CHAMPION HOMES, PARENT OF GENESIS HOMES, ANNOUNCES MORE CLOSINGS

LaGrange job cuts claim 250
Mobile-home manufacturer to consolidate two plants
By Kimberly Peterson
The Journal Gazette

Champion Enterprises Inc. plans to close its Dutch Housing Inc. plant in LaGrange and lay off half its workforce at Redman Homes Inc. in Topeka on May 23, affecting up to 250 employees.
The job cuts are permanent and will not be staggered, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

“The decision to close the LaGrange operation and conduct layoffs at the Topeka operation is certainly not a negative reflection on our employees. This is a business decision driven by significant, unexpected and unforeseen housing and general economic market factors,” Joe Kimmell, general manager of the LaGrange Dutch Housing plant, wrote in the WARN.
The closure is specifically related to a decline in the Midwest housing market, Kimmell said. About 300 employees currently work at the Redman Homes plant, and about 200 work at Dutch Housing plant. When the consolidation is complete, Kimmell said the company hopes to have nearly 300 employees in Topeka, staffed with employees from both LaGrange and Topeka plants.

“It’s a consolidation of people to build the products in one place instead of two different places,” Kimmell said. The Topeka plant will manufacture both mobile homes and modular housing units.

BEING SUCCESSFUL IS HARD WORK

To stay successful, you cannot stop doing what made you successful. Staying successful is harder than becoming successful. In this article, I want to talk about a successful builders and dealers who get bored and instead of facing that challenge directly, decides to diversity his or her business or personal life and, as a result, begins to destroy the business he or she has created.

How do you avoid destroying the business which you worked so hard to create?

Recognize the Problem - Be honest with yourself and deal directly with boredom or tiredness, or arrogance. As soon as you lose your fear of failure and start feeling comfortable, you should look for warning signs, e.g., starting work later; leaving work earlier; taking longer lunches or having a beer or glass of wine more frequently at lunch; working four days a week; and losing patience with employees more often. Having recognized the problem, what can you do?

Change the Game - Recognize that you will get bored and your employees will get bored. People need new challenges. You, as the leader, have to change the game frequently - redefine the goals. Change what is measured and keep rewarding employees for new ways to increase productivity and efficiency. Sales challenges are just one way to fight boredom and reward success.

Create A Villain - Make it personal that your competitor wants to put you out of business and your employees out of their jobs. Creating a villain works. Look at your local competition for a common villain that you and your employees can go after. NO LIES OR DIRTY BUSINESS TACTICS. Just find their weaknesses and focus your attention on being better than they are.

Create a Check and Balance - Have independent, objective board members or advisers who can tell you, “No, do not do that.” Tell them that their job is to prevent you from doing something really stupid.

Be Humble - Remember how you got to where you are and who got you there. You cannot expect your employees to stay intensely focused, dedicated and working long hours if you start coming to work late in a new BMW or Mercedes, wearing a new Rolex watch and new designer clothes. I cannot tell you how many times in working with modular dealers, that employees and managers have told me that the boss is not the same person that he or she has changed and not for the better.

Every Day Is "Grand Opening" - Every day, your employees, your customers, and your family depend on you to do what is right and to do your job. Just as your employees owe you 100% effort every day; you owe them 100% effort every day. Win in the game of business one day at a time. Every day is showtime. Every day is game day. Every day is Grand Opening day.

You and your business will reach plateaus along your business lifecycle. Recognize them, deal with them directly and intelligently. Ask yourself why you are doing something different and make sure it is for the right reasons. You will get bored. You will get tired. You will change as you become more successful. Recognize that this will happen. Plan for it and develop a way to keep the challenge, intensity, passion and fun going for you and your employees. To stay successful, you cannot stop doing what made you successful. If you cannot do that, then find the right valuation and exit your business before you lose the value of what you have built.

GREAT WISDOM BY ONE OF OUR OWN

I was talking with a Sales Executive with one of the largest modular home manufacturers on the east coast. After discussing the state of the industry, he said something that brought a smile to my face. It was such a simple remark but with so much impact that I am sharing it with you.

