The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Show is on. The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show for 2024 is in the rearview mirror. The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), dozens of state associations, and several supposedly independent coaches and trainers will be doing seminars, training, or other ‘educational’ sessions for free and/or for a fee at those, other venues, and via various modalities. Odds are good that some to much of what follows you will not hear from any of those trainers and coaches. Yet, the following tips have proven to work time and again, in street retail and/or community-based HUD Code manufactured sales in states as diverse as Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois, or Texas.
The proven methods and concepts used – some included in the following tips – earned awards, media, and other recognitions for high volume and high customer satisfaction results. And the tips that follow will tell you what half-truths or other self-serving BS is peddled by coaches and educators in the manufactured housing profession today.
Let’s dive in.
Part I
Tip #1. Connecting. Yes, talking is important. Yes, having a presentation and a good tour route are useful and important. But far more important is connecting with the prospect. Every high-volume successful sales professional should have a proven strategy for connecting with a customer.
Tip #2. Asking the correct questions. Part of building that good connection with a prospective buyer is asking the correct questions. Some of those questions can be asked by phone, messages, or via other modalities. But often better yet, the right questions should be asked in person. When you lay the foundation for a good long-term business relationship with a prospective customer, ask questions and then listen. Watch with attention to details as they answer you.
Tip #3. If you have connected with your prospect, and if you have listened properly, they will tell you what you have to do to earn their business virtually each and every time. As someone who has done the doing, I’ve had customers walk through the doors of a sales office that I have never met before and after a brief warm up in the lobby sat them down within minutes to write them up and sell them a home without showing any model(s). Exceptional? Sure. But doable? If you know the business and have the proper sales process, you could do that too. The proper professional connection. The correct questions. Keen observations and listening are keys to when the customer is ready to be written up. It doesn’t necessarily require an hour or two. The write up can occur in mere minutes. How is that possible?
Tip #4. Never forget this. The prospective home buyer is looking for several things. One is the house that they will make their home. But deep inside, and some (perhaps most) will never say it, what they are looking for is someone they like and trust. That can be as important as the model, its location, or a given homes features. Someone may want the moon, but they will have to settle for what their budget will allow them. How is that type of sale made? Often, by someone who grasps steps 1-5 and applies them honestly and diligently.
Tip #5. Be Flexibly Systematic. It is absolutely true that no two prospective home buyer(s) are the same. But prospects fall into certain patterns or categories. Some are single. Some are couples who aren’t married. Some are married, but their relationship is rocky. Some are married and their relationship is rock-solid. And that is just the start of the differences between buyers that have nothing to do with how much down or how much a month. Some are going to “write a check,” “pay cash,” or use some electronic or other equivalent payment method. Some buyers will be of Hispanic, Black, Anglo (none of which are nearly broad enough categories), Asian, of have other cultural, religious, social, economic, political ties, and group connections. As a rule, the more you know, the more group-conscious you are, better your ability to connect. By the way, you can connect with prospects without being a phony, without compromising any ethical or legal principles, and can get genuine referrals from people who may think or live life quite differently than you do. The point of being flexibly systematic are many. You don’t have to be bound by a sales method that doesn’t permit deviations of any sort. There is some truth to the point that having a sales, marketing, follow up, etc. system is better than having no system at all, or always flying by the seat of your pants. But being systematically flexible means that when the customer signals that they are ready to take the next step, whatever that next step is, you can – at least at that point in time – jump over one or more steps in a typical sales process.
Those informed instincts will come once you have the experience needed. You can sense when it is time to pivot from one phase of the selling process to the next or can leap over several others. Being flexibly systematic is an advantage you can have over those who have a system that locks a salesperson or community manager (or other selling staffer) into a rigid and inflexible system that may deliver results, but not at the same closing ratio that being flexibly systematic makes possible.
Bonus Tip #6. If someone is hired to consult, comes to one of your locations, and they immediately ‘teach’ instead of spending at least a day or two merely observing, there is arguably something wrong. Even if a location is doing poorly, observation first, teaching/coaching/training second is a good plan. Even if there will be a ‘housecleaning,’ there are still times when observation first is a good plan.
Qualifications. It is useful to remind readers that this writer began in manufactured housing retail sales in one of the most intensely competitive environments in the U.S. at the time. There are not many that have had the sort of breadth of experiences in good or bad economies, with high or low interest rates, and the full range of excuses – real or imagined – that prospective home buyers muse about. Having operated in both the 20th and 21st centuries, let me say something else that you won’t hear much, if at all, from others. Technology and other things may change, but human nature is much the same. Who says? God does. It pays to learn and listen. That noted, I’ve personally sold and delivered as many as 15 homes in a single month. I’ve personally sold over 100 homes in a year. I’ve personally coached and lead marketing/sales methods that resulted in 25 homes closed at a single location in a month, with some 75 closed deals at 3 distinctive land-lease properties in a month. The letters, documents, awards, and kudos exist to prove it, and the ironic part is that some of those who take the stage in Biloxi, Louisville, or elsewhere know these things to be true.
When third-party produced reports name your (okay, my) location as one of top fraction of 1 percent in the U.S. in manufactured home sales, that’s a nice plug.
