That doesn’t mean a little freshening might be unwelcome, though, and that’s basically what the folk at Acura have done: take a very nice vehicle and make it even more compelling.

On the outside, the 2010 MDX has been given a new grille that matches other models’ – such as the TSX and TL – better, and it works better here than it does there. There’s also a new front fascia, side sills, a tweaked hood and the rear fascia is now matched with “rolled edge polished stainless-steel exhaust finishers”. The taillights now have brighter LED’s as well.

Acura has also worked on the ride and handling aspects of the vehicle by revising the power steering system, making the body more rigid and giving it stiffer rear trailing arm mountings. Not that Acura’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system was a slouch before….

Inside, they’ve put in more Milano leather and given the MDX a thicker sport steering wheel with a very welcome set of paddle shifters behind it. There are new gauges and a power tailgate and – in another extremely welcome touch – they’ve reworked the buttons on the center stack, making it less intimidating than the previous acres of buttons, knobs and stuff.

The refinements are small stuff overall, but they work, with the new front end and the reworked center stack being the most noticeable and welcome.

They’ve also added the availability of ventilated front seats, a new full VGA eight inch navigation screen, a new rear view camera (now with three choices of what you can rubberneck at while backing up; all it needs now is satellite TV!) and an upgraded rear entertainment system that’s controllable from the front seats.

The terrific ELS audio system has been augmented with a 15 gig hard disk drive and USB port connectivity. It was a killer system before and it still is, though it still won’t play SACD discs as anything more than regular CD’s. This is complaining about a rather obscure aspect of the audio world, as you can tell by the lack titles you can buy in stores, but you’d think if they’re going to handle DVD-Audio discs natively (which they do) then they’d also include its opposite number high quality audio format.

Maybe that’s a 2011 tweak. I hope so.
My MDX came about as loaded as they can, including such new stuff as a Blind Spot Information System that puts a quite illuminating icon on the A pillar. Using the A pillar makes the most sense because it puts the icon closer to your field of vision than the outside mirror – and let’s face it, if you need a blind spot sensor then chances are you haven’t been giving the proper attention to those mirrors anyway.

My tester also included Adaptive Cruise Control, which in this incarnation uses a radar emitter behind the front grille to monitor the speed and distance of the slowpoke ahead of you. If you’re bearing down on oblivious motorist at breakneck speed, it slows you down automatically and keeps you a preset distance behind it. If you pull out to pass, the MDX returns to its preprogrammed breakneck speed.

There’s also Acura’s Collision Mitigation Braking System, which they say is designed to “Reduce the likelihood of a collision by alerting the driver to potential collision situations and activating the brakes if the system determines a likely collision is unavoidable.” It’s a kind of reverse Darwin Award candidate strategy, helping to keep blissfully unaware drivers in the gene pool.

Heck, if they’d offer adaptive automated steering you could take a book to read while the MDX drives you around.

MDX also features a new, 300 horsepower (with 270 lb.-ft. of torque) 3.7 liter V6 engine that is not only plenty powerful, but is also as smooth as you’d expect from the folk at Honda and Acura. Acura says it gives better performance and gas mileage than before, and it’s coupled to a new Sequential SportShift six speed automatic transmission – up one gear since I last drove the MDX – that’s also extremely smooth. A new multi-clutch torque converter enhances the already-more-than-adequate acceleration and the paddle shifters are great at helping you control the vehicle almost as if it were a manual, but without the clutch.

And you can access the paddles even while the vehicle is in automatic mode, giving you instant control when you want it, after which it goes “back to sleep” in automatic mode if you don’t keep the spurs to ‘er. It’s the same way Porsche does it and I love the way it gives you the best of all worlds, unless you’re bound and determined to have a clutch pedal.

Acura’s press material says the transmission also comes with Grade Logic Control (I could’ve used that in high school!), Shift Hold Control, Cornering G Shift Control (which somehow sounds vaguely sexual) and Hill Start Assist, making it the most advanced automatic transmission offered by Acura, they say.

