Each time a lender is presented with a new opportunity, he or she must complete a series of tasks with a clear starting point (the opportunity) and end point (the decision)-and as we know, the most efficient path between any two points is a straight line.

The Decision Strategy^™, which serves as the foundation for all of our bank credit training programs, is the lender’s “straight line.” The path it takes is straightforward and organized, and provides your financial institution with a dependable framework for insightful, risk-based loan decisions and loan structures.

It is appropriate for anyone on your team, from customer-facing bankers and lenders to “behind-the-scenes” analysts and underwriters, who must be able to identify a borrower’s strengths, weaknesses, goals, and strategies, understand how those strategies have impacted financial performance and cash flow, and determine whether cash flow will be sufficient-now and going forward-to support required debt service payments.

Many lenders are accustomed to analyzing loans with the “Cs of Credit” in mind-and the Decision Strategy framework encompasses those “Cs.” But what makes the Decision Strategy unique is the logical, repeatable process it follows to ensure that lenders capture all the information necessary to assess the risk in lending to a business. The result is a consistent and reliable approach to credit decision-making, the foundation of a solid credit culture.