Before some selling in MHVille today were born, this writer made a good living in manufactured home sales, management or consulting. Several MHI connected executives know these things to be true, because part of my resume includes management duties at Clayton Homes, and at a Sun Communities location.
I’ve been at retail and community locations from California to Maine, and from south Texas deep into Canada. All of which leads us to bonus tip #7. Which may be the most important tip of all.
Bonus Tip #7. A lot of what you hear, see, or read from others in MHVille may have elements of truth. But a closer look often reveals apparent disconnects. If there methods are so good, why is manufactured housing underperforming so badly?
It should be OBVIOUS from some of MHI’s leaders own remarks how problematic their ‘leadership’ is.
While RVs went soaring, manufactured housing went snoring. These are facts, and facts should be a key driver for evaluating the performance of any location.
A close look at what MHI, and several of their leading brands say and do yields several apparent disconnects, paltering, half-truths, or bold omissions that yield some form of self-serving BS. Let’s be real. The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) does not and never has directly dictated everything. But an evidence-based case can be made for the following points. MHI is a tool in the hands of a relatively few dominating brands. Look at the MHI board of directors, especially over the span of a decade or so. They do not work against their own interests. When a top executive of Sun Communities, for example, is purportedly involved in an evidence-based insurance fraud scheme that involves his own mother, that should speak volumes. If you are willing to do stuff like this with your own mom involved, what won’t you do?
Another example. When a former MHI chairman is involved in a scheme that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issues subpoenas, litigates, and some top personnel and that company end up settling for as much as 7 figures each, PLUS that former MHI chairman never has to step down from that leadership role at MHI, that should speak volumes.
Reading the pleadings of the SEC case against Cavco’s prior boss and MHI’s prior chairman, Joseph “Joe” Stegmayer, et al is still instructive.
Another example. When someone realizes that another former MHI chairman, and still MHI board members has a rocky history with litigation filed on behalf of residents, with embarrassing media coverage, that too should speak volumes.
The manufactured home industry is underperforming during an affordable housing crisis. If MHI and/or their corporate leaders were doing their jobs properly, it should be a fairly common phenomenon that people would be waiting at the doors of a sales center or community office in the morning waiting to get in when the office opens. Shipments should be at record high levels, not historically poor ones.
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The solution to the affordable housing crisis is hiding in plain sight.
But the top two producers 25 years ago outsold the entire manufactured home industry in 2023.
When AI tells you that something is apparently wrong in manufactured housing, and that MHI’s communications fit the definition of false, like, or misleading, and MHI is handing out awards and praise for those service providers, ask yourself what that tells you?
As you listen, or reflect upon, the ‘educational’ material being spouted by MHI-connected consultants and service providers, ask yourself. Who are the working for anyway? If they were doing such a great job, then why isn’t the industry growing?
There are seemingly good reasons why so many at ‘top’ MHI linked companies report to career platform Indeed how unhappy they are.
When performance is poor, and everyone is praising the leadership, the BS detector ought to be sounding the alarm.
Enough said for today on these topics. To learn more, check out the linked and related reports.
Part II – is our Daily Business News on MHProNews stock market recap which features our business-daily at-a-glance update of over 2 dozen manufactured housing industry stocks.
This segment of the Daily Business News on MHProNews is the recap of yesterday evening’s market report, so that investors can see at glance the type of topics may have influenced other investors. Thus, our format includes our signature left (CNN Business) and right (Newsmax) ‘market moving’ headlines.
The macro market move graphics below provide context and comparisons for those invested in or tracking manufactured housing connected equities. Meaning, you can see ‘at a glance’ how manufactured housing connected firms do compared to other segments of the broader equities market.
In minutes a day readers can get a good sense of significant or major events while keeping up with the trends that are impacting manufactured housing connected investing.
Reminder: several of the graphics on MHProNews can be opened into a larger size. For instance: click the image and follow the prompts in your browser or device to OPEN In a New Window. Then, in several browsers/devices you can click the image and increase the size. Use the ‘x out’ (close window) escape or back key to return.
Headlines from left-of-center CNN Business – 3.18.2024
- Hertz CEO out following electric car ‘horror show’
- 16 September 2023, USA, New York: Apple’s logo, taken at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.
- Apple is getting serious about AI
- Global YouTube star MrBeast poses with fans at the launch of the first physical MrBeast Burger Restaurant at American Dream on September 4, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
- Popular YouTuber MrBeast strikes Amazon deal for competition reality show
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk is pictured during a visit at the company’s electric car plant in Gruenheide near Berlin, eastern Germany, on March 13, 2024, as employees resumed work after production had to be halted due to a suspected arson attack that caused a power outage. Damage to the lines knocked out power to the plant as well as cutting electricity to surrounding villages since power lines supplying the factory were set on fire in the early hours of March 5, 2024. Far-left activists from the “Vulkangruppe” (Volcano Group) have claimed responsibility for the sabotage, saying they aimed to achieve “the biggest possible blackout of the gigafactory”, a reference to the Tesla plant.
