WELCOME...to our Motivating Moments in a Minute newsletter. It is my hope you enjoy and profit from these thoughts and ideas. Please let me hear from you if you have a special topic.

My personal goal is to keep you informed of critical and not so critical news. This newsletter is filled with good ideas for increasing your sales opportunities.

I hope you will take the time to share any future topics you have an interest in.

Joe Stiles

This is the third of a three-part series on how we communicate across multiple generations.

The iPod Generation is commonly know as Generation Y in most research studies. One of the common complaints about this cohort is the difficulty to connect with them either at home or in the workplace. Since this generation constitutes 25% of the global population, connecting with them is critical for the future of business and our culture. Three keys will shed some light on what is important to them, how to fulfill that need and what happens when we don't.

The days of compliance without reason are gone. Sharing the 'why' behind the 'what' is the first key to connection. Most of this generation was included in family decisions, or family issues. By not including them in some form a barrier of mistrust is built. When their 'why' questions can not be answered either because of confidentiality or because the 'why' is not known, honesty is the best policy. Letting them know that confidentiality prevents an explanation or being straight forward that the 'why' is not known is the first step in building respect.

The iPod Generation is proud of their uniqueness and feels they should be judged on their talents. Judgmental actions alienate this generation and are often unfounded. The second key to connection is to reach out with genuine interest to this group. An effort to listen without comparison or criticism will begin to lay the foundation of trust between worker and supervisor as well as parent and child.

The third key to connection is to offer consistent feedback. Two things about the iPod Generation are 1) they were raised in a child focused era where they received more attention and continued feedback than their previous generation and 2) it is easier than ever to become a star in your own right with the rise of reality shows and instant video to the internet. To translate this need to work and home, they need quick valuable feedback to help them grow in their skills and managers should take the opportunity to showcase their younger workers. They were hired for a reason so let others know what that reason is. This is a great opportunity to do an assessment of the value every team member brings to the department. Without public recognition and the support of new skills, this generation will stagnate and eventually leave a work environment. Taking an interest in building the iPod Generation by recognizing the talents they bring to the table is the first step in creating loyalty and commitment.

The iPod Generation has seen the result of blind acceptance therefore they require an understanding of their direction. They have been the subject of misjudgment therefore they treasure the opportunity to be valued for their talents. Finally, they live in a fast world and expect fast results. The three keys to connecting to them and fulfilling these needs are:

• Share the "why" behind the "what" and you will build respect
• Reach out in genuine interest and you will build trust
• Recognize efforts and value and you will build loyalty

This generation is the future of our culture and our business. Connecting is the only option for success.

Would your company or office benefit from a personalized communication training program? Contact Linda at 713/208-2015 or linda@lindastiles.com

The above was reprinted with permission from Linda Stiles. Be sure to look for Linda's book Speaking of Success in the near future.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 07:15AM.

RSVP at www.hwcoc.org

Would you like to meet new friends and referral sources?

Join the Business Over Breakfast meeting of the Houston West Chamber of Commerce (www.hwcoc.org) at 7:15 AM in the Memorial Hermann-Memorial City Hospital at 921 Gessner (be sure to enter from the Frostwood entrance)

The next BUSINESS OVER BREAKFAST event is:

August 15th

Join us and learn about Networking in REVERSE

Reservations are not required, but it would be the polite thing to do, so RSVP to www.hwcoc.org

A Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt when a small boy spoke us with "My mother looked back once while she was driving and she turned into a telephone pole."

Little Bradley and his family were having Sunday dinner at his grand-mother's house. Everyone was seated around the table as the food was being served. When little Bradley received his plate, he immediately started eating. "Bradley, wait until we say our prayer" was his parental admonishment. Bradley responded "I do not have to." His mother quicky responded "Of course you do, Bradley, we say a prayer before eating at our house." Bradley explained his point with the response "That is our house, but this is Grandma's house and she knows how to cook."

A Sunday School teacher asked one of her students "Do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?" The student quicky responded "NO - how could he with only two worms?"