A front-mount transmission fluid cooler, the company says, supports the MDX’s 5,000-pound towing capacity.

According to Acura, the SH-AWD system uses torque vectoring to distribute power not only between the front and rear sets of wheels, but also between the left and right rear wheels individually. It’s meant to reduce understeer and help when cornering, and it works.

The MDX features independent suspension front and back, using MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link buttock sling with isolated subframes. For 2010, Acura says, the MDX uses stiffer rear trailing arm mounts.

An Active Damper System is available that gives you two driver-selectable settings – Comfort and Sport – that, not surprisingly, tighten or loosen the vehicle depending on your driving bent. Comfort mode gives “A more relaxed driving experience”, while the Sport mode “Prioritizes handling response and vehicle body control to allow for spirited driving with high levels of precision and vehicle composure.”

The nice thing about Sport mode is that it’s sporty without being jarring, just as a luxury vehicle should be.

Acura has also stuck new and lighter 18 inch, five spoke aluminum-alloy wheels on the 2010 MDX; you can get 19 inch, seven spoke ones if you prefer.

It’s definitely a big vehicle, with three rows of seats and all the bulk that entails. And even though it feels big, the MDX and its SH-AWD handles very well, with a surprisingly good turning circle. It’s a vehicle you can drive all day and not get too antsy. Well, the rearmost row is only suitable for kids or mothers in law.

Speaking of “comfort mode,” the MDX features a 10 way power adjustable driver seat with an eight way adjustable front passenger seat. The outboard seats in the second row mimic the style and lateral support of the front seats. The third row is still a bench, though it’s more comfortable than most park benches I’ve experienced.

Convenience and cargo features include under-floor storage in the back (a power-operated rear tailgate is now standard as well). And you can fold down the second and third row seats to use your MDX as a utility van.

Other standard equipment includes a power moonroof, power windows, leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel, tri-zone climate control system with humidity control and Bluetooth wireless telephone interface.

The second generation MDX was a fine vehicle when it premiered back about 2007. For 2010, it’s even better – and the Acura designers have managed to make it look better than before, which hasn’t always been the case with their current designs. What you end up with, then, is a fine vehicle that looks and acts luxurious without frightening away pedestrians and other onlookers.

The Acura MDX starts at  $42,230 U.S./$51,990 Canadian.

RIM devices made their reputation based on a business integration platform centred on a QWERTY based interface, one that is comfortable and familiar to many. Their application designs reflect this reality, whereas the iPhone has been, as is Apple’s style, a more touch and tap style. It can be argued that one may be better than the other, but it really comes down to what you’re using the device for. Personally, I like the RIM products for the creation of email and text,; the Apple methodology seems more akin to more visual apps like mapping and surfing. It all depends on what you need to do on a daily basis.

As of this writing, RIM showcases 220 business specific BAPS on its website, recognising no doubt its primary audience. In addition to  the usual Sales Force Automation, Contact Management and Expense tracking options, s few really neat little jewels stand out for this old road warrior. A business card capturing BAP really caught my eye. I cannot count how many cards lost, misplaced or needed but they were sitting in a drawer in my office when I needed them. I`d rather have them at hand. There`s also a cool online meeting tool (in HD no less!) that can allow you to “attend“ a meeting with Head Office without taking you needlessly off the road. There`s also BAPS that provide strong integration with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, although that`s not totally unique to the Blackberry.

One thng I`d put on wish list is greater integration to an SAP back office system, given the wide use of that software in the corporate community, although I`m sure it would be argued that with the porting of SAP data to Websphere this may not be necessary. Still, as an old SAP hound I`d like the ability to hit the system directly, but this a minor pique I suppose.

