I may be a long way removed from my business school days, but the one thing that I vividly remember my finance professor telling us repeatedly was that “The financial markets absolutely hate uncertainty.” 
 
The term “uncertainty” sure is getting a lot of play these days, and if the recent market volatility is any indication, then my professor was correct. The fact is that we all face uncertainty in our daily lives, and whether we know it or not, much of our decision-making revolves around managing this uncertainty and positioning ourselves for the best possible outcomes for our families.  
 
At First Carolina Bank, we pride ourselves in providing certainty of execution for our clients. Our company’s tagline is that “we do the day-to-day things in banking extremely well,” and I would argue that certainty of execution plays a huge role in this initiative. It sounds simple, but it can be harder than you may think—the banking landscape is rife with examples of dissatisfied clients who feel like their bank changes its appetite for certain transactions seemingly whenever the wind blows a different direction. 
 
So, why does this happen? I wrote a few months ago about the importance of local decision-making from your banking partner, and this is one of the main factors in providing certainty of execution. The further away decision-making is from the client, the more likely it is that the message to the client will change along the way. In addition to this, I feel like banks really have to commit to their local markets and empower the “boots on the ground,” because those are the people who know their markets and customers better than anyone.  
 
From time to time, I hear clients tell me that they long for the days when a handshake from their banker was all that was needed to get a deal approved. Those may have been the ‘good ole days’ for some, and while the process for banks has evolved in the years since, our clients are appreciative of how quickly and easily we do things and give us that feedback constantly. At First Carolina, we understand the importance of being decisive and working with a sense of urgency, and over time, this becomes habit and really helps create that certainty of execution.  
 
Despite all of our growth and all of the amazing things happening in Wilmington, it is still a small town. This is the type of environment where a strong community bank that does the day-to-day things in banking extremely well and provides its clients certainty of execution thrives, and I am very proud of how our bank has performed since we started here almost eight years ago.