Heather Kelly of Western Alliance Bank: How To Grow Your Business In A Challenging Economy

This article first appeared in Authority Magazine. 

Inflation is taking its toll on us and there is talk of a potential recession, while the tech industry is currently shedding tens of thousands of jobs. Is it possible to grow a business in these conditions? What steps should an entrepreneur take to grow their business during unpredictable times?

As part of our [Authority Magazine’s] Strategy Series, Kage Spatz talks with fellow successful business owners and growth experts to help you discover new ways to grow your business during challenging economic times. Today, we had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Kelly.

Heather Kelly is a Managing Director and Head of Western Alliance Bank’s Business Escrow Services Group, helping businesses navigate complex, global M&A transactions across sectors, regulatory requirements, and capital markets.

Thank you for joining us! Can you share about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I began my career in this field by taking calls in a call center while attending college. As a single mother, I tried hard to locate work-life balance as I took lateral jobs versus promotions to gain exposure throughout every facet of the payment and escrow world.

When it came time for opportunities yielding promotion, I found myself well positioned for those moves and over the years, gained extensive experience across all areas of operations, relationship management, product development and product management relevant to our industry.

Many believe we need to move around to gain skillset, while I believe that moving between companies within the same industry has been an important part of my career. Finding your field of interest and becoming an expert in it, or as I say ‘Stick to it like glue’ was one of the most beneficial, professional decisions I have made. I have over 23 years of experience building M&A products and relationships and have held senior roles within companies large and small within the industry.

One thing is clear — people follow people. People and relationships are the cornerstone of business. Over the last few years, I’ve served as Chief Strategist, Managing Director, and Senior Relationship Manager for Western Alliance Bank’s Business Escrow Services group.

Recently, in April, I was appointed as the Head of Business Escrow Services at Western Alliance Bank where I oversee strategic direction and operations, manage the execution of transactions, spearhead relationship management, manage the sales team and retain engagement with key law firms and strategic acquirers. With a pulse on continued integration and process-changing technology enhancements, I’ve always believed that creating solutions through genuine relationships is the key to success.

As my career has progressed, I have increasingly focused on building the next generation of solution-driven relationship teams. I stay actively involved in deal work and the market, working in the trenches with our team to pass on the decades of experience and knowledge I’ve acquired in committing to unparalleled expertise in the escrow and payments world.

Can you share a story with our readers from your own experience growing your business during challenging economic times?

We’ve all been in situations where world events, the economy or forces beyond our control feel like they can upend even the most meticulously crafted career trajectories. During these challenging moments you get to choose if it is a platform for an insane trajectory or the incident that swallows you up.

A few core messages have kept me resilient during these times:

1. Leadership matters: If you don’t know what to say when you’re leading through adversity, it’s okay to admit that. People need to know they can trust you to tell the truth, even if the truth is hard to tell.
2. People are your business: Relationships will sustain business. True acts of service and transparency form loyalty.
3. Playing your own game is the best defense when things get tough; it’s natural to start freaking out and deviate from your game plan when opportunists attempt to take advantage of perceived weaknesses. Mistruths and using chaos to your advantage is a silly strategy, but when it’s happening, it can feel insurmountable. Stay focused on your game and the rest will fall into line.

Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?

I always tell people there is a reason not everyone succeeds and it is because so many mistake the feeling of inferiority or the insecurity coupled with uncertainty as a sign of failure, thinking, “maybe I’m just not cut out for this.”

The moment you realize that every successful person has also felt that exact same exhaustion and knot in their stomach, you understand the difference between them and those who do not achieve success. It’s grit.

Grit is the bridge of conscious choice to get uncomfortable because your success is imminent. I’ve embraced that feeling — the knot in my stomach — because it sustains my drive.

I’ve learned over the years that you can’t have success without first feeling like you’re going to fail. I search for that feeling rather than fear it, because it’s a sign of an imminent breakthrough.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?