It`s hard to pick a winner in the business realm between Apple and RIM…they both offer a wide range of capable and useful tools for the mobile professional. The Blackberry platform though, in my present opinion, seems more suited to a pure business application, likely owing to their past focus on corporate users. If however, a large entertainment and diversion capability is important to you, don`t discount the iPhone. And face it, the interface is a work of technological art.

Really though, I think we`re only scratching the surface at this point. I would want a flexible and convenient plan that minimised my data charges (as they can run up really fast) and provides an affordable, hassles free migration to the next 4G products when they come available. Just like XBOX and PS3 can perform wildly more than current software pushes them 4G will make the current generation of mobile technology seem merely amusing.

The new Blackberry`s are wonderful and fascinating products, and can if used to their potential raise your productivity levels far beyond that of a simple laptop or regular cell phone.

Drawing on lessons no doubt gleaned from the experience of iTunes Apple was foresighted enough to release Application Development Kits to the programming community at large encouraging creative programmers to develop applications providing specific solutions to iPhone users’ wishes. There are now thousands of them available. Many are purely entertainment based, highly popular with younger owners. Many are useful lifestyle tools with wide appeal, such as cooking and entertainment location directions and information. The business user, however, needs applications that address day to day productivity, and in this regard the iPhone becomes a true advantage for mobile salespeople and executives. The ability to connect to corporate systems in a VPN-like environment, find a sales call in an unfamiliar local, generate sales reports and manage prospects and quotes is where the real power of these apps lie. We’re here now, and things will only get better.

Knowing that many companies work on an Oracle backbone, Apple has accepted a number of useful applications that can connect to an in house corporate network and retrieve Oracle database information and display it in ways that assist a user in daily activities. Sales force automation and customer tracking are just two of these. More generic apps addressing scheduling, account management, CRM and mobile billing round out a rich offering for the mobile user. Apple’s slick email and contact management capabilities round out these offerings, and with web browsing capabilities you’re getting close to a netbook that you can hold in the palm of your hand. GPS is useful as well, but my guess is that as factory installed navigation systems become more ubiquitous this app will have somewhat limited relevance.

I shouldn’t discount the entertainment options too much, though. As a rep on the road some time ago, I had a fair amount of downtime in the evenings where I just didn’t feel like being constantly “at work.” More and more major newspapers and media outlets are now reconfiguring from old web formats to iPhone compatibility. The user interface on the iPhone is, face it, a joy once you get used to it. These apps are a bonus that shouldn’t be ignored.

Personal productivity is a growing draw as well. CIBC is pushing hard on its iPhone interface and other banks will no doubt try to raise the bar. When you spend large amounts of time away from home base you need to be able to manage your personal affairs efficiently on your own time.  Likewise, more business apps are emerging allowing a manger to handle approvals for budgeting and HR issues on the road, reducing the time required to be in an office or other fixed location. Face it folks, while we’ve been talking about telecommuting for a long time it’s really been in its infancy until now. Companies are increasingly evaluating the economics of large fixed offices with empty desks (belonging to the mobile sales force) and will push to downsize facilities for greater efficiencies. It’s these apps and technologies that will make this truly possible.

The future of the mobile workforce is here, and Apple is a leading propagator of the technology required. And they make products that are fun to use with very simple learning curves. Pay attention.

And we haven’t even started to talk about 4G…

Consider this as the real priority:  “Job 1 is to create the environment where the customer wants to do business with you”.  Why?  Because if you don’t create that environment based on Relationship, Trust, and Comfort, your chances of hitting revenue targets will be compromised at best.

Many complain that the telecom/wireless industries have become commoditized, and that our products and services are simply commodities … easy to believe in today’s competitive market and tough economy.  The problem remains one of understanding our tendency to forget that in fact we as salespeople are our number one product … People don’t do business with a particular company.  They do business with you.  In truth, when you lose sight of the importance of you in the sale, and focus only on products and services, it’s not so much that these things are really commodities, it’s more likely that you in practice have commoditized the customer!

“Successful selling is not product push, it’s relationship pull.”

