The Panama Canal impacts your life on a routine basis, even when you don’t realize it. Wikipedia says that in 2008, 14,702 vessels went through the canal, carrying a total of 309.6 million tons of cargo. That cargo includes the clothes, electronics, coffee, tea and others products in grocery, department stores or sold online. No wonder the American Society of Civil Engineers named the canal one of the 7 wonders of the modern world! Truly, every vessel is ‘lifted higher’ in the locks of the canal. The lift provided by the Panama Canal saves thousands of miles in transport time and fuel.
Does MH have such a time and money saving lift station? Yes, there are actually more than one in our industry, and they could be summed up in the phrase “understanding and applied knowledge.”
Panama Canal graphic from Wikipedia.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the Panama Canal analogy and the application of understanding and applying professional knowledge is this. The canal can’t handle a ship that is ‘too big,’ but from the tiniest one person MH operation to the largest in factory-built housing, all sizes can find benefit here, at the table of “Industry News Tips and Views that Pros Can Use.”
Cautions Against Bad Behavior AND Encouragement, Facts, Tips and Good News for Growth
Ron D’Ambra’s article includes mention of the need for business ethics. Agreed. In our era when moral relativism is higher than say 50 or 75 years ago, there’s a greater need to caution against bad behavior. We don’t shy away from the reports of improprieties, witness the example in the story below.
http://www.MHProNews.com/blogs/daily-business-news/defendant-sentenced-in-fraudulent-hud-codemod-mortgage-scheme/
On Wall Street, professionals scour the news in the fields they’re investing in or considering. They’re looking for insights and facts that may help or harm clients and their own interests.
Attorneys, MD, engineers, accountants, teachers, athletes – you name the profession – and odds are excellent they’re studying and reading routinely in their field.
Our MH industry is no exception. We have the largest MH audience of its kind – with well over 5,000 logging on daily – we’re covering the largest part of the MH Industry’s readers, because only some 15% of the population ‘reads’ seriously. As exciting as our large and growing audience is – well over 150,000+ visits monthly and some 2 million page views in July! – we’re still just scratching the surface of what’s possible.
In a misunderstood industry that has great products and services, the opportunities are greater; but only when we give it superior effort!
Be it MH success legends, such as Jim Clayton, or any of the others who believe attitude and education are critical elements for success, it’s a fact. Sure, sometimes someone stumbles into success or wins the lotto. But it routinely occurs when people commit to long term excellence in their field!
Its in your best interest to encourage associates, colleagues and team members to do more than other industries, because even with MH’s 4 year uptick, we are only doing a small fraction of U.S. housing’s 1 trillion dollar annual market.
Encourage everyone – starting with your team members, current MH owners and MHC residents – to dig deeply and share often the link to ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com. The elements for accelerated MH growth are there! The more it’s shared, the more MH image and sales will grow.
MHPros must learn more about their chosen field from a professional perspective. More motivated, informed, passionate team members will naturally create more sales, fewer vacancies and happier customers. Or fail to do that, and watch some brassy newcomer enter the market who does…and see who fares better.
The red headers above are links to their respective modules, sections or “departments” on MHProNews. They’re shown here in no particular order. But they’re shared to underscore this fact. Each of these has value for a good professional to know! Agree or disagree with the writer’s perspective, but discover the value of learning from anyone…and everyone. OPE – other people’s experiences – are as important as OPM, other people’s money.
You and Your Team Mates are the Billboard! What message do you send?
Like it or not, people judge our industry in part from its members. When they meet some sharp woman or man, and they learn they’re in MH, that sends a (good!) message. Another message is sent when the people they meet from our industry are not informed or ‘up’ on our products and services.
Here’s some true stories, experienced in various MH offices in the U.S.
- Walking into an MH Community office, hearing two ladies in the office griping about problems at their location. They saw me, didn’t know my purpose for being there, and they kept on openly gripping…in front of what might be a prospective buyer.
It was obvious this wasn’t the first or last time they did that, and having walked into that office more than once, that was exactly what I experienced. Nor was this some 1 star location with 50 homesites. So was it a surprise that property had vacancy issues? Do you think they needed an attitude adjustment – one they could easily find on the INspirations blog – or in hundreds of possible articles or posts on MHProNews?
Or how about this one…
- I walked into a MH Retailers office. On the coffee table in the lobby was a glossy magazine, one of our MHIndustry trade journals. I asked the first sales person I saw, how did they like —- (I called the magazine by name), and at first the guy didn’t register at all. When I pointed the mag out, he said, “Oh, that! We put that out for customers to look at while they’re waiting for us.”
True stories – a riot if they weren’t so sad – and there are many more like them, or worse.
But the flip side also happens.
- “Tony, we’ve used the tornado video story posted on MHLivingNews.com to close customers that were on the fence between an MH or some other housing option.”
Or…
- “Tony, I was having a bad day. I clicked onto the INspirations blog, and spent 10 minutes reading. I walked away with a much better attitude. Now, I’m a regular reader there. It made my work flow better, thanks.”
We get that for Tim’s Words of Wisdom, Zig Ziglar’s articles and so many others.
Why go the long way, when you can take the safer, better path?
Image credit Google maps
Get and share that Panama Canal LIFT
If I was buying a product shipped around the tip of South America past the Isla Herchel that could as easily have traveled through the Panama Canal, its prudent for me to mention that to the seller. They’d save time and money. Their benefit is mine too, and vice versa.
If I had a sales operation in MHRetail, home building, MH Communities etc. – and everyone on my team were already reading and inspiring themselves daily on MHProNews and MHLivingNews – would I want that run-down looking competitor down the road to become a reader too?
YouDogGoneBetcha.
Because their image either helps or harms mine! Get them inspired, let them improve, and guess what? As their operational results improved, mine would too.
In closing, let’s mention that the odds are good your operation benefits from the work our professional writers and sponsors make possible here and on our public sister site. Want to raise your boat higher? Save time and make more money? RSS, link, tweet or Facebook the stories you find interesting on MHProNews and MHLivingNews.
Please check out what version 3.0 of our planned updates and revisions will look like, click here…
http://www.mhpronews.com/blogs/daily-business-news/approaching-5-years-and-version-3-0/
YOUR feedback on the upcoming version 3.0 is welcome! Thank you, see you back here mid-week. ##
