community bankers.

Step 1: Personal contact with customers and potential customers. Swallow your pride, adjust your attitude and hit the pavement.