Transparency in communication and having a plan you embrace with a positive energy is the most critical skill set to adopt during challenging times. Open and honest communication builds trust and ensures that everyone is on the same page, while a well-defined plan provides direction and purpose.

When you combine these with a positive attitude, you create an environment where resilience and determination can thrive.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

The ability to recenter your team on the next best thing and find the silver lining is crucial during challenging times. For example, I recall one of my colleagues being frustrated to the point of tears when a new client she had worked hard to attract exited without allowing an opportunity to discuss our response. I challenged her to raise her energetic frequency by stacking thoughts using a process I’ve heard referred to as the ‘next best thing.’

The way this works is by thinking of the next positive thought that comes to mind starting from the base of the disappointing story line. Directly after the positive thought, you think of the ‘next best thing’ until you’ve created a proverbial ladder by which you climb to a higher frequency and out of the rut.

For example, if one of your colleagues moved to another company leaving you with a large amount of work, the base would be “I don’t know how I’m going to get all this work done” and the next best thought would be “I’m lucky my manager has my back”.

Each one of these thoughts is an energetic vibration which raises the frequency in steps rather than assuming you can have a 180 mindset shift from the negative position directly to the top. Where your thoughts go, your energy flows.

By centering your energy back on the love of the job and the positive aspects of the situation versus the feeling of fear of defeat, you can realign, refocus and pull out of any rut or plateau.

How can business leaders plan when the future is so unpredictable?

Before the future seems uncertain is the best time to plan for uncertainty. Through thorough risk modeling and staying attuned to your market, you can project the potential risks — no matter how unlikely. Once you have identified the risks, you can develop a plan. Developing a well-rounded strategy around risk is crucial not only for reacting to market uncertainties but also for proactively preparing for them.

For example, for us in the banking industry, in a high-rate environment, it might be easy to overlook strong fee-based verticals because the interest income verticals are so fruitful. However, maintaining some focus on those fee-based verticals, even when they aren’t as relevant, ensures your ability to pivot and respond effectively when rates decrease. This allows you to lean more heavily into fee-based verticals to maintain profitability. Creating a balanced model of sustainability, regardless of market conditions, is the key to longevity.

Ultimately, the solutions to future challenges lie in preemptively addressing your clients’ current pain points. Instead of trying to fit your clients into a rigid model, investigate their pain points as a roadmap to what will be required for your relevance in the future.

What can a company do to avoid losing clients or customers who say, “I just can’t afford it now”?

You can’t be everything to everyone. Value has a price, and if the only value is in the price, you’ve failed to connect with your client base and develop the added value needed to attract clients who seek your specific value.

Conversely, in mutually beneficial relationships, companies should think outside the box to find value-added propositions. Identifying solutions for fee-sensitive clients who can drive other forms of business, for example, could be key to bridging the gap and finding a balance that benefits both the company and the client through their partnership.

Prioritizing being the low-cost provider can lead to mediocre execution, which doesn’t serve you or your client. It’s also okay if a client places a higher value on low-cost providers over expertise in execution. You can still maintain the relationship, and if the execution falters with the low-cost provider, they will likely return, willing to pay for the level of execution that you offer as a core part of the partnership.

What lead generation strategies work best in a difficult economy?

I find that focusing on fostering relationships is crucial — after all, people are our business. Staying in close contact with our legal partners helps to learn from them about their clients’ challenges when doing deals in tough economies. This insight is particularly valuable for serial acquirers, as understanding these pain points allows us to tailor our services to better meet their needs.

Staying connected and informed ensures that we are always aligned with the evolving needs of our clients, fostering trust and reliability even in uncertain times.

Are there specific marketing approaches that work best when times are tough?

When you know your clients, you know the tangible benefits that align with their goals.

Blast marketing is inefficient — instead a personalized, relationship-driven focus of hearing your clients, knowing your market and creating customizable solutions for them, make marketing the easy part of the market outreach strategy.

Can you share 3 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should professionals keep in mind to avoid that?