The factory line doesn't move unless something is sold!

The line isn't moving in a lot of factories right now. I just heard that Champion is closing another plant in Silverton, Oregon on May 23rd putting 160 people out of work. It is my experience that the manufacturer's management put the burden of sales on their outside sales reps but that's not always the case.

I'm sure that there are sales reps that couldn't sell their product if lives depended on it, but for the most part, sales reps are paid on commission and not selling anything means no money coming in to pay the bills.

The real sale actually happens in your office, at your desk and by your employees. If you are the owner of a company with one or more sales people and things aren't going well right now, the first person you look to blame is your salesperson. Not so fast. Stop for a minute and put yourself at their desk.

Do they have all the information they need to color outside the lines in order to make a sale or are you still expecting them to sell homes like they did 2-3 years ago when times were great? You need to sit down and ask them what they are seeing in today's prospects. Are the prospects looking at smaller homes, bigger kitchens, in-law suites or master bedrooms on the first floor? Are they looking for less expensive siding and cabinetry?

You've got to work with your sales staff to find the answers. If you are a "one person" business, which a lot of you are, you are already adjusting "on the fly" to what the prospect is looking for. You are already coloring outside the lines. You need to give your salespeople the same insight into what you can do to make a sale. Your factory sales rep is a wealth of information about what other builders are doing. Ask them for help. Email, fax, call or throw a rock at them to get their attention.

Big news flash: They don't make money unless you make a sale.

In order to get the line moving, you, the builder, have to make a sale.

5 DORMITORIES IN 10 DAYS

Mulhlenburg College in Allentown, PA needed to replace some aging dormitory buildings quickly before school started in August 2007. They called on Kullman Building Corporation to build the replacements using modular construction.

If you haven't heard of Kullman before, that's not surprising. They build mostly for the commercial and industrial market. When they delivered the units, they already had brick facing on the exterior walls! Now, that is different. I've yet to hear of a modular home manufacturer that can do Hardi Plank let alone brick.

If there are commercial jobs coming up in your area, you might want to contact some of the commercial modular manufacturers to get an idea if they can do them. You could become a dealer for this type of construction in your area. It never hurts to expand your view of the modular world.

They also manufacture using steel studs and have a plant in New Jersey that produces modular bathrooms.

Here are some pictures of the Mulhenberg College project.

POPULATION SHIFT

The Associated Press just released the latest news of where the US population is moved to and from in 2007. Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and Utah were big gainers while Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania were the big population losers.

This AP chart shows the winners and losers in 2007.

EXISTING HOME SALES RISING, BUT A LOWER PRICES

The National Association of Realtors just announced a 2.9% increase in existing home sales in February. Sounds good until you look a little deeper into the story.

Many of the foreclosures that happened about 3-6 months ago are finally being sold and at the amount owed to the lender, which in many cases is lower than surrounding property prices. This has dropped the average resale price of homes in February to $195,000. The lowest in many years.

Adding to the problem is what we discussed a while back, developers and builders are selling off their inventory at a loss, sometimes for as little as 80% of the COST to build them.

With all this talk about selling off inventory and foreclosure sales, is there still a market for new homes, especially System Built Housing. ABSOLUTELY!

If you think the system housing manufacturers are sitting around doing nothing, you are dead wrong. I've heard of huge incentives being offered. One manufacturer has even lowered their prices be 15% just to keep the factory open. Is it working? Well, the factory is open and things seem to be steady for them.

Call the manufacturer you use and ask what they are doing to help you. Remember, each manufacturer has hundreds of builders and each rep probably has 20-30 builders. If you haven't ordered a house in a while, they may not be keeping you abreast of everything they are doing. CALL THEM TODAY! You might be pleasantly surprised.

HOW DO YOU LOOK TO NEW HOME PROSPECTS

I usually talk about what to look for in a prospect and how to attract them. Here is the other side of the coin. What do you look like to new home buyers in your area? In today's troubled times, buyers can easily tell the good players from the "not so good" ones. Even if you are a very good contractor and home builder, here are some things to do and NOT do that will put your name on their "good" list.