We must establish relationships first, and “earn the right” to recommend our products and services as they apply to our customers’  needs and wants.  We must set ourselves apart as true professionals by exercising a consultative approach in our customer dialogue.  They want to feel that we really care about them and their challenges more than we do about selling our product … that we are in fact their partner with a legitimate and sincere focus on them.  This is where you start to separate value from price.

It’s all about attitude. Tthe pose you strike, the posture you assume, the perspective you choose, the behaviour you model and the temperament you display all speak volumes about your attitude.  It’s your attitude that will determine your ability to address Job 1.  Your attitude will be the number one factor in the customer’s mind in judging whether or not to buy from you.  They’ll make very quick judgement on the “Factors of Your Credibility”:

Appearance – Including clothing (dress for success), hygiene, facial expression (smile), handshake, eye contact, posture …

Knowledge – Of your customer first, products and services second

People Skills – It’s more important for the customer to feel comfortable with us as people than for us to feel comfortable with them.  How adaptable are you to the different styles/types of people you deal with?

Honesty & Integrity – Selling the right product to the right customer; doing what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it.

Are these fundamental things you already know?  Likely.  But it’s the basics that set us apart as people.  It’s relationship that adds value when product differentiation is often indiscernible between suppliers.  Remember, we’re not in the telecom/wireless business serving people, we’re in the people business providing wireless solutions.

George Bernard Shaw, the great Irish playwright and philosopher offered:  “The people who succeed in life and business look for the circumstances they need to do so, and when they can’t find them, they create them.”

Start to create these circumstances by continuously running a “check-up from the neck up” on attitude, personal credibility and accountability to higher standards for your number one product … you!

Make your success non-negotiable by always addressing Job 1 and above all …

Keep aiming high

By Paul McCabe – Compass Performance Solutions

In this and future Travel Insights articles, I hope to be your guide to break through the clutter and provide you with some insights on everything from travel trends, hot and emerging destinations, how not to get ripped off by shady travel suppliers, ways to save money, and useful travel tips and resources to get you on your way – whether that be for business or pleasure.

For more than twenty years I have been intimately involved in the travel and tourism industry promoting and marketing destinations, airlines, resorts, and other tourism suppliers. This career has given me the wonderful opportunity to explore the world from cruising in the Galapagos Islands, relaxing on the idyllic Caribbean islands, riding a Harley through the Outback in Australia, trekking through the jungles in Uganda to observe gorillas, bartering with shopkeepers in the bustling markets in Muscat, or visiting centuries’ old towns and villages of Europe. Visiting all these destinations and working closely with travel industry suppliers – airlines, hotels, car rental firms, tourist boards, travel agencies – I’ve learned many things and some hard lessons along the way.

It’s my goal in this column to raise your travel awareness and be your beacon of useful information so you can make informed decisions that will save you time and money when planning your next trip.

Now with a daily media onslaught of bad economic news, your investment portfolio taking a beating, the Canadian dollar losing its value, the last thing you are probably thinking about is travelling. My advice – travel!

This advice is not meant to minimize the real and true hardships that many across Canada are feeling right now in this ailing economy. If you have just been laid off escaping to the Caribbean may not seem like a priority! But it may be the perfect solution in stimulating the economy and here’s why.

The travel and tourism industry is the world’s largest employer. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, 79,131,000 jobs were directly attributed to the travel industry and another 232,637,000 indirectly in 2007. In Canada, government revenues from tourism activities reached 19.7 billion dollars in 2007 with total tourism spending $70.8 billion. Now that’s economic impact!

If people don’t travel as was evident after 9/11 (remember Canada 3000?), thousands of jobs are lost. It’s not just the big airlines or hotel chains but mom and pop motorcoach operators, the waiter who brings you that tasty dish at your favourite restaurant or the person working the rides at the local amusement park.

