27/02/2026
Change................Love it or hate it
I took this photo back in early February at Lochiel looking east..........very dry, very hot with no rain on the radar. Confidence not great with many predictions of no rain for a long time.
Today we look at the pending forecast (and with no confidence at all given our forecasters absolute lack of accuracy) there is some excellent rain predicted. Excellent for some but spare a thought for our grape growers as too much rain will result in grape split.
Change is inevitable, you either embrace it or you bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away.
After 35+ years in Agri Finance the one thing that still astounds me is where customers of a Bank who are overcharging them and in many cases by a long way stay with them, some will say they are getting good service, some say we have been told our rates are good and some say it's too hard to change Banks............. The word loyalty rarely comes up anymore as our clients realise they are running a business and it's nothing personal.
Let's put a few of these change resistors to the test:
1. What is good or even average service worth to your business? Let's say another offer is $5k pa cheaper. So, over the next 5 years you have paid $25k more for what you consider to be good service, is the odd visit and an occasional invite to a function really worth that?
2. We've been told our rates are good - well no surprises on this front. Please keep in mind that your Bank Manager can only see the rates that their employer is providing to them......they can't see all of the market and one particular bank (or should I say Co-op) will focus on your customer margin and not the actual Interest Rate - your margin is mostly irrelevant as its the total Interest Rate you are paying that counts.
3. It's hard to change Banks - Well it's not actually that hard at all anymore, nearly everything is electronic and as per point 1 - IS it worth a few hours to save $25k over the next 5 years?
Outlandish Bank Profits tell me they are making very good money out of their clients with high rates, fees and charges......... Are you the one contributing to these profits and can you actually afford not to check your existing Finance Arrangements given its probably one of your largest expense items.
If you want to put your toe in the water with no obligation give AJ, Nic or myself a call, we can give you an indication generally within 5 minutes.............................I'd love to hear plenty of good stories about clients getting great service and also being on great rates but I know this won't be the case.
Please don't assume you are on a good deal when it will cost you nothing to verify it.
For those who want the rain - we hope you get plenty.
Matt
