“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
This is a famous line from the movie, Cool Hand Luke:
The failure to communicate can have serious consequences, including getting knocked down, kicked around and otherwise beaten up. Does any of that sound familiar?
We routinely get messages, calls or comments from industry pros, many of whom understandably lament the state of our great Industry. The state of our MH Industry is directly and indirectly tied to the ‘failure to communicate:’
- First, to enough new home consumers, especially those who are more credit worthy or can pay cash.
- Next, to enough current and prior manufactured home owners, to get and keep them as a powerful pool of potential allies, for mutually beneficial political and economic purposes.
- The 19-20 million or so owners of mobile and manufactured homes should be a high priority for any sound strategy to lift the manufactured housing industry from its sub-50,000 shipment levels to those far higher.
- We have powerful messages of quality, appeal, energy efficiency, green construction, affordability and durability.
- If we are honest with each other, many who work in our companies do not grasp the full value of what our Industry offers.
- We have to get our own troops on board, which will help line up more support among consumers and thus to others in the broader public.
You know how I love a good quotation. Please consider these quotes:
“Sometimes it is not good enough to do your best; you have to do what is required.”
Winston Churchill
“Almost any idea is good if a man has the ability and is willing to work hard.
The best idea is worthless if the creator is a loafer and ineffective.”
William Feather
“It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Only in growth, reform and change, paradoxically enough, is true security found.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
New ideas pass through three periods:
– It can’t be done.
– It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing.
– I knew it was a good idea all along!
Arthur C. Clarke
There will always be naysayers to any good idea, to any worthwhile cause. That includes the cause of manufactured housing and our industry’s success!
During England’s darkest day following the Nazi military conquest of France and much of Western Europe, Winston Churchill never publicly waivered. Churchill was firm in his stated belief that despite the odds, that somehow, England would not just survive, but prevail over the German forces under Adolf Hitler’s control. We need that same type of resolve, that same type of understanding and commitment to our Industry and the unmatched value we can offer the home buying public!
You don’t have to be Cool Hand Luke to prevail in the end. We need to communicate our value to our circles of influence: to our immediate team, to our customers, to prospective customers and the country at large.
Former House Speaker Tip O’Neill once said, “All politics is local.” In a real sense, this is true of influence, image making and marketing, too. If we are a positive influence in our local market, if we light our candle and protect that flame and its light, we can and will prevail. The more who do so, the more rapidly we do it, the faster our Industry’s turn-around will come.
Don’t wait on your neighbor! Take action yourself. It doesn’t have to be heroic; it is the little things daily that often make for great results over time.
Part of the many events, networking and other professional opportunities found at the upcoming 2011 Great Southwest Home Show in Tulsa will be our Dominate Your Local Market seminar. George F. Allen had this to say on his blog about the seminar Bob Stovall and I did:
“Tony Kovach and his team of marketing specialists, introduced the day’s largest audience, of more than 60 LLCommunity owners/operators, to the exciting new world of online marketing, of new and resale homes, via web site design, blogging, social networks, and much much more.”
George very graciously introduced us with these words:
‘These guys (referring to the MHMSM.com team) are the future of Manufactured Housing!’
While the seminar was attended by Manufactured Housing Industry pros as well as retailers, the information shared has equal value to manufacturers, lenders, insurance firms or anyone associated with Manufactured Housing.
While we appreciate and thank George for these kind words, let me turn this around. YOU and others like YOU are the future of Manufactured Housing! Associations or MHMSM.com may be able to support YOUR efforts, but YOU and people like YOU are what will make or break this great Industry!
We are in this boat together.
Yes, we had an enthusiastic turn out and reception for the Dominate your Local Market seminar, which will be available free for all who come to the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show in Tulsa, OK, midmorning on April 29th. Do plan to come, do look at the homes and services others will be providing. Go to this link for more information, which is open to all Industry Pros on Trade Days.
We will also be doing a seminar at the Manufactured Housing Institute’s (MHI) annual Congress in Las Vegas, with our Industry In Focus reporter Eric Miller, Bob Stovall, Mark Bowersox of the IMHARVIC fame and myself. That panel discussion topic will be held on Thursday, April 28 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on the topic of:
Engaging the Media Successfully – How to Get Good PR for the Industry
Between now and then, please set aside some time daily to increase your ability and desire to communicate the value of manufactured housing! The failure to communicate is too costly, and the rewards of good communications are going to be felt on your bottom line. # #
