What follows may seem counter-intuitive at first. Pain is natural, necessary and can be good. Pain is a signal in the body or mind that something is awry. That something needs 'fixing' or attention.
We tend to avoid pain and run from it. But in fact, the solution almost always involves embracing the pain. One must discover what is the cause of pain and how it can be dealt with.
In recent conversations with industry pros from various parts of the country, one of the common points made by the callers included the following. It was said in different ways, but let me drill it down to this:
“Manufactured housing doesn't have a product problem it has a perception problem. When people see the home without the blinders, they often fall in love with the quality and value of factory built homes.”
Some company reps see lots of retailers and communities face to face, at their locations. These reps see it all: the good, the bad, the ugly. Perhaps a result, the subject came up in another recent conversation about training.
“How do you get businesses owners or executives to realize that their employees need more training? If you say that to them, they may get insulted. At the same time, they could be making more money if they just had good people doing the right things more often.”
Here is my short answer to these topics. Imagine you were not feeling well, not doing as well as you'd like to be. You go to your doctor, you get tests run. The doctor gets the results. Do you want the MD to tell you the truth, or a bunch of fluff? Do you want the doctor to map out a cure or program for what ails you, or do you want a placebo, and to be told that all is well?
When professionals speak, they ideally ought to give each other permission to be candid, and then do so.
If I were visiting a sales, leasing or management office, and saw things in my client's operation that needed attention, isn't it best for all concerned to know what that is? We point out the good things, right? Why not the problematic ones? It is easier said than done because one doesn't want to offend a client, still, that second set of eyes or outside perspective can make all the difference in the world to that business owner or supervisor.
That in turn can come back with more sales and more business for the rep who shares the insight.
It is my sincere belief that manufactured housing could double or triple its sales in fairly short order. That is based on evidence from real-life companies that grew their sales rapidly, once basic adjustments were made.
That growth doesn't happen by accident, it comes through positive changes. How that looks for the Industry at large can be seen at the download at the end of the article on this link. What that looks like for an individual or collective number of business locations is another topic for another time. When pain comes, heed the warnings. Don't just mask it, seek and fix the cause. ##
Post by
L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
www.MHProNews.com
www.MHMarketingSalesManagement.com or www.MHMSM.com
Innovation – Information – Inspiration for Industry Professionals
Office – 815-270-0500
latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com
http://LATonyKovach.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
http://pinterest.com/latonyk/manufactured-home-lifestyle
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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right. – Henry Ford
