The Sweeney Agency

About Cam Marston - Generational Expert and Motivational Speaker:

Cam Marston is the leading expert on the impact of generational characteristics and differences on the workplace and the marketplace. As an author, columnist, blogger, and lecturer, he imparts a clear understanding of how generational demographics are changing the landscape of business. Marston and his firm, Generational Insights, have provided research and consultation on generational issues to hundreds of companies and professional groups, ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations, as well as major professional associations, for over 15 years.

Marston’s books, articles, columns, and blog describe and analyze the major generations of our time: Matures (born before 1946), Baby Boomers, (born 1946-64), Generation X (born 1965-79), and Millennials (born 1980-2000). He explains how their generational characteristics and differences affect every aspect of business, including recruiting and retention, management and motivation, and sales and marketing.

His first book, Motivating The What's In It For Me? Workforce (2005), explores the characteristics and motivations that each generation brings to the workforce and suggests management tactics applicable to any business setting. His next book, Generational Insights (2010) is a guide to the best practices in managing generational issues. Generational Selling Tactics That Work (2011) is the first book-length study of generational approaches to sales and marketing.

Marston’s expertise has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the Chicago Tribune, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Money, and Forbes, as well as on Good Morning America and the BBC. He writes a monthly column for Business Alabama and InvestmentNews and has been a featured columnist in Agent’s Sales Journal, PROFIT Magazine, and Multi-Housing News, among others. His blog at GenerationalInsights.com tracks the latest changes and developments in generational issues and demographics.

As a consultant, Marston has provided generational insight and advice to leadership at the nation’s most prominent corporations, including American Express, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Kellogg, Coca-Cola, Macy’s, Warner Brothers, ESPN, Qualcomm, RE/MAX and Eli Lilly. He has also offered presentations and consultations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Army, as well as major professional associations such as the American Bankers Association and the Million Dollar Roundtable. He is an ongoing instructor at Belmont University.

Marston’s presentations are informative, engaging, and often humorous. He offers concrete demographic research that is tailored to his audience. But he enlivens the data with anecdotes, tales from the real business world, attention-grabbing visuals, and quips that make the message memorable. Marston’s clients consistently report that his research makes his programs relevant and his presentation style makes them interesting and fun.

Marston’s insights and expertise are the product of 15 years of research and consultation across a wide range of industries as well as his own early-career background in corporate sales and research. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University. He is a native and resident of Mobile, Alabama and a proud member of Generation X.

What Cam Marston Talks About:

Four Generations in the Workplace: Searching for Common Ground
For the first time in history, four distinct generations - Matures, Boomers, Xers, and Millennials - are employed sided by side in the workplace. With differing values and seemingly incompatible views on leadership, these generations have stirred up unprecedented conflict in the business world. Effective management of this generational divide is vital to longevity and success. In fact, it is the most important demand your company can make of its leaders.

In this engaging presentation, Cam Marston answers these questions and more. Learn how each generation developed its core values, how that manifests in the workplace today, and why they can all not only operate alongside each other, but do so with extraordinary success. This program provides the generational insight, concrete examples and specific approaches to help frustrated managers build the individual connections needed to boost employee performance and retention.

As you will learn, the only common ground is the intensity with which each generation holds fast to its value system. Understanding and respecting those generational biases are critical to bringing out the best in every employee.

Selling Across the Generations: Caveat Venditor (Seller Beware)
The first rule of selling is steadfast: Know your customer. With four distinct generations playing active roles in the buying decisions of companies worldwide, that tenet is increasingly difficult to fulfill. It is no longer enough to be personable and knowledgeable about your product. To succeed in today's business climate, you need to approach each buyer with an informed generational perspective - recognizing the underlying biases, values and expectations that pave the way to yes.

In this presentation, Cam Marston looks inside each generation's core values to identify what forms their buying decisions and gives you the understanding required to develop a solid sales process based on known generational biases and business preferences. Throughout the presentation you will see how companies today are effectively engaging generational marketing techniques to appeal to the unique decision making traits of each generation - Matures, Boomers, Xers and Millenials.

Finders Keepers?: Attracting and Retaining a New Generation of Employees
Good talent is hard to find, and even harder to keep. With company loyalty increasingly considered a comedic punch line rather than a standard employee trait, knowing how to identify, attract and retain the very best talent may seem impossible. Generational DNA plays a huge role in the changing workforce dynamic. Understanding it unlocks the secret to selecting the right candidates and encouraging employee loyalty - both essential to business survival.

Why does this conflict exist? The four generations in the workplace - Matures, Boomers, Xers, and Millennials bring to the office their own distinct biases about loyalty, leadership, time, and productivity. Cam Marston has studied these biases and their effects on attracting and retaining good employees. In this presentation, he shares this insight and provides specific examples of how you can create an environment that attracts the best talent and fosters, rather than deters, employee loyalty.

Every level of leadership plays a key role in attracting and keeping the very best. This is a must-have presentation for your entire management team. By discovering how to create the workplace that each generation requires, your company will reap the rewards in consistent transfer of knowledge, increased productivity and decreased turnover.