So what’s this all mean for you – it’s a golden opportunity if you have the means available to travel. In the past few weeks airlines have launched seat sales to various destinations including Canadian winter favourites like the Caribbean, Florida, Cuba and Mexico. The tour operators are offering incredible bargains and valued added incentives to the sun destinations as well as to Europe, Asia, Australia, and ski destinations. Cruise lines have responded to lower bookings with reduced prices, customer perks, scheduling shifts, and removal of fuel surcharges.

So lots of good news for those travelling in the next few months. This is also a great time since lower demand means less crowds and a more personalized travel experience. This is especially true with more long-haul and personalized trips – like an African safari, or a culinary/wine tour in Tuscany. If you have been waiting for that “dream” holiday this may be the best time to take advantage with lower prices. You also have more power to negotiate some extras – like throwing in a free breakfast, staying an extra night for free, or obtaining a room upgrade. Many travel suppliers are willing to do this with less demand as they want to retain you as a future customer – just ask.

Sunquest/Holiday House/Fun Sun’s(www.sunquest.ca) – launched a RainCheck promotion – hot on the heels from itravel2000’s snow day promotion last year.  The RainCheck policy is if your vacation is rained out (eg. rains ½ inch or more each day for 4 days of a one week vacation) you get credit for your next vacation and receive a voucher for an equivalent amount.

Daytona Beach has launched again its Canadian Sand Dollars promotion (www.csd.daytonabeach.com) where Canadians can get discounts on accommodation, dining, activities, shopping, spa treatments, and more at 130 participating suppliers.

Air Canada Vacations (www.aircanadavacations.com) is offering Buy One, Get One Free on select packages to various sun destinations including Cuba, Aruba, Cancun, Jamaica, and Costa Rica. It’s better in the Bahamas (www.bahamas.com) – and for your pocketbook too! Canadians can obtain a $200 US rebate for trips booked to Nassau/Paradise Island – this was a previous promotion but check if they extend it.

Walt Disney World introduced a Buy 4, Get 3 promotion earlier this winter. Stay 7 nights but only pay for four nights as well as the attractions pass. Check out www.disney.ca for the latest.

You can be sure there will be many more offers especially if you travel outside of the traditionally busy March school break periods. There will be some good deals on Barbardos this winter as WestJet has launched new service there. Keep an eye out when airlines launch new service as this means there will be usually be good deals.

For those not needing the warm rays, Europe is a great time to visit – airfares are cheaper, cities and towns are less crowded (in the non-ski popular areas) and hotels are looking to fill rooms. It’s the perfect time to visit London for a theatre and museum cultural escape. Crotia, Poland and the Czech Republic are becoming more popular spots for Canadians. Need a spa break – check out some spas in Hungary. SpaFinder.com is an excellent resource on everything spa or a Canadian based site, www.traveltowellness.com written by spa guru Anne Dimon.

If you can’t venture far check out your own local hotels – many offer special deals especially during weekends when they don’t have the business travellers.

Keep that wanderlust and keep on travelling. You will feel better for it and so will the economy

By Chris Ryall

Corporate Travel Solutions
4460 Highway 7 East
Unionville ON L4W 1A2
Tel: (1 866) 872-8448
http://www.travellovers.ca

A beautiful store with lots of products and no one to buy them doesn’t spell success in any business book that I’ve seen.  We’ve probably all seen and laughed at the placard:  “I have so much work to do…why do these damn customers keep getting in my way?”  The last laugh, however, is on us.  Customers are equipped with an inner signal and a green light goes off when they feel they’re being treated with respect and concern.  A red light blinks with the specter of indifference.  Green:  customers return; red: customers leave.  So, Why are customers worth so much?

What’s the price tag associated with an empty store?  Or the cost of having last week’s customer shopping at your competitor’s establishment?  Formulas exist that predict what a loyal customer might spend over the course of a ten year period.   The one-time only customer might cost your business tens of thousands of dollars.