1. Make sure you have a good reputation in the industry. New buyers always know somebody in the trades; a plumber, electrician or a mason. When they ask for the names of good contractors, will they recommend you or will they throw you under the bus because you were late paying them or even worse, deducted from or refused to pay them. Good home builders use good subs.

2. Make sure your business card has a local address. The buyers want to know you have ties to the area and can be easily found in case there is a problem. I ask for a business card from every builder I meet and you cannot believe how many just have the name of their business and a phone number. Just how bad does that look.

3. Make sure you have good and accurate references. You may already be doing this, but here again, I've run into builders that say that their past customers don't want to be disturbed. WHAT? Do you really think your potential customer really believes that. I don't. Give me a couple of names and I'll make my decision about you. Don't give me any and I'll probably ask myself, "what are you hiding?".

4. Make sure you look professional. I know you really like that 1996 Dodge pickup. You probably think that driving it makes you look like Sam Walton. Well, IT DOESN'T! You don't have to drive a brand new truck or car but at least try to stay within 5 years old and keep it clean. Have you ever seen a dirty UPS truck?

5. Make sure they can reach you. Give every prospect and customer your cell phone number. Today, everybody has one and telling someone that you don't give yours out equates to being unreachable. Enough said.

That's enough for today. Just remember that old saying:

"If you look professional and act professional, you'll become professional"

CUTTING TO THE CHASE (A Reprint from last year)

Isn't it great! Someone called you about your homes.

They saw an ad, heard about you from a friend or maybe they saw your name in the Yellow Pages or on the side of your truck. Whatever, they called.Having a prospect call is the best way to weed out the time wasters from the buyers. If the very first thing you try to do is get an appointment with them, you are doomed to wasting a lot of time and creating an atmosphere in your company that actually discourages making appointments.

Instead of jumping on this caller to come and see you, there is a step in between that should be added if you're not already doing it. Remember, a good and a bad first appointment both take about 2 hours. Four bad ones a day and guess what, you're out of time!

While you have them on the phone, you need to ask three simple questions. You don't have to actually quiz your prospect over the phone, but rather ask the questions in a conversational way. For some reason, people will tell you just about anything over the phone including family secrets. I remember one caller a couple of years ago that told me that her mother hated her and she was sick of her marriage. Wow! I'll bet I found out more about her in 3 minutes on the phone than I could have in a week of therapy. And I also found out that she was not qualified for a home, which was the ultimate goal.

The three questions are very simple, but very important.

1. Do you own your land?
2. Have you been to a bank or been qualified?
3. And are you ready to build this year?

It doesn't matter in what order you ask them, just make sure you write down their answers. Here is my scoring system. If they answer yes to all three questions, don't let them off the phone until you make an appointment and very soon. Get the coffee pot started, they are ready and eager to purchase a new home. It's yours to lose.

If they answer yes to two questions, they are good prospects and you should keep in touch with them and help them until they can answer the one question they missed. If its land, find them some; if its financing, call M&T or your local lender and if they are in no hurry, explain interest rates and how materials go up about 4-8% a year. Try not to make a sales appointment with them until they can answer all three questions. And who do you think they will call when it's time to make that appointment? Yup, you! The one that helped them.

If they can only answer one question with a yes, no matter which one, send them a new home packet and put them on your tickler list. They might be buying, but not right away. If they couldn't give you a "yes" to any question, send them a mini sales packet and a nice Thank You letter. They are not prepared to buy and will probably buy used on the spur of the moment. Always send the letter however, you never know who they will tell about how nice you were.
Of the four types of prospects, who would you like to work with?

If they simply walk in off the street, be prepared to talk with them for up to two hours and you'll probably know within the first three minutes if they are qualified to buy today.

Encouraging people to call is the best way to qualify.

IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE

The other night I was talking with a local developer and the conversation turned to the economy and how it has effected his business. He has done about four communities on the east coast and is now waiting to see when and if he wants to get back into the business again.

