WELCOME...to our new Motivating Moments newsletter. I am glad you are here and I hope you enjoy 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

A client who is satisfied is like a hidden sales person for your company. Their 'word-of-mouth' endorsement can pull a lot of weight when they tell others about the great service you can provide.

By developing a relationship with a first-time client, you are building trust. Rather than "sell" to a client, help them "buy" from you by

• Always be honest and tell the truth
• Serve as a resource to a prospect even if a sale is not immediate
• Keep in touch with your prospects with hand- written notes
• Learn when to speak and when to listen.
• Listen twice as much as you speak; e.g., 2 ears + 1 mouth
• Offer referrals to your prospective clients for supporting services
• Send your prospective new client referrals for his/her business

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)

BUSINESS OVER BREAKFAST 2007 CALENDAR

MARCH 21st

Your Communication Image

Linda Stiles, Stiles & Associates (The tongue is our strongest muscle – how we use it determines our impact)

APRIL 18th

A Fun-Filled Networking Workshop - Hands-on practice of your networking skills/b>

RSVP to www.hwcoc.org

Many of us will admit to being nervous when presenting to an organization or group of people. Early in my career, I was certainly one of the nervous nellies when it came to public speaking. All of that has now changed...thanks to the Dale Carnegie Sales Course that I completed a few years ago. While I did not win the class Sales Champ award, I did receive an award for "The One That Contributed The Most To The Class," which was voted on by my peers.

My wife, Linda, took the path of Toast Masters to jump start her public speaking career ( see www.lindastiles.com). The punch line of this story is that there are sources to help us overcome our natural nervous tendency for speaking in public.

What are you doing to Stand Up to Stand Out?

In my public speaking, I take generic topics into corporate offices, civic associations, homeowners association and sororities and fraternities. These topics are fun-filled, interactive, educational and inspiring. Some of the sample topics are:

• Referring a Referral - How to get and give referrals
• Your 30 Seconds of Fame - Mastering your elevator speech
• Understanding Your Credit Scores
• Stolen IDs - Prevention and Cures...a personal story
• Soaring with the Eagles vs. Pecking with the Chickens

I do not use these contributions as a pure Joe Stiles sales presentation, but, having said that, who do you think the audience sees as the expert on the presentation Understanding Your Credit Scores?

Make the effort to improve your public speaking skills and STAND UP TO STAND OUT in your field - you will be glad you did.

We all know the value of checking our credit report on an annual basis. How many know to get a truly FREE credit report, we need to go to www.annualcreditreport.com?

The three credit agencies (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) are required to annually offer each of us a free credit report to review our credit experience and reporting information. In reviewing our credit information, we, personally, learned that someone in CA had stolen my wife's ID. It has been over 8 months and we are still trying to clean up the mess.

When we have the credit report, it is VERY important to carefully review each line items and compare to our records. While the balances may not exactly agree, it should be very close due to the latest payment may not have been posted at the time the report was generated.

Any suspicious address or alias name should be immediately challenged IN WRITING and I recommend sending the letter by certified mail, return receipt requested. It is vital to keep copies of your correspondence, emails and specific information from any telephone conversations with the automated system. Good luck in reaching a real live talking, thinking and resolving-centered person by telephone.\

When a suspicious line items is discovered, it is important to understand which of the three credit agencies are reporting the particular debt. This will tell you how may letters to write asking for the deletion or clarification. The letter written to protest a line item should include as much information as possible to support your position. You should also ask the research and removal be concluded within 30 days with notice to you of the findings and action taken.

If you have not heard from the credit agency within 30 days, send a second follow-up letter with the same documentation.

Are you looking for more information on this important topic for your office? Be sure to ask me about the Lunch & Learn Program and how it benefit you...directly.

From Charles Swindall:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of "attitude" on life.

Attitude, to me, is more than just facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church or a home.

The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every dy regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, nor can we change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we CAN do is play on the one string we have and this is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it - And, so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

• Soaring with the Eagles vs. Pecking with the Chickens
• Referring a Referral - where to find the "best" referral sources
• Your 30 Seconds of Fame - Mastering Your Elevator Speech

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, Houston West Chamber of Commerce, West Houston Assistance Ministries (WHAM) 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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