Business games teach us how to make money.  Marketing games tell us how to attract customers.  What’s needed is a game that teaches us how to keep customers.   This article offers one and it’s called “Customers for Keeps”.

Our game begins with a couple of simple premises:

• Our business:  enriching our customers’ lives
• The measures:  revenues, returning customers, referrals

The key is not to get the goal and the measures reversed.  Too many people think we’re in the business of making money.    What’s wrong with that?  Why does it matter?  Well, if we focus on enriching customers’ lives….the queue of returning customers will contribute to the company coffers.   But if we focus on making money, we usually lose sight of the customer, the real reason we’re in business, and instead focus on ourselves which causes us to miss the target as well.

So, how do we play this game of “Customers for Keeps”?  Despite the current winter weather, venture into the future and think Spring.  Think Baseball.  Picture the baseball diamond that we’ll call The Customer Relationship Diamond.  Like that venerable sport, our objective is to advance the batter round the bases.  Central to our game and located at the pitcher’s mound is communication.  What relationship can be nurtured without dialogue and conversation?  Customers reach the  “at bat” position through advertising, word-of-mouth and memorable past experiences.  From this point on, it’s the job of the service provider to advance the runner.   First Base is “Hosting”.  Hosting a customer is the same as welcoming an honoured guest to our home:  we anticipate their needs and prepare accordingly.  We treat them with an interest that borders on the obsessive.  The astute retailer sees his establishment through the eyes of the customer and offers policies, systems, information and comforts that communicate “you’re special”.

Second base is labeled “Understanding”, oftentimes the hardest base of all to reach.  To get our customer from first base to second base, we must ask questions and listen to extract what’s in the customer’s mind and transfer it to our understanding.   Why is this important?  Consider the following: Most customers don’t know what they want…they start with a vague idea, and they look to us for assistance in helping them get clarity.  In our baseball analogy, too many players try to steal second base, usually with predictable results.  “You’re OUT!”,  screams the umpire.  What does stealing look like in our retail game?  It’s assuming that we know what the customer really wants, and we rush to “sell” him rather than help the customer through his thinking process. What questions can a service provider ask?  Questions about what they think they want, why it’s important to them, what’s driving them to make a purchase, what their issues and concerns are, what they’re currently considering, who else is affected by the purchase, what their interests are…..  There’s so much for the excellent retailer to discover if only s/he would ask.

Let’s say our retailer passes the test and advances the runner.  Third base is about “Assisting”.  Armed with the information, insight, ideas and expectations of the customer, the retailer is now equipped to offer information and alternatives.  Consider that customers don’t want to be ‘sold something”, but they would like to be part of the process, to be involved, and to be treated to the possibilities that a knowledgeable service provider has to offer.  Ultimately, the final decision is that of the customer.  When retailers see their role as working in partnership with the client so that the best decision is arrived at, customers know they’ve found an exemplary retailer.

Does the excellent service provider stop there?  Never!  Leaving a customer at third base is a missed opportunity that may cost you the game.  How do we get the customer across the plate,  or what our game calls the  “Keeping” base.  It’s an act of proactivity where the retailer contacts the customer, sale or no sale, to check the following: where is the customer now in his decision, how is the solution working for her… The real message that’s conveyed:  the service provider cares.  A pretty powerful message.

So, that’s the game.  It’s a simple one but so often misplayed.  The rules are clear.  Focus on your customer first and foremost.  Reach the bases in sequence.  You win when your customer wins.   The penalty for poor performance: leaving a customer stranded creates an opportunity for your competition.

Customers are hard to find and they’re harder to keep.  The quality of your products isn’t enough to earn their loyalty.  But the treatment you display, before, during and after the sale, will differentiate you.  Try it and see what happens.