I asked him what he thought would be good community ideas for these economic times and his answer both surprised me and made me smile. He paused for a couple of minutes and laid out what I am sure would be winners, but ones that will probably never see the light of day.

The first one he would like to develop would be "Margaritaville". "Just think about it for a minute" he said. "There's a lot of Parrotheads out there that would love to own a home in Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville." He went on to describe how all the clocks in town would always read 5 o'clock and have a Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant as well as a Margaritaville Cafe. Jimmy could have a home there and be the mayor! Parrotsheads forever!!!

The other he knows would be a killer community would be HOG HEAVEN dedicated to Harley's and the people that live and die with their leathers on. Create a Main Street with 3 bars, 2 restaurants and a Mike's Famous Harley shop and these people would never leave town, except to go to work as dentists, doctors, lawyers and business owners. HOGS Forever!!!

Would this communities work? Absolultely! Will he develop them? Nope! Will somebody? Maybe someday. Retirement communities devoted to Parrotheads and Hogs. Sort of takes your breath away!

WEBSITE IMPROVEMENT Part 3

Does your website load fast and is it easy to figure out? Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, finds that his site is always one of the most popular on the Internet despite a lack of splashy graphics and video.

"Someone at the Los Angeles Times once said that Craigslist has the 'visual appeal of a pipe wrench' " says Newmark. "I took that as a compliment. To me simple and functional is beautiful."

The moral of the story. Keep is simple and easy to use. Period. That doesn't mean your site has to be black on white with no graphics. It should have color and graphics and pictures and lots of other stuff, just don't make it look like a "MySpace" page done by a 12 year old. Home buyers are looking for homes, not a bunch of flash and glitter.

Another thing to avoid are mission statements with hollow words like Vision and Solution. The visitor will make that determination, not you. Adding testimonials with pictures to your site are also good because visitors will relate to others that you've helped. Ask past customers to write one paragraph about their experience with your company and ask permission to put their FULL names on your site.

Pictures and names of you and some of your key people are an excellent way to bond with your visitor. Make your name the email address to contact for more information. You can pass these on to the right person in your company. An added benefit; now you know the prospect's name and can follow up on how the lead turned out. Pretty Slick!!

WEBSITE IMPROVEMENT Part 2

Now that you know what bounce rates and geotracking are, it's time to move onto your website.

This requires two actions on your part. First, Google your company's name and see on what page it appears. Only 20% of people searching for a new home builder in their area will go past page 2! If your Google ranking puts you on page 4, statistically you'll only see about 2% of those people.

Search engine rankings are important, but they're not the be-all and end-all of online marketing. That's because search engine users are often more interested in browsing than buying. There are boatloads of search engine optimization consultants out there, or SEOs, who promise to boost your rankings but be careful. For every good consultant, there are probably two that you shouldn't be doing business with. These questionable consultants can even demote your Google ranking by their methods. One good small company is Pittsburgh Internet Consulting; http://www.pittsburghinternetconsulting.com/. I don't usually recommend things by name, but these guys have a good track record.

Secondly, visit your competitors' sites and see what they are doing. Having someone objectively compare your site against 4 or 5 of your local competitors is VERY important. Who do you ask? Well, you could ask your spouse, friend, employee or relative, but will they give you a truly objective answer? Probably not.

I've got a solution for you! Simply email me a link to your site and 4 or 5 of your competitors links and I'll compare you against them ------ for FREE! Since I don't work for or are related to you, I will be very objective. Email me at modularcoach@yahoo.com and I'll be back to you in a couple of days with my opinion of your site; warts and all!

Nothing ventured; nothing gained

WEBSITE IMPROVEMENT Part 1

By now most of you have a website and almost without exception you are not making the most of it. 29% of you update your site very infrequently on a quarterly basis, if at all.

One of the biggest problems is that many of you don't see your website as a true part of your business. If you over 40 years old, you tend to look at the Internet as a place to check email, get news, do a little shopping and look at porn. We're being honest here. The thought of someone adding your site to their "favorites" is still something foreign to you.

The National Association of Realtors has found that over 70% of new home buyers look at the Internet prior to visiting a builder. We'll discuss this further in Part 2.

