The Cutting Edge of Online Marketing

The main manufactured housing industry users of the power of indirect marketing to sell more homes are our clients and followers. The flip side of that fact is that the vast majority of MHPros uses direct message marketing. For those in both the indirect and direct camps, tapping into the power of friends and family ought to become a must.

Back circa 1993, MCI led the charge with an early loyalty and referral program they dubbed Friends and Family. Here is a sample video commercial that promoted it.

MCI was acquired in 1998 by WorldCom, which eventually became part of Verizon in January 2006. MCI was known for their historic role in breaking the AT&T monopoly on telephony, as well as this Friends and Family marketing.

Today, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other forms of social networking are the 'friends and family' options of choice.

But don't limit yourself to just those social media tools. Think about the powerful fact shared below as you develop – or redevelop – your operation's or location's marketing!

Manufactured housing and its precursor, the pre-HUD Code 'mobile home,' has some 23 million people in the U.S. living in one of our homes. What if just 5% of those residents in the next year became 'evangelists' for manufactured housing to the extent that they would bring a family member or friend to your community, retail center or development to buy a new home?

That would be a record setting 1.15 million new manufactured home sales! It would roughly double the highest water mark ever set by our industry.

You don't have to wait for the industry at large to get together on such a concept. You can start a friends and family program all your own! Tapping the power of friends and family could put your operation, career or location into overdrive. If you need help creating a successful friends and family – or other! – marketing and sales program, send me an email or pick up the phone and call. ##

PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for May and see the

other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach

MHLivingNews.com=Re-Discovering and Spotlighting the MHLifeStyle

MHProNews.com = MHMSM.com = Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use

Services:B2BandB2CAds, Proven MH Marketing & Sales Systems, Websites other Industry Solutions.

Office -815-270-0500

latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com

www.MHC-MD.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach= connect with me on Linkedin.

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

For those or us old enough to remember, sales was often viewed by millions as something you did to someone, rather than doing something for someone. Sales was seen – and taught – as a kind of manipulation. A person or a company wanted to manipulate their way into a sale, they did it via a process. An example that comes to mind might be the time share industry. Let's take a look, because understanding this principle will be key to the much of what follows. You will see the application and power this can have for the manufactured housing industry. Don't be surprised if an "aha!" moment or two comes your way that will make you or an associate of yours some good money.

Let's start by using the time share example. You get someone into an appointment, often through a promise of a discount at a resort or some gift or a chance at a prize. You then put the prospect through a long sales processes that is virtually choreographed. "You say this, when the prospect says that." Much is scripted.

There are values to scripts and memorization. But one problem is what happens when a person goes off script? What happens when the prospect is to some degree "in the know" as to what you are going to do, as in fact began to happen in the time share Industry? Over time, you dry up your target market, because more and people realize what will happen and so they want no part of it. They either don't come, or they simply "just say no" because they don't want to be manipulated. The wrong intention kills it all.

The above example makes a few key points that at first may seem contradictory to some things we have written and said. Let's take a step back, to understand a key relationship, and then return to the point.

Marketing should set up sales with a prospect, that sums up the goal of marketing. Marketing doesn't sell, it delivers a prospect, and hopefully a steady stream of them. Once you get the prospect, sales takes over. In the modern era of CRM (Customer Relationship Management), prospects may move fluidly in and out of sales and follow up marketing, as with an email campaign to prospects and clients.

But obviously the job of sales professionals is to the MAKE a sale. Many of them!

Some MH Retailers – for example – in their haste to be "unsales-like" and not turn off a prospect, use no sales process. They let the customer wander around open, model homes, hoping they bump into the house they want and magically fall to the floor, open a checkbook and say, "sell me this one!" It can happen, but not often enough. I recall a successful retailer who went from 5 locations to 4, then 3, 2 and 1 doing this. Finally – of course – the last location closed. No system, insufficient sales, overhead far outpaced the sales which took place. They were done.

They had gone from a system, to no system. From success to failure.

But on the other end of the spectrum are those retailers who had a highly scripted process. It was much like a time share sales system in that sense. I am thinking of another example, in another market from the one above. The retailer had good product, somewhat high pricing, did a lot of marketing, had overall good locations (meaning, high traffic spots off major highways in good towns). But as the highly scripted systems became better known, guess what happened? The company I am thinking about in a good state, in better economic times than these are, went from 5 locations, to 4, to 3, then to 1 and done. Their lack of a customer-friendly process made them fail.