By Cheryl Crumb

For most of us this has meant some flavour of laptop computer. Yet I have long held that laptops are much like infants. Small in and of themselves, but by the time you gather up all the stuff you need to tote around with them they can be a burden. True, current generation laptops pack a punch that desktops of only a while back could only dream of, but unless you have a top of the line model you still have a device with more physical heft and capability than you likely need. When I hit the road I need to get email, connect to my office, deliver presentations and do basic word processing and spreadsheet operations. That is the case for most of us. And that friends, is the central case for the Netbook, and why they will grow in adoption over the coming years.

The common Netbook configuration today is a smallish and thin notebook styled device with a roughly 10 inch screen, 1GB RAM and 160GB hard drive. Decent models can be bought for under $400 loaded with some flavour of Windows 7. That is more than sufficient to run standard office software and a few specialty programs for graphics editing and some casual entertainment stuff. I have a hard time recalling when I ever really needed anything else on the road. As the whole selling point of a Netbook is size and weight advantage, they generally use accessories that are as stripped down as possible. With battery power finally reaching realistic capacities (keep in mind that WiFi is a killer) having access to AC is less of an issue than ever. The fact that they take up less desk (or lap) space is an obvious plus.

The aforementioned observation came home to me recently at a retail assignment I enjoyed. I was using a decent laptop on a fairly small desk and was constantly having to shift it around to manipulate documents and product brochures. Frankly, it was a pain in the you know where. Another chap had a Netbook that did everything I had to do and it left him virtually unencumbered. Sure, the screen was smaller, but one gets used to this very quickly. He had been a mobile sales rep for some years prior and he saw the benefits of portability and convenience. To me, the advantage was undeniable.

I travel a lot, often on aircraft for short periods of time. I can get by with a very small kit of clothing and personal effects. The difference between a laptop and a Netbook is often the difference between one or two pieces of carry on luggage, not an insignificant consideration in these days of security related restrictions. Anything I can do do the smooth my way through check in, security and egress at my destination is a bonus. A few pounds and smaller footprint is a huge advantage, especially if I have to tote around my stuff as I do my business calls. A Netbook can mean all the difference between a burden and a simple necessity.

No doubt standard laptops will continue to get thinner and lighter, at some cost. Yet for now a Netbook is the perfect solution for mobile computing for most business people (and students) who want to have sufficient computing capacity and maximum convenience for day to day operations.

You owe it to yourselves to give this option a good hard look.

The STTB will be paid to eligible Ontario tax filers in three tax-free instalments in June 2010,
December 2010 and June 2011. The maximum benefit amount is $300 for single people and
$1,000 for families (including single parents).

The benefit payments to single people will be reduced if their adjusted net income is greater than
$80,000. The benefit payments to families will be reduced if their adjusted family net income is
greater than $160,000. The reduction will be equal to 5% of the income amount that is greater
than the threshold amounts. For example, a single person with adjusted net income of $81,000
would receive three benefit payments of $50 each. Single people with income over $82,000
would not receive a benefit.

The table below shows the maximum benefits and the income ranges over which the benefit is phased-out.

To qualify for the STTB, you are required to file a 2009 income tax return for the June 2010 and
December 2010 payments, and a 2010 return for the June 2011 payment. If both you and your
spouse or common-law partner file a tax return, the benefit payments will be made to the
individual whose return is assessed by the CRA first.

This TAX TIP deals with a wide variety of issues and the information is general in nature. As each person’s circumstances are unique, readers are urged to consult W&P prior to acting on the basis of material in this Tax Tip. If you have any questions regarding the content of this or any other Tax Tips, please contact the W&P Tax Group.

675 Cochrane Drive Suite 505 East Tower
Markham ON L3R 0B8
Tel: (416) 969-8166 • Fax (416) 969-8167
www.williamsandpartners.com

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Please report any bugs you may come across to me, and I’ll address them immediately. Thanks for your visit, enjoy your stay!

By the way, if you need graphic design, web design, audio engineering, video production, or an excellent radio show host, I’m your guy. Check out my portfolio @ http://www.DCS905.ca/design/ or just shoot me an email: DCS905design [at] gmail.com

Cheers!