Timing Matters

This section highlights the critical impact of lending psychology and submission timing on the loan approval process. Heather explains that banks often tighten their “credit boxes” based on their own internal interpretations of recent defaults, leading them to demand higher equity or lower leverage. To counter this, she emphasizes the importance of the “first impression”: presenting a deal piecemeal allows lenders to form premature negative opinions or fill in information gaps with risky assumptions. Instead, she advocates for waiting until a deal is “decision-able”—reframing the narrative to prioritize stability and working capital over aggressive growth to ensure the bank’s first look is at the strongest, most polished version of the deal.