what is this industry doing to fix itself

[walter]

sales are down. traffic is down. finance sources are tight. floorplan sources are
getting out of the business. manufacturers are closing the doors. what are we doing to this business. we as dealers have created a one -eyed monster.

sales people are moping around. what good news is there?

how do we fix this mess. we as dealers have saturated the market on every corner across america. flooded the market with repo's. ted parker has scared the hell out of all sources to the industry. no good news folks.

anyone have an answer? would love to here it.

sure could use a lift right now. got a fix. please share it.

[Carl]

As far as I can tell, traffic is down about 20% in many places. All you need to do is genrate 20% more taffic. That's easy because most of us did little during the good times to genrate traffic. Start by calling previous customers and asking for referrals. Then, go to the public records and call people who bough vacant land to convince them to use a manufcatured home. Convert renters to buyers. The list of ways to generate trafic is huge. We have a video called Acres Of Diamonds with 16 ways to generate trafic and sales. If you are interested, call me at 800-941-0068. I guess the measure of our ability isn't how successful we are in the good times, it's what we do to prosper in the bad times.

Carl

[Joe]

For too long the dealers have not treated their customers well. They get there money and forget who it came from. Service is a big problem with the industry. It appear that once the dealer has the money they do not want to spend it on servicing the customers. They hire cheap labor with no knowledge of construction. Most do not know the proper way to set the homes either and in a matter of years the homes are falling apart. Making the product itself look bad. The manufacturers need to hold the dealers responsible for this. Many have not looked at this aspect for future buyers. They have acted worse than the worst used car salesmen. With attitudes like this the industry is in trouble.

[Andie Guess]

I've also seen alot of customers come through thinking they do not have to put a down payment on a home !! The fellow down the street will do this type of deal . We will continue to have lenders leave the market and cost us the future of have lenders to sell notes to . We are responsible for this trend and only the retailer can change this . We must rally together and stop the lender abuse .

[Ted McCoy]

The industry will fix itself one salesperson, retailer, manufacturer and lender at a time. As the postings before this suggest, and many others I have seen, the industry only worries about relationships when times get hard.

I look at customer relationships as a marriage. Just like a marriage, you can not neglect a customer relationship for years and then one day expect that on command it will bare fruit.

Many of the postings I have seen on building sales focus on sales technique, and marketing to new customers. Thats great if you expect to retire tomorrow, otherwise it seems to me to be a short sighted approach.

Steven Covy, author of, Seven Basic Habit of Highly Successful People, writes "Begin with the end in mind." In other words, if you expect to get leads and repeat business from customers dont forget them until your sales volume is goung into the tank. By that time it is too late.

As in marriage, if you get out of the relationship what you put in. So, rather than forgetting past customers during good times, ALWAYS take time to nurture past customer relationships and they will bare fruit

Ted McCoy
Continuity Programs Inc.
800 521 0026

[Rick Ivens]

You folks aren't doing much to motivate me. Well on second thought you have. I just started in your industry in sales and as usual when I show up the old story is always "you should have been here in 98 we just sat back and got fat", ya da ya da ya da. I have always come in on the down cycle and know no other way but to scratch and dig up prospects, treat them like they deserve to be treated before, during and after the sale and help them work for me.
I recently sold a business in an unrelated industry. I was a retailer and faced Wal-Mart, Food Lion, bigger better faster competition and never had a year with sales down from the previous. When I learn what I am doing I plan on eating the other guys lunch for them.
Before I started my new career I shopped the dealers up and down the road and the things I saw were scary. Sales people with out a plan spitting out missinformation, sales lots that looked like a cheap trailor park, homes being shown that were not prepared for demo.
On our lot I see sales people that park in front of the sales center. They don't take the time or make an effort to keep the show models looking good, on and on.
I know squat about your industry but I am excited because I can start with the way I conduct myself and improve the things I can control and that alone I hope will give me an edge.

[Peggy Mosley]

I'm a consumer looking into a manufactured home for the first time. I've got lots of learning on this subject to do, and I commend you on having so much info out here.

What I see in this subject is somewhat disheartening - however, this is the kind of person I want to do business with. I've always lived in a very upscale community and own a very prosperous business. It's become prosperous because we treat our guests as guests in our home.

My purpose for wanting a MH is to provide living quarters on newly purchased acreage, while I build my home. The MH will become a rental or perhaps the wine tasting facility for my vineyard that will be developed.

Peg Mosley, Innkeeper, The Groveland Hotel
www.groveland.com

[Ron Buckner]

Well, I see it from two different angles. On the one hand, the young up-and-coming sales people will make the changes neccessary to re-invigorate our industry, and the need for affordable housing simply isn't going to go away. And secondly, the growing after-market segment of our industry will finally come of age and the public's image of our industry will finally be changed enough to take it's rightful place within our industry. After-market parts distribution is one of the key pieces to solving this puzzle
Honestly the lion's share of the blame for the "mobilehome stigma" we're saddled with now lies directly at the feet of the manufacturers. Fifty years ago the for-fathers of our industry found themselves selling homes that for all intents and purposes could not be and was not effectively serviced by conventional after-mrket sources. I don't believe this was intentional at first, but the lack of recognizable demand meant even lower over-head, and that meant higher profits. By the late '60's and early 70's the results had become obvious, and we're still dealing with it.
Another key part of this puzzle has already shown itself. New product's and technology will always be embraced in this industry, (examples;we've had vinyl windows for twenty years, this new PEX tubing, energy-star programs.etc). Even the new foundation systems we put under these houses (Magnum Foundation Systems) will pave new insights into the construction practices we've held on to as gospel. We are a dynamic industry, and perhaps the most attractive aspect of this industry is that when we experience these lean times, change can come from every nook and cranny, so we have to be carefull (Bad example-polybutelene tubing) but for the most part these changes radically change ever other aspect of all industry.

[DD]

I have an idea for those of you who sell used homes:

Why not place a courtesy call to your clients once a month...just something to let them know that you haven't forgotten about them or the job they're contracted you to do. I had one broker who didn't call me once after I signed a 9-month contract, and needless to say, that business is no longer contracted by me.

Even if all you have to say is "I'm sorry, we haven't had any potential buyers this month, but we haven't forgotten you", it will mean a lot to these people, and just good personal communication. Try it.

[DW Suiter]

The "industry" needs leaders. It needs organization. It needs a "plan." It needs thinkers and innovations. It has needed a good "cleaning up" and the current crisis has had this one positive effect.

Every problem has a solution. Sometimes it is difficult to find but it is there. A good start is by using or implementing sound basic business principles accompanied by good sales and marketing programs. There are definite reasons why one dealer is at the top and another at the bottom. These reasons must be found and recognized.

Not spamming but in response to the subject matter and question, I have been working on solutions. I have developed a system called the "Suiter System" (patent pending) that is extremely powerful in generating buyers of homes.

I am just now beginning to market the system and plan news releases in the very near future.

The system will benefit any dealer and his/her sales center, from a mom and pop one home center to huge dealerships.

There are other people working on the problems also and some are hitting home in their analysis such as Steve Pappas and his articles found on the web.

There is something terribly wrong when a severe shortage of affordable housing exists at a time when dealers have the affordable housing to sell. NIMBY, (not in my back yard) is a state of mind found in a lot of local government officials who still picture "trailers" when hearing or speaking of manufactured homes. Zoning problems are a very large obstacle that should not exist in times of a crisis such as the lack of affordable housing the entire USA is experiencing.

My two cents.