If you think the terms "bounce rate" and "geotracking" are related to automobiles, it's time you got yourself up to date on web terms. These terms could make or break your website.

"Bounce Rate" is the percentage of visitors who leave your site without clicking even one page deeper into it. A high bounce rate is a sure sign your site is boring and off-putting.

"Geotracking" is useful because it shows the location your visitors are coming from. If your business is Colorado and most of your "hits" are from the East Coast, you're attracting the wrong crowd.

How can you find the information that helps determine these factors? There are programs available that can help. "omniture" and "Webtrends" are sophisticated programs, but they are also very expensive, costing thousands of dollars a month. However, you really don't need these. "Google" offers a free tool for this as does "Sitemeter". Both work OK for what you will need for now.

This is only the first step in improving your website presence. You have to know what is currently happening to your site before you can make adjustments to fix it.

MORTGAGE CRISIS HITTING MANUFACTURED HOUSING IN A DIFFERENT WAY

Recently, Hill Street Homes in Michigan has been getting about 8 to 10 calls a day about "mobile homes". But it's not what you might think. The callers are asking Hill Street to buy their homes quickly before the are repossessed. No not foreclosed upon, but repossessed!

Manufactured housing can be taken back by the lenders in as little as 90 days after default. Hill Street is currently sitting on over 100 repossessed homes on their sales lot. It seems this kind of thing is going on throughout country.

Street dealers that used to sell between 200 and 300 homes a year are now lucky if they can sell 10% of that. Modular homes sold by street dealers is also suffering and unlike most of you builders selling modular homes, they usually have 2-5 modulars on their sales lots compared to none for the vast majority of you.

Not only are you losing customers to rental situations, many are heading to the street dealer or manufactured home communities and picking up used double and triple wides for about 20% of the mortgage they had on their stick built homes. I've seen 5 year old 2,000 double wides going for as little as $10,000. The appliances aren't even broken in yet!

So the next time you drive past a street dealer, remember to say to yourself - "Thank God I'm not in that business right now". Maybe it's time to look into building affordable townhouses.

GREEN NOT JUST FOR THE IRISH

The National Association of Home Builders has launched its green building rating system.

Their definition of green building can be broke into three categories:

1. Energy Efficiency
2. Indoor Air Quality
3. Sustainable and recycled materials

One of the toughest things to read through, much less understand, is the LEED rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council. I sat down and read their rules for green and let me tell you, you need a Sherpa guide and breadcrumbs to get back.

The guidelines from NAHB are simple to read and understand. How can you not understand that we, builders and manufacturers, must cut back on energy consumption, not only for our customers but also for our business.

And that part about Indoor Air Quality is easy to comprehend. I just read where China closed 1,700 schools for two weeks because of a flu outbreak caused by poor air quality in the classrooms. On a smaller scale, we must make sure that the products and processes we use to build homes are better and safer when it comes to air quality. Formaldehyde in carpet and furniture and the types of glues and compounds we use must be replaced with products that do no harm.

The recycled and sustainable part of the guideline is easy. Using modular, panels, SIPS and other factory methods of building your homes will increase this with little or no work on your part. Less waste at the building site. Remember, the average stick built home throws away about 4.5 lbs of waste per square foot of building. Modular construction is about 2.3 lbs.

Now that's something to shout about!

TOWNHOUSE MARKET STILL ALIVE

I've talked with a lot of mod builders this past month and most are starting to quote homes to prospective buyers. Not many contracts yet, but it's a start.

The one segment of the building market that seems to be holding its own is the larger multifamily developments. This does not mean that townhouses are kicking butt, it simply means that they haven't died. Projects are slower coming to fruition and some of them are being scaled back, but they are surviving just the same.

Why is this happening when just last year there was talk of a collapse in this market. The term that best describes this scenario is RENTALS. When people lose their home and cannot qualify for another house purchase, they are forced to look to rentals.

The math is simple. If they qualified for a mortgage payment of $1,800 a couple of years ago and their payment increased when their ARM increased and they can't make the payment. What are they to do?