As in much of life, the answer is simple. The Solutions are always there if you look for it! Another example or analogy will make the point.

Imagine a professional football team that didn't practice. They had no play book. They had no process for success. How long would a team like that last? Not long! Even great players need a plan! Great players need coaching and play calling. So training is fundamental and a having a process are both critical. The same is true in selling.

Great sales talents realizes their potential precisely through training that is ongoing and routine, just as great teams keep training season after season.

Let's circle back to the top.

The sales process MUST begin with the right intention! If you are trying to manipulate someone, the intention is wrong. Over time then, the sales process that seeks to manipulate will self-destruct.

What works is having a process that is user-friendly for the sales person, and user friendly for the customer.

Now we get to a profound key! Don't sleep, don't snooze, or you will miss it!

Coach Lou Holtz said the following, in his three rules of life:

• 1) Do what's right
• 2) Do your best.
• 3) Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Three questions people ask you (either openly, subconsciously, or often to themselves):

• 1) Can I trust you?
• 2) Are you committed?
• 3) Do you care about me?

When companies, politicians, sales professionals and others get these 6 points down, look out! Good to Great Results wills follow! And so long as such principles are put into place and set in motion for the long run, long term success will follow!

But notice how all 6 points go back to the intention. If you intend to serve, if you want to serve well, you are setting up the other 6 rules. Coach Holtz started simply with, Do What's Right. The Right Intention, the Right Training will yield the Right Results for the customer AND for the company alike!

The 21st century has more ways to communicate than we never would have dreamed about at the dawn of the 20th century. We had person to person, signs, books, newspapers and magazines 100 years ago. So telephones, radio and TV were all on the horizon a century ago. Those innovations were followed by cable, cells, satellite and finally in the 90s we saw the rise of the Internet. Today we see branches of online, with tablets, text and smartphone use, social networking and more.

We have an amazing ways to reach out and touch someone. But how we do what we do is the difference between long term sales success and eventual failure. And in the end, for a big ticket product like a modular or manufactured home, it still comes down to one on one with people.

Factory built housing is an amazing product. Imagine what would happen if you had two cars, both had the same features, but one was 25% less in price than the other. Which would sell more? All things being equal, the less expensive one, right? With the HUD Code you have entry level VOG homes, and you have more 'residential' tape and textured/finished drywall styles of construction. So you can hit a variety of price points and target markets!

Then why doesn't that make a huge difference in manufactured housing sales? Aha! Therein lies a different subject for a different time. Don't worry, we will continue this periodic series.

A closing message.

MHProNews.com is being branded as the publishing arm of what we do here at Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management (MHMSM.com). All 3 of our web address will bring you to the same site.

That said, there is a complementarity but also a distinction between the two.

MHProNews is Industry News, Tips and Views You can Use. (c)

At MHMarketingSalesManagement.com (= MHMSM.com) we are doing the contract (think consulting or short, medium or long term outsourced) professional work for companies like yours. MHMSM is Innovation – Information – Inspiration for Industry Professionals. (c)

Think about it. You have to have news and information in order to stay current and be successful in the long run.

You also need professional development for your organization.m this might be done via associations. It can be done via the web, or live for mid-to large sized companies.

Both are essential to long term success!

Here is our link to our current services menu here.

See a copy of our business building, twice weekly emailed news updates sign up for your free emailed newsletter at this link here: MHProNews.com/newsletter

Sign up for that free email here: MHProNews.com/subscribe

And when you're ready to join the ranks of those who make more money by working smarter, not harder, gives us a call or email us. My contact info is below. Years of success in factory-built housing follow in our wake, as testimonials, statistics and letters of reference at LATonyKovach.com prove. The initial consultations are free. The results, priceless. And we mutually commit to confidentially, our process is proprietary.

When you are ready for 21st century results in marketing, sales and management, call, click or connect.##

(Editor's note: see more of Tim's columns in the Words of Wisdom and in our Feature Articles section of MHProNews.com. See our news by scrolling the center and left side columns on our home page, and keeping up with Tony Kovach's The Masthead blog.)

Posted for
Tim Connor
Business Development
MHProNews.com
MHMSM.com
And the new MHLivingNews.com
704-895-1230
tim@mhmsm.com

There is only one who can claim to have every answer to every question and problem. That one has a three letter name, God. Ipso facto, that means the rest of us have to struggle along as best as we can with limited knowledge and limited answers. That's okay. Time, trial and error, learning from others who have already learned are among the paths open to any issue or challenge in need of solutions.

