Learning from others.  We can learn from those in our Industry, or from those outside of manufactured housing.  We can learn from people who ‘do it right’ in our business as well as from those who ‘do it wrong.’  What is needed?  A willingness to learn in the first place.

This isn’t news.  Some people network or go to as many events and meetings as they can, precisely because they realize that a single idea may be worth considerable sums of money to them.  It is no surprise that many who attend meetings, do networking and are in groups or associations – actively so – are also the ones who often get ahead; yes, even in troubled times.

Often, it’s the readers who are the leaders.

It may surprise you to know that some of the authors or manufactured housing new items we share on MHMSM.com see differently than the writers do.  Even among friends, we don’t have to agree.  But we share a variety of viewpoints or perspectives on items in our online trade journal anyway. Why?  Because I or others still learn from them, even if we do see it differently!

I’m not talking about ‘diversity’ here in some ‘politically correct’ sense.  I’m talking about the practical advantages of diversity and its benefits.  We are diverse in publishing, in part because it is good for learning.  It is good to challenge each other with ideas and thinking that get us to dig deeper for solutions.

I started in this Manufactured Home Industry back in 1981, working for a company that had no training program.  Well, I take that back.  Here were the bullet points of their training program:

• Here are the keys to the homes.
• Here is the credit application and Form 100 (or 500).
• Here is our price sheet.
• Here is a pen.
• Go get ’em, Tiger!

If a manufactured housing retailer or MH Community operator sells or leases homes in a boom town with little competition, you could be successful even with that type of ‘training’ system.  That said, the company I started with years ago is now long gone.  We can’t depend on order takers getting the job done in our Industry.  Best Buy, Holiday Inn and others outside of our Industry make new people train for weeks before they see their first customer.  Doesn’t it make sense to train our sales staff and other professionals, too?

Going back to my own induction into manufactured home sales, I tried to learn from anyone I could.  Sometimes that learning was from others, in or outside of our Industry.

Some of my education was from reading articles in the now defunct Merchandiser Magazine and Automation in Housing/Manufactured Home Dealer magazine.  Doing an online ezine like MHMarketingSalesManagement.com is, in part, our way of ‘giving back’ to an Industry that I love – and love even while admitting that our Industry has its flaws and shortcoming.  We have a great product and a great message.  But even the best product has to be sold.

I have some friends who are successful in professions outside of ours.  At times, we will get together, and I will take them to a nicely installed HUD Code home in an attractive setting.  The results are often similar to this…”I didn’t know that manufactured housing can be so nice!” Or “I didn’t realize the quality of today’s manufactured homes!”

I’ll bet if you have been in the business for more than a few months, you’ve heard statements like those, too. They are reminders that we do a less than stellar job of marketing our product.  They are reminders that we need to engage the public in order to convince them of the value of what we sell.

I learned firsthand that is also a good practice to invite your local public officials and do the same thing – show them a nice home, that is furnished, decorated or “staged” and properly installed.  You’ll often get the same type of response, “I didn’t know how nice a manufactured home could be.”

Once the public official indicates they are impressed, I may ask them if they would mind having their photo taken with me or another team member.  They are told up front that the photo will be shared publicly.  I’ve had once-negative public officials who held up some piece of company literature and posed that way for their picture!  They were that impressed with the homes.  Perhaps they also listened as I droned on to them about how factory building is the future, and the day will come when those who ‘get it’ will be seen as the visionaries when factory building dominates our great country.

Maybe you like reading this blog, or one of our other blogs, or some of our featured writers.  Good.  But if you don’t like something, read it anyway!  Not for my sake, or the author’s, but for your sake. Why?  Because the keen mind will pick up on what makes sense.  The keen mind will be willing to consider ideas that are new, different and sound like they have potential.

The sharp person then tests and analyzes, and puts to work various items.  I’ll bet you’ve walked into a store or restaurant before, and picked up on what is working – and not working – at the place of business.  This is partially the advantage of having a fresh perspective – what I call “new eyes” – and also a reason why some businesses hire a consultant.  They know they want someone else to give them a checkup, just the same as you would go to an MD, insurance, investment or attorney for a checkup.

If you pick up on some new idea that makes sense – either here or anywhere else – don’t test that idea just one time.

The law of averages rarely gives 100% results on anything!  If you can guess right on 55% of all sporting events, you could make money with that, even though it fails 45% of the time.  In marketing and selling, you may have what looks like a modest result; but repeated often enough, the cumulative impact may be amazingly good to your bottom line.

Sports enthusiasts practice to improve. MDs, attorneys, teachers, all have to do updates to their training.  Our Industry’s pros should do the same, too.

For all these reasons and more, we don’t run a popularity contest here at MHMSM.com.

We share articles from a variety of people, some well known and others who are becoming better known on our pages.

All of them have something to teach you, like ’em or not!

I mentioned the value of events and networking, good reasons to attend the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show in Tulsa, OK.  We will be there, doing our ‘Dominate your Local Market’ Seminar.  But for a moment, let me talk about financing seminars that will take place that you will want to attend.  Go to the Great Southwest Home Show page, and also their recent press release.  See all the networking, seminars and other reasons to go.  Check out the video below, which reminds you why you want to see all the new models from manufacturers from states far and near, all taking advantage of the centralized location available in Tulsa.  If you go with an open mind, I can tell you that you’ll be glad you did.

Keep up with others.  Keep listening, networking and learning from others.  Set the pace.

If knowledge is power, those who have the most knowledge – and put it wisely to work – will prevail. # #