Rent a townhouse! With the average townhouse in my area renting for $900 for a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath with no garage, you can see that is half what they used to pay. Even luxury units with ocean or bay views are only going for $1,800 a month. They were able to afford that before the increase in their ARM, so it looks good now. Some have given up the thought of ever owning a house again.

If you know that developers are looking to get into this business, call them and ask to quote their projects. Keep doing it over and over and eventually, if your price is fair, you will be ordering modular townhouses for them.

THE NEW AMERICAN SLUMS

After decades of middle class flight from the cities in search of safe neighborhoods and good schools, it's hard to conjure the image of a truly derelict suburbia. Will all those manicured lawns sprout weeds and broken bottles like a Baltimore back alley? Will drug dealers take over the local cul-de-sac? Will squatters set up camp in the neighbor's McMansion?

We're not talking about mean inner city streets getting meaner, we're talking about the pristine, newly built developments of four-bedroom, three-bath dream homes produced in the last housing boom becoming ghettos for the poor and the disenfranchised.

Why is this starting to happen? In cities with high unemployment and lots of suburban housing developments, sometimes 20-30 miles from the city, people are being hit with a lot of things our parents never experienced. Gas prices heading to $4, foreclosures, downsizing, no public transportation and rising prices on food, some people have simply given up. A lot of them are moving back to live with their parents and others are simply dropping off the radar. They leave behind their homes and sometimes their furniture when they cannot make the mortgage payments.

If you've looked at what's happening to most major cities, you've noticed that the slums are being replaced with upscale townhouses and condos for people that need to be closer to the heart of the city. The under and unemployed in these areas are moving outward from the city core and finding abandoned homes. Drugs and crime are moving outward also.

This is a sign of the times we live in. If the Federal government cannot come up with programs to curb foreclosures and help communities get public transportation, the exodus from suburbia will continue.

In Europe, where the cities never died, the suburbs have long been the homes of last resort for the poor and the marginalized. Just last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced yet another plan to revive the suburban slums that erupted in riots in 2005 — the 16th such proposal in 31 years.

Our companies build the American Dream!

We need to get involved and stop sitting on the sidelines waiting for change. We must actively join with others and help try to stem what is happening to these people. Join your local NHBA and get started on making a difference!

MODULAR MISCONCEPTIONS

Here is what a lot of misinformed people and governing bodies think of when they hear "modular".

We have a long way to go in some areas.

SOLAR HOT WATER HEATERS MAY BE REQUIRED IN HAWAII

With the price of oil surpassing $100 a barrel, state lawmakers are taking a serious look at requiring new homes in Hawaii to have solar water-heating systems. Two Hawaii House committees have advanced a bill that would require the installation of solar thermal water heaters in single-family homes built after Jan. 1, 2010.

About 25 percent of all homes in Hawaii have solar water-heating systems and most builders are already making them standard or offering them as an option.

Electric water-heating tanks account for 30 percent to 35 percent of a home's electric bill and if the cost of installing a solar water heater is included in the mortgage for a new home, the savings from the lowered electricity costs — given the high price of oil — could surpass the added monthly cost for the system.

Under the bill, certain homes would be exempt if they're in an area with little sun, installation is too expensive or if an efficient substitute renewable-energy device is installed.

All state legislators will be looking at reducing our dependence on oil over the next few years. It would really be in your best interest to join NAHB or another government watchdog group to keep informed what your state is working on in this area.

Don't be the only builder with that "deer caught in the headlight" look on your face when new laws are passed concerning alternate energy in housing.

Even if your state has nothing immediate pending on alternate energy, you should be on top of it and possibly adding some options for your buyers. It never hurts to be known as the energy saving builder in your area.

WAKE UP YOUR WEBSITE - NOW!

As I've mentioned before, more people are looking to the Internet to learn more about you and your business. Lately I've been going to a lot of your websites and let me tell you something you probably don't want to hear.

Most of your websites should be taken down and burned!