Prioritizing Relationships: During tough times, some businesses fail to maintain open and transparent communication with their customers, leading to confusion, mistrust and attrition. Proactive communication centered on truth and trust will retain the relationship.

Focusing on Your Competition: When you are clear on where you add value to your clients and where you can be of service to create solutions around their goals, it doesn’t matter what your competition is doing.

Your competitors’ value-add is not the same as yours — if you’re in the market attempting to make comparisons rather than communicate your core messaging you lose the power behind your message.

Stay true to your message with flexibility to revisit your core messaging frequently to make sure it’s still of high value to your clients.

Failing to Adapt to Market Changes: Be willing to pivot. Don’t fall victim to the power pride can have in destroying something great. It’s okay if what once worked no longer does — listen to your team. You’re not a poor leader when you don’t have the answer, you’re a poor leader when you don’t foster an environment where answers can emerge.

Empower your teams to innovate within your strategic vision. If a company is unwilling to consider that the way it has always been done isn’t a sustainable business model, particularly in today’s era of AI and innovation, it’s at risk for falling behind competitors focused on creating effective solutions. Change can give the illusion of being scary, but intentional, strategic focus on being the change and creating the change ensures longevity and sustainability, keeping you ahead while others struggle to catch up.

During economic downturns, rigid operations and strategies can cost market share. Stay agile by staying informed on market trends, customer preferences and industry shifts. Adapt product offerings, pricing and distribution channels as needed. Embrace innovation and seek customer feedback to anticipate changing demands.

Legacy isn’t something you leave with people, it is something you leave in people by encouraging and empowering them to shape the future of your business model.

Let’s shift over to the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience, what are the 5 most important things a business should do to grow during a challenging economy?

1. Focus on Customer Retention 

Retaining clients is a far easier sale process than locating new ones. While it is good to balance new business with your reoccurring customers.

We maintained our business throughout the banking industry challenges of 2023 not by attracting new clients as a primary focus, but by having depth in our current relationships and retaining those relationships through reciprocal loyalty that is built and earned, not given. Never lose sight of the fact that your current client is your competitor’s prospect.

2. Optimize Operational Efficiency

Streamlining operations to reduce costs without compromising quality is crucial.

Taking the time to truly understand your costs and your optimal efficiency structure is key to re-designing models that grow with the market and optimize efficiency rather than limiting your ability to pivot through understanding your costs and variables associated with them.

3. Embrace Digital Transformation

Leveraging technology to enhance our services and reach can drive growth.

For example, we prioritize the integration of technology enhancements crucial to simplifying and streamlining the post-closing process for buyers, sellers, counsel and other stakeholders. The next-gen decision makers within the companies we service require next-gen innovation.

4. Offer Unparalleled Customer Service Coupled with Unrivaled Expertise

This is the key to both retention and converting new clients to return customers. Some of the strongest relationships I’ve had throughout the years were forged during a mistake or problem that surfaced. Your ability or inability to react to the problem is how they will remember the experience and equate it to your ability to service them.

Every client believes they are complex — embrace their complexities and they will embrace your solutions. Investing in your people is the easiest way to grow market share. Hire the best people and the best clients will follow.

5. Tailor Service Offerings

Integration and consolidation within an industry creates opportunities for customized solutions.

Every client believes they are complex, nuanced and unique — give them the solutions that match their energy to create the relationships that build market share.

We are blessed to have prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world who you would love to have a private lunch with, and why?

Taylor Swift. She exemplifies one of the most brilliant business minds of our era. Her ability to pivot while staying true to her authentic self has propelled her to icon status.

In addition to overcoming adversity, she is consistent with her core message throughout all music genres and market conditions. Her genuine approach to building relationships with her fans epitomizes the keys to success in any industry.

Finding passion and excelling in what you love is the ultimate goal.

Thank you for sharing your valuable insights with our audience today.

Host: Kage Spatz is a Forbes-featured Entrepreneur and founder of Spacetwin.