Do you like to watch movies? In 2008, Fox released their remake of the 1951 classic movie, the Day the Earth Stood Still. One of the key concepts in the movie is summed up in this thought, that people don’t change unless they are forced to do so. Without giving away the story’s punch line, the earth is given a pretty stern death threat from an alien race. How do the people of our planet respond? That’s the story line.
Manufactured housing has had its own death threat. This isn’t being negative, because no one reports the 5 year recovery of MH more than we do here on MHProNews.com; and no one does more pro-industry public promotion that we do on our sister site, MHLivingNews.com. But we’d be naïve if we didn’t admit that we have faced – and to some degree, still have – an existential threat as an industry.
We are making a slow climb back up, as the chart below shows.
But have enough of MH pros learned the lesson? Frankly, not yet.
During the recent Tunica MH Show, I shared a breakfast with a pair of pros, one of whom was a younger gent who came to MH from the world of PR and media. His view of our industry was rather dark. He said we were doing the classic (bad) things that ‘aging industries often do.’
That industry newcomer and media pro is not alone in that assessment. The Atlantic reported their slant on the impending death of MH, based on their spin on the IBISWorld report from a few years ago. Naturally, we disagree! We work with firms day by day that are investing in their future, and are reaping the rewards of positive change.
I’m not like those who think that only force causes change. People can and do act for good reasons, not just forced ones. That said, turn-arounds don’t just happen. They occur because people make decisions to act in a goal and solution oriented fashion.
Since the U.S. faces an affordable housing crisis, it is easy to see our potential. But that potential won’t be tapped until we learn to reach out to the broader housing market. That takes a combination of marketing and training.
Part of the answer lies in videos, and we are doing more and more of those, which can happen in tandem with those willing to invest in the future of our great industry.
In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll look at what it takes to take a location – a location(s) like yours – and do the marketing and sales steps needed to make you and other savvy players a profitable force to be reckoned with in your market(s). The industry’s best days can lie ahead, but it won’t happen until enough pros like you make it so. ##
