Thousands of miles away from home and this happens!
Life’s journey itself is a risk but I think the journey for a banker is fraught with unexpected twists and turns that when you make it out in one piece after 36 years, there is every reason for gratitude to God!
After many years of banking, I cannot tell you I love this aspect of the banking business more than the other. During my career, I found myself in the back office sometimes, the middle office other times, and the Front Office most of the time. I simply love the banking business. Just being able to help individuals and businesses grow and manage their wealth gave me the greatest satisfaction.
As I indicated in one of my posts, I moved often in my career to different countries. So, here I was in a country thousands of miles away from home. In this assignment, I was a Business Head and part of the senior management team. My role was Sales in this assignment. So, within the first two weeks of arrival in any country, I made it a point to call on the key clients to introduce myself and to get to know them; and to get a quick understanding of their businesses.
End of Assignment
After one year on this assignment, the assignment was coming to an end, and it was time to move to another country. As I rounded up and prepared my handover notes, I thought the professional thing to do as I did each time, was to pay a call to my key clients; inform them that my assignment in the country was completed and I was off to my next posting. During the call, I would seize the opportunity to express my gratitude to the clients for their support of my business.
On this special day, I called on a key client in the company of my colleague, my deputy, to inform him of the end of my assignment in the country. We exchanged warm greetings with the client and sat down to nice coffees and green teas. Then the client goes, I must thank you very much for the value you brought to our business. I am certain your organization appreciates the good job you did here. We are surely going to miss you. And I responded, thank you very much for your generous feedback.
The Untold Secret
Then the client continued, now that you are leaving the country, I will tell you something I hid from you all this time; I did not want you to be afraid. Really, I said. I sat up straight on my chair immediately very curious. I anxiously waited to hear his story. He started the story that gave me goose bombs. All I kept saying in my head was ‘Thank you God for angels you send in form of humans to save us at our most perilous moments’. In between, let me drop this here, I have had many perilous moments in my life like many other people.
The client said, you recall the day I came to your office, and you informed me that you were making a trip to a city in the North of the country; about a thousand kilometers away in the company of another colleague? I responded, yes, I recall. And he continued, you recall that I said to you that I am from that part of the country and so I know the key economic players in the community, I said yes. And he continued, and I made a list of about ten most important players in that market you should attempt to call on during your visit, I said yes.
At this point, I began to imagine what this story was connected to. On the list, was a name that was an existing client of my organization. I was making this planned trip principally to meet with this existing client because no one had called on him for the past two years even though this was a very important relationship. I did not mention to the client providing the list of referrals that the top name on the list was an existing relationship.
Trip of My Career
With my list in my hand, my colleague and I made the said trip as planned. We called on the client and it all went well. We seized the opportunity to call on other prospects on my referral list. As we left the existing client’s office, he said, is it possible for me to establish a business relationship with your affiliate in another country? I responded in the affirmative that this can be done without any problem. I know the colleagues in that country because I once worked in that country, so this should be easy. When we returned to base, I set about doing the client referral to the affiliated business in another country. And all was done seamlessly. The client was very happy.
Six months after our trip, on a bright Monday morning came the headline news in the country. Negative news about the existing client we had called on in the North of the country. The situation was dealt with by the government authorities and the authorities instructed my organization and other organizations to freeze all relationships with the client. My organization complied and the client’s relationship was suspended.
Goose Bomps
Now comes the story that gave me goosebumps. The client said, so here is what happened that you did not know about. The Attorney General (AG) of the country who is a close family friend called me to chat one evening as we did from time to time. He continued; we discussed the negative news about the client you had visited 1000 kilometers away about six months back. And the AG goes, by the way, the security agents will be going to pick up the lady from that organization who visited the client up in the North. We understand this negative incident occurred shortly after she visited the client.
At this point, my client said he responded to the AG saying, rather than have the security agents pick up the lady, they must rather pick him up. I introduced her to the client she visited he said to his friend. My client said this was how I was left off the hook. Every time I imagine myself in police custody in a foreign country, I shudder. What a catastrophe this would have been! Thank God for his mercies.
But for this angel sent by God (the client who made a list for me), my career was to end abruptly. The career I had diligently worked to develop over the years was on the edge of ending unceremoniously in a negative manner with a serious possibility of prosecution for an incident that I did not know about; why? Simply because I was being the best salesperson that I enjoy being; just calling on clients to get to know them better. Assuming after investigations, the results found that neither was I connected nor my organization to this negative incident, this was already significant reputational damage for me and my organization.
God, in His infinite mercy and grace, saved me yet again. Another narrow escape in my career.
Build Trust
Trust with clients is an asset every professional and every organization must work diligently to build. But for the trust, the client had for me and my organization, I would have been in serious trouble.
Subsequently, I got promoted with higher responsibilities in later years.
God Is Faithful
God is faithful. The book of Lamentations 3: 22-23 in the bible, reads ‘The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness’.
The irony of this bible verse is that it is written in the book that is specifically written for lamenting. God in his faithfulness saved me from lamenting. Glory be to God’s Holy Name.
I praise God and I will always praise him. I thank our Lord Jesus, I thank the Holy Spirit of God and finally, I thank all the angels and watch men and women of God!
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