Over the years, I've been involved in a number of turn-around operations in many parts of the nation. Some apparent challenges are fairly essay to deal with. But what do you do or say when part of the problem has been the personnel on the ground? What if – hypothetically speaking, of course – the manger in place is a thief and a liar?
Or what if a manger is covering up for someone else who is the thief?
Another tough nut to tackle is when a supervisor may (or should) suspect the thief or liar in their midst, but for whatever reasons, does not act. There are many reasons why that can happen.
Perhaps the toughest nut of all is far more subtle. We will look at that towards the end of this blog post.
More common in a turn-around scenario are those simply stuck in a rut.
To be candid, companies – always made up of people – may create a culture that sends the message, 'do not try to hard.' 'Do not do anything new or different.' The classic is, 'we have always done it this way.' So when times change, what worked before no longer does.
That is when 'we have always done it this way' can become the kiss of death to innovation, adaptation and advancement.
The Good, Bad and the Ugly
We all have strengths and weaknesses.
And we need a second set of eyes more often than many would like to admit.
It is always my goal – and should ideally be yours – in a project to;
- work with existing people
- give praise where it is due
- privately coach where it is needed, with team members who care and want to grow, publicly praise when it is earned
- make your team members and you look good
- given the above, still yield significantly improved performance.
A turn-around guy is hired precisely for that reason – to enhance performance. But the complexities of the role, as this brief overview shows, are many.
I'll say it again. Our Industry is not rocket science. We sell (or in some locations lease) affordable homes! I'll talk about leasing homes another time.
Some thing it is hopeless. They see mostly death, not life.
You may see the dead tree in this image…
…but when someone with 'new eyes' and a fresh perspective can look past the immediate problems, there may be life and bloom in abundance.
Same bonsai tree, different camera angle
The same bonsai tree, with a top down camera angle, now seems full of life.
Whether you decide to do a turn-around yourself, do it in house using your existing talent, or hire a contractor/consultant, a few basics will apply. In this series, we will look at many of this basics of the turn around.
It is all about the People
There are many factors that go into a turn around. You can check out this article for some of the elements of a turn around.
Saving the Patient: How to Turn around Older or Vacancy Plagued Land Lease Communities
While the above was written about a turn around for manufactured home communities (MHC), the principles are very similar for MH retail ('dealerships') or locations that are struggling.
Whatever the operation, at the end of the day, it is all about people.
People are your prospects, people buy (or lease) homes.
People like (or don't) their home, your service or community.
People (you or those you hire) have to meet and deal with those prospects.
I almost hesitate to bring this last point up, but it is a truth that almost no one thinks about. It has to do with sales (or leasing) operations in land-lease communities seeking to do an infill or turn-around.
Here it is. If you have a separate sales (leasing) agent(s), do you realize that in some cases, they have been given an incentive NOT to bring your location to capacity?
Think about that, we can look at it in more depth later.
You'll get more insights into doing a successful turn-around in our next installment. Stay tuned. If you want to farm your turn-around effort, or have a marketing campaign put in place, please give me a call. # #
Previous posts in this new series:
What is our Industry's Market Potential? These online facts provide important clues
Selling More Manufactured Homes
If your sales are down, how do you start a turn-round project?
If your Sales are Ailing, call a Doctor # #
new posts are by:
L. A. 'Tony' Kovach, MHM
To learn about award winning, record breaking results:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
832-689-1729 (cell)