A pastor's five-year-old daughtyer noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head for a moment before starting his sermon. One day, the daughter asked her father why he paused in that manner. The pastor, in his most pastoral manner and beeming with pride, answered "Well, I am asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon." With that answer, the daughter responded "How come He doesn't do it?"

Do you have a cute pearl of wisdom from your child? Let me hear from you for the August edition of Motivating Moments in a Minute

What is marketing? Simply put, marketing is all of the activities taken to get someone who is interested in trading dollars for a product/service to contact you in some way (instead of one of your competitors).

How are you making this happen? What is your marketing strategy? Is the strategy you are using effective? Is it bringing customers to your door? Are prospects buying from you? If you answered, "No" to these questions, you may not be employing the right marketing strategies to bring customers in and get them to buy from you. If that is the case, you need to spend some time re-designing your marketing so it works.

Answer "Yes" or "No" to the following:

We have at least 10 marketing strategies active at all times.

Our marketing message addresses our target market and their interests DIRECTLY.

Our marketing message is consistent across all mediums that we use.

All of our marketing tells the prospect exactly what to do next in making contact with us.

Our marketing message is dramatically different from our competitors.

We communicate with past customers on a regular basis to ensure that they come back again and again.

Marketing is where business starts. If you don't have great marketing strategies in place, you won't be in business for very long or very successfully.

For marketing that works, you must first develop a marketing plan. To do this, you must:

Develop and define your product/service.

Get the word out to get new customers.

Plan how you will keep your current and previous customers coming back.

As you are developing your marketing plan, you must remember that for it to be successful, all marketing should be focused on the customers' needs. There are only two reasons why people buy, to decrease pain or to increase pleasure. EVERYTHING should be focused on the customers' needs.

Interestingly, we tend to look at our products - rather than the customers' needs! Consider how much more successful we will be when we STOP looking at what we HAVE and start looking at it from a customer perspective. EVERYTHING is about the customer. Begin now by determining how your product/service addresses the needs of your customers.

Now you are ready to deisgn your marketing plan using powerful strategies that are focused on your customers' needs!

Kathy Bowersox Quantum Leap Success Coaching

www.quantumleapsuccesscoach.com

713/899-8615

©Copyright 2007 by Kathleen A. Bowersox, M.Ed., LPC, LPBC - Additional information: kasox@houston.rr.com. Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full: ©Copyright 2007 by Kathleen A. Bowersox, M.Ed., LPC, LPBC. All rights reserved.

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25 (NIV)

Now...reach out to someone today with an unexpected kindness.

• Soaring with the Eagles vs. Pecking with the Chickens
(A motivational program to help us achieve more!)
• A Woman's Place Is In The Home
(A program that profiles the fastest growing demographic group of home buyers - the single female)
• Referring a Referral - where to find the "best" referrals
(An interactive program designed to help us re-think about the "best" source of referrals)
• Your 30 Seconds of Fame - Mastering Your Elevator Speech
(A valuable practice tool to help our networking efforts)
• Understanding Your Credit Scores
(A program to help educate in the impact of our credit scores on our everyday lives)
• Build the Buzz
(A very informative program on how loyal customers become a volunteer sales force and promote your company)
• Have A Nice Day
(Learn how a corporate image enhances your sales opportunities and creates repeat customers)
• Stolen IDs - Prevention and Cure...a personal story
(A program to help us prevent our IDs from being stolen and how to correct our credit history if our ID has been stolen)

JOE STILES has over 20 years mortgage experience and lives in West Houston with his wife, Linda, a dynamic professional speaker and communications trainer (www.lindastiles.com). Joe earned a BBA degree in Marketing from the University of Houston/Downtown, where he was awarded membership in the Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma honor societies. Joe is also a graduate of the School of Mortgage Banking at Northwestern University. Joe remains active in the Houston community through Second Baptist Church and numerous civic organizations.

Joe frequently speaks at many Houston-area organizations and firms on Credit Scores, stolen IDs - Prevention & Cure and several other funny and motivating topics.

Network Funding is a Houston, TX based mortgage banking firm that has 160 branches in 32 states.

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