We go to experts for solutions on problems with our vehicles. We go to an attorney or accountant when we need one. Ditto doctors, who may send us to specialists if the issue is over the general practitioners head.

Perhaps the only surprise to me in the factory built housing industry is that there aren't more consultants and contract experts that companies turn to for solutions.

• There are installation and set up experts, such as George Porter.
• There are loss mitigation and insurance pros such as Kurt Kelly.
• There are fair housing attorneys, such as Nadeen Green.
• If you wanted to do a new land lease community or upgrade an existing one, you'd call Don Westphal.

But where are the pros who specialize:

• in retail or land lease community location turn-arounds, or
• dealing with vacancy issues in communities, or
• Attracting more customers with cash or good credit.

I'll give you the answer in a few moments.

But first, let's acknowledge that there are individuals – some with considerable experience – that carry the label (sometimes self-described, sometimes valid) as “experts.” I ran across an article recently on a consultant's blog, not a blog here at MHProNews.com. The gent is an award winning expert and consultant. Here is what he wrote, in his own words (including his typos; the bold alone is added for emphasis):

“Like some – to – many of you reading this blog posting, I’m dealing with declining occupancy in a landlease community I own, located a four hour drive from my office. Success there, is improving – to – max physical and economic occupancy. My present distraction? When arriving in town for a property visit, I too often find myself dealing with peripheral matters (e.g. minor repairs, interpersonal networking), rather than concentrating on what it’ll take to reverse course, and get the property back on course to improved occupancy.”

This is refreshing. Here is a community expert that publicly admits, I'm not getting it done on my own property. We knew this to be true from other reports, but to hear it straight from the owner/expert himself is noteworthy indeed.

The expert above goes on in the same column to outline the plan that he teaches, but has not 'fully' implemented himself. Part of what caught my eye here was that his on-site manager is 'trained,' but that apparently hasn't (yet) yielded the desired results of increasing occupancy. FYI and IMHO, the man's ten point list is a pretty good one.

We could talk about another 'expert' that is out there teaching his method for filling vacant home sites, one apparently created over a decade ago. That expert isn't as self-revealing as the one above. This second gent allegedly watched a partnership he was in blow up in a spectacular bankruptcy. Having disappeared from the communities scene for many years after that failure, he re-appeared about 2 years ago, complete with his training materials, website, self-promotion in online posting sites, etc.

By the way, failure can be a fine way to learn, I don't knock it at all. One can learn from success, and we can learn from failure too.

Now, let me compare and contrast the above with the following:

The above is an excerpt from a longer letter signed by the president of a well known land-lease portfolio operator. That president asked that we share the letter in full only upon request, so we've blacked out from the above 'clues' as to who the company is. We also have third party references on this same project that confirmed the dramatic turn-around results described in the letter above.

Tony and his associates created and implemented proven, successful systems. Actions speak louder than words.

While the letter above is from a community operator, these systems work in retail – street dealer – manufactured housing sales as well as in land-lease community operations.

My friend Tony had the notable achievement of hitting the top 1% of all manufactured home retailers in the U.S., from a single location in a small town in a depressed market, where he achieved triple digit deliveries a year. During that same time frame, 80% of the others in the business vanished, closed their doors, many forever. Tony achieved those results with (or because of?) good customer satisfaction. Kovach had no BBB complaints, no lawsuits, no letters from a single attorney representing even one retailer customer. Referrals, as the letter above also shows, were the #2 source for all of his new business.

Do you see how this ties in nicely with my theme about the value of word-of-mouth from last week's blog post?

In the Internet era, word of mouth:

• Can be testimonial letters.
• Recommendation on LinkedIn.
• Being 'liked' on Facebook, especially with positive comments being posted.
• It can be positive PR in an article, newspaper or magazine.
• Or it can be one person telling another.

All of these and more can be part of 'word of mouth.'

When I came on board here, Tony graciously provided me with a page to 'introduce Tim Connor' as part of the team. Tony has told me many times that he owns a number of my books and CDs, including Soft Sell which he bought some years ago. Having sat in on some of his live training that Tony delivers online, it is obvious that he has taken lessons from here, there and his personal experience and woven it together into a system that works well for new and pre-owned manufactured housing sales to retail customers.

