Winning Spirit Magazine November-December 2016 | Page 2

MESSAGE FROM PRESTIGE FINANCIAL PRESIDENT BRYANT HENRIE THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING A DIFFERENCE We begin every job posting by telling Our customers come from very difficult financial potential Prestige Financial employees situations, and their trust is vital in continuing our work. that their number one responsibility will Often they are in those situations due to unforeseen, be to protect the legal, financial, and and sometimes tragic, life events. It might be due to moral well-being of the company. As prolonged illness and the staggering medical debt that members of the Larry H. Miller Group followed, or a drawn-out divorce with high legal costs. of Companies, we aren’t asked to give Where others might take advantage of a difficult situation, up our humanity to do our job. We are we pride ourselves in offering a product that helps asked to find ways for our work to make customers to get back on the right track. a difference in the lives of our customers, our co-workers, and our communities. This is something that sets us apart. One of the main ways we do this is by structuring our process in a way that helps customers to gain the knowledge and create the habits they need In the highly-regulated realm of finance, it’s to live a financially stable life. Consistently easy to focus on how rules and regulations making payments on time is one of the make our work more difficult. It is important to remember that they exist to protect people and institutions. Protecting the legal well-being of the company helps us gain trust from our customers, our business partners, and our community. Earning that trust is easier said than done. No one is perfect. And neither is any company. So there’s no point in being ashamed of our imperfections. They are opportunities to learn, grow, and improve. We have taken a proactive approach to discovering our weaknesses by hiring a team of outside experts to comb through our processes and help us learn what we can do to stay THERE IS NO POINT IN BEING ASHAMED OF OUR IMPERFECTIONS. THEY ARE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN, GROW, AND IMPROVE. compliant. The last thing we want is to end up on the evening news. best things people can do to improve their credit standing. We help customers build this habit by offering Rate Reduction Rewards, a program that gradually lowers their interest rate as they continue to make payments on time. And our customers love it. One customer from Texas recently commented, “I am so excited to participate in your Rate Reduction Rewards. This is like no other finance company that I’ve worked with. Thank you!” We’ve been successful in helping many customers improve their situations. After a couple of years of making payments, our customers’ credit scores improve at roughly 1.5 times the industry average. We have done our job right when we’ve We also believe the best investment we can make in our future helped customers build new financial habits to put is an investment in our employees. It’s part of our human nature themselves in a higher credit bracket. to desire improvement and recognition. We strive to provide employees opportunities with top-notch training to gain new skills and become more proficient in old ones. We take time to appreciate our employees and the growth they achieve through monthly appreciation lunches. Guiding Principle #1: Protect the legal, financial, and moral well-being of the company. Larry Miller was often asked what he considered to be the most desirable attributes in an employee. Among the many traits he could name, he listed three at the top of his list: integrity, reliability, and consistency. In protecting the legal, financial, and moral well-being of the company, we have to act with integrity, reliability, and consistency for ourselves, our customers, and the company. As Larry would say, “Treat the company like you owned it.” As we continue to direct our focus on protecting the legal, financial, and moral well-being of the company, we assure our ability to enrich the lives of our employees, customers, and the community now and into the future. WS Discussion ideas for managers, leaders, and teams: 1. What does it mean to protect the legal, financial, and moral well-being of the company where you work? 2. How would you react and what would you say/do if a customer, co-worker, or manager asked you to do something that compromised your integrity? 3. How does this guiding principle affect the reputation and long-term success of your company/department?