As lenders, we’d certainly like our borrowers to include "what if" scenarios in their business planning, but too often borrowers believe another old adage: "Just wait until tomorrow and things will be better." Our government, the media, my broker, and others reinforce that line of thinking.

When borrowers tell us they have plenty of business and the outlook is bright, we need to help them think through what could go wrong. We have to ask them the difficult questions they don’t want to think about. For instance, what could happen to their business operations or products if…

We need to explore those questions and more with our customers. Ask them if they are prepared to face layoffs or reductions in their operations. Just as we are looking at all expense categories within our banks as a result of shrinking margins, lack of good loans to underwrite, and reduced borrowings, our customers should be looking at their expenses and making decisions on what they need to do to remain viable. And just as our regulators ask us about sources of liquidity, we should be asking our borrowers the same question.

Borrowers look to their bankers for advice, and we shouldn’t be cautious in providing it to them. Now is not the time to shy away from being a resource to our borrowers. If anything, we must all work together through the recession and beyond to survive.