- Elon Musk details his prescription ketamine use, says investors should want him to ‘keep taking it’
- Volkswagen employees work on the assembly line of the 2012 VW Passat in Chattanooga Tennessee, December 1, 2011.
- UAW seeks breakthrough as it files union vote at Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant
- A customer pumps gas at a gas station in Hercules, California, US, on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
- Surging gas prices just hit a significant milestone
- The way Americans buy and sell homes is about to get turned on its head
- Atmosphere at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Launch Party held at the Hard Rock Hotel on May 18, 2023 in New York, New York.
- Sports Illustrated to avert shutdown as it gets a fresh start under new publisher
- United CEO tries to reassure customers following multiple safety incidents
- Hey YouTube creators, it’s time to start labeling AI-generated content in your videos
- Fabrics retailer Joann files for bankruptcy
- How Irish business is winning in the US: It’s not all butter and cheese
- Taxi drivers win nearly $179 million in compensation from Uber in Australia
- Wait, is TikTok really Chinese?
- China’s all-important property market shows no sign of rebound in new year
- Amid fierce competition in China’s EV market, Xpeng to launch cheaper brand
- So-called black boxes carry the real answer to what happened on LATAM flight 800
- VW is reviving a storied American brand to sell electric SUVs
- Belle of the book ball: Book Tok drives demand for immersive fantasy events among younger users
- Irish whiskies are doing the unthinkable – adding flavors
- Boeing timeline: Inside the air giant’s turbulent journey in recent years
- Presidential election or not, the Fed will cut interest rates in the fall if it must, economists say
- It’s not you, it’s them: Engaged couples are cutting back on lavish weddings
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- NOTE 1: Chart above of manufactured housing connected equities includes the Canadian stock, ECN, which purchased Triad Financial Services, a manufactured home industry finance lender.
- NOTE 2: Drew changed its name and trading symbol at the end of 2016 to Lippert (LCII).
- NOTE 3: Deer Valley was largely taken private, say company insiders in a message to MHProNews on 12.15.2020, but there are still some outstanding shares of the stock from the days when it was a publicly traded firm. Thus, there is still periodic activity on DVLY.
- Note 4: some recent or related reports to the REITs, stocks, and other equities named above follow in the reports linked below.
- Note 5: Gifts of Sight and Insights, What’s in Store for 2024? Including 2023 Year End Reflections, manufactured homes, manufactured housing, mobile homes, MHVille, USA Snapshots, Manufactured housing industry year in review 2023.
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2023 …Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company to Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage, Vanderbilt Mortgage and other factory-built housing industry suppliers.
· LCI Industries, Patrick, UFPI, and LP each are suppliers to the manufactured housing industry, among others.
· AMG, CG, and TAVFX have investments in manufactured housing related businesses. For insights from third-parties and clients about our publisher, click here.
2022 was a tough year for many stocks. Unfortunately, that pattern held true for manufactured home industry (MHVille) connected stocks too. See the facts, linked above.
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Disclosure. MHProNews holds no positions in the stocks in this report.
· For expert manufactured housing business development or other manufactured housing professional services, click here.
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- Note 1: MHVille means manufactured housing industry, MHVille also means artificially smaller manufactured housing (MH) industry,
- Note 2: Manufactured housing, building, factories, retail, dealers, manufactured home, communities, passive mobile home park investing, suppliers, brokers, finance, financial services, macro-markets, manufactured housing stocks, Manufactured Home Communities Real Estate Investment Trusts, MHC REITs.
- Note 3:
APO, Apollo Global Management, BAM, Brookfield Asset Management, BLK, BlackRock, BRK-A, Berkshire Hathaway, BX, Blackstone, CDPYF, Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, CIGI, Colliers International Group Inc, CG, The Carlyle Group, CSGP, CoStar Group, CVCO, Cavco Industries, ECNCF, ECN Capital Group, ELS, Equity LifeStyle Properties, FGF, FG Financial Group, FG Communities, KEY, KeyCorp, KMMPF, Killam Apartment REITs, LCII, LCI Industries, LEGH, Legacy Housing, LPX, Louisiana Pacific Corporation, MHC-UN.TO, Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), MHPC, Manufactured Housing Properties, MMI, Marcus and Millichap, NOBH, Nobility Homes, PATK, Patrick Industries, SKY, Skyline Champion, SUI, Sun Communities, UMH, UMH Properties, UFPI, UFP Industries.
That’s a wrap on this installment of “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, stock, investing, data, metrics, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports linked herein. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship along with numerous awards in history. There have been several awards, honors and numerous public recognitions for his achievements in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. Kovach is a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHLivingNews.com and MHProNews. MHProNews is ranked as the runaway most read trade media in modern manufactured housing history. Manufactured Home Pro News (MHProNews) is the documented #1 largest and most read source for manufactured housing industry News Tips and Views Pros Can Use, per Webalizer 2.23 and known data. MHProNews gets millions of visits a year and has significantly more pageviews per visit than CNN or Fox per SimilarWeb’s stats for those two sites (but those sites get more much more total traffic). Statistics Data Infographics Research Facts Evidence and manufactured housing industry expert analysis make us the runaway most read in MHVille trade media. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s editorial views and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