Here are some of the things I've seen on the net:

• A one page site with a phone number but no address or what area of the country they serve.
• Websites that haven't been updated in years.
• A site featuring a home marked "Special Sale Price" with an expiration date of 2/15/05. HUH?
• Another site that has a link to it's company history, but when you get there it says "under construction".
• Several sites that have very poor layouts with little or no thought to them.
• A lot of websites that I've visited over the last 3-4 years have not changed a thing.

There is nothing older than yesterday's newspaper, so why are you thinking the people will keep coming back to look at your site if it's so "yesterday". They won't come back, that's the point.

Another thing that hits my hot button, sites without a single "live person's name". You want to have your site reflect how nice it is to work with you and then give them no idea who they are dealing with. And the email address is no better. It's usually "for more info, email us at info @ big time sales . com. This is reverse telemarketing in my opinion. Give me a name and I'd be happy to email you.

Updating your site might seem like a chore, but believe me, you've got to keep it fresh. Does this mean daily? No. But once a month would be nice. If all you do today is change the background color, your visitor will think something is different even if they were there last month.

Times are tough right now and you've got to do something to keep people's interest.

SMART AND INEXPENSIVE AD

I was sent the first section of a newspaper by a friend and something on the front page caught my eye. No, it wasn't a drug bust, a murder or news about the recession. It was a 3" by 3" white label with red lettering pasted right to the page.

"Custom homes starting at $99,900 (on your lot)"

For more information call ***-***-****

Now that jumps right up at you if you're looking to buy a new home. It says "Custom" and "$99,900" in the same sentence. It also had his email and website listed and mentioned a free brochure. Priceless!

I called the newspaper and found out that they printed about 45,000 newspapers yesterday and that the ad on the front page cost only $750! That's 1.7 cents per impression and it has a sticky back that allows you to put it on your refrigerator! If he gets 50 calls and sets 20 appointments and closes on 2 houses, he's set for for a couple of months.

I called the builder and asked him about the ad and he said this was actually the second time he's run it because the first one gave him 3 sales. He also told me that he wants to build about 10 houses this year so is going to run the label every quarter from now on.

And did I tell you, he sells modular!!!!!

NEW MARKETING CONCEPTS

There are a lot of people trying to tell you that they have the answer to keeping your business strong and healthy during what President Bush calls "we are not in a recession" times.

The problem with these marketing programs is YOU. Your reactions to these ideas will make or break them quickly. For example, you contact a company to help you drive sales to your door. They tell you what they can do and you buy their program. Here is the tough part, you think they will create a program that allows you to sit back and get ready for the onslaught of calls. Ain't going to happen that way.

Here is reality. These programs will work for a short time, but unless YOU have bought into it both financially and mentally and your employees get on board with it, it is doomed to fail. These NEW IDEAS are not really new, they are tried and true processes that have been updated to meet the current economic problems.

The companies offering you their services are not trying to take your money and run. They honestly, for the most part, are good people trying to get your company through these rough times. And of course they are the ones that get the blame when sales don't increase.

The next time you see an ad for one of these marketing companies, ask yourself if you're willing to listen to them and make the same commitment to marketing your company as you are in building houses. That's how successful companies stay in business.

There is one type of marketing however, that just blows me away:

buying sales leads!

You've seen the ads on TV and in magazines promising tons of leads for people that want your services. There are two major problems with this and they are HUGE. First, nobody likes to cold call, not even you. You will probably do it for about a day or so and then give it to your office manager or one of your framers to make the calls. Secondly, why pay for these leads when the phone book is FREE! Simply call everyone in your phone book and I guarantee you will get appointments.

If you can't get an appointment after calling 50,000 names, you shouldn't be in this business.

MAINE HOUSING STARTS OFF BY 37%

There were 9,000 housing units built in Maine in 2005, but those days are gone. Starts have dropped to 37% to 5,690 in 2007.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said the percentage of homes in foreclosure in Maine reached a record level during the last quarter of 2007. Because of the credit problems, many people have debt that's greater than the value of their homes, so they can't afford to leave.

Richard Cromwell of the Modular Homebuilders Association says