Selling More Homes at Retail and Filling More Vacant Homesites

Sometimes the truth of a matter is looking right at us, and we fail to see it. Think about how rapidly Tony turned this trade media website – MHProNews.com – into the success that it has become today. If you want to sell more homes and fill more sites, who are you going to call?

Would an extra $500,000 hurt you?

I was chatting with a community owner the other day. They have 3 properties and hundreds of home sites, with about 88% physical occupancy, and 82% economic occupancy. Let's say their average site rents for $300 a month. For discussions sake, let's further say he had 100 vacant sites. That's:

• $30,000 monthly in lost revenue.
• $360,000 a year in lost income.
• Increased costs for mowing and other maintenance on the vacant home site

Plus the lost income from the sales of the homes the could be selling. That's a cool half a million dollars, in round numbers, for the example above.

A relatively modest investment in marketing and sales consulting – from a proven performer like Tony and his team – could yield a handsome Return on Investment. Full capacity would be far more lucrative – and much more predictable! – than almost any stock you could name could yield in the same x months it would take to bring those sites to physical and economic occupancy.

On the LATonyKovach.com website I saw an item about an RV retailer that Tony increased his sales from 50 some odd units a year to over 175 annually; that's a 321% increase, that took 8 months to do. RV's aren't

Tony's specialty, manufactured housing is. Perhaps that makes the point.

Times change. Circumstances change. Challenges change. But the ability to study a set of circumstances, see the best way forward, create a plan, adapt it as needed (all plans need tweaking after they are launched) can make all the difference. You go to a doctor for certain needs, who is your Manufactured Housing Marketing and Sales MD? Are you getting your regular business check up?

Tony has brought together a team:

• Webtech
• Marketing
• Sales
• PR
• Management

that have proven ability to deliver bottom line results. But let me tell you what really struck me. Tony has turned down working with some companies, often after free initial consultations. His philosophy is win-win. If everyone in the mix benefits, then and only then is it a good deal and one worth pursuing.

The same gent I used in the first example above said to a crowded room filled with Industry professionals, as he introduced Tony and a team member to speak, “These guys are the Future of Manufactured Housing!”

Let us make history together. You very graciously bring us to your laptop, smart phone or PC web-browser today and likely other times too. You know we bring you the most Industry News, Tips and Views You Can Use ©.

We can also bring you:

• more customers to your sales center or leasing office. Tony will be presenting on that topic at the TMHA's annual convention in August, click here for details.

• The most cost effective websites or website updates. Not from some who does it on the side, or who make know nothing about factory built housing, but from pros who knows the business inside out.
• Business to Business or Business to Consumer marketing plans.

Want to grow your results? Who are you going to call? ##

Tim Connor
Business Development
MHProNews.com
MHMSM.com
And the new MHLivingNews.com
704-895-1230
tim@mhmsm.com

We do all types of articles here on the Cutting Edge blog. From factual to fun. From serious to occasionally a bit whimsical. We may share statistics, proven methods in marketing and sales, and much more. But the common theme is business building, on or off line.

This one is a bit of fun, and maybe just a tad silly. But it underscores one of the most important points about advertising or marketing. You have to get people's attention.

You want your target market to look. Let's see some real examples of what the power of "made you look" can do for you.

For companies in manufactured housing who retail and communities who sell, our consulting division's proprietary approaches – serious or silly – have boosted traffic and sales. We tell our clients, "If you follow our system, we don't cost, we pay."

Advertiser's here on MHProNews are discovering the power of 'made you look' too.

National companies and regional events have learned that we can drive more business to their doors. Want proof? Check out some of our client testimonials, at this link here.

Getting the attention of your prospective client is the first job.

When you do so in a fashion that helps them to become interested in the value of your product or service, then marketing or advertising has done its job.

Last year, our client Show Ways Unlimited and the Midwest Manufactured Housing Federation (MMHF) used a man eating shark to get attention. It worked. Next year…

…well, you will see what their next promotion will be.

For 5 more free tips on advertising, send me an email at tim@mhmsm.com. Tell me in your message, what part of the factory built housing industry you are in, your web address and what your target market is. Made you look is the bonus idea we shared above.

Knowing how to get people to look into your product or service is a key for any business. It is how MHMSM.com (MHProNews.com) became #1 in manufactured housing trade media. Let us help you Dominate Your Local Market too. ##

Posted for
Tim Connor
Business Development
MHProNews.com
MHMSM.com
And the new MHLivingNews.com
704-895-1230
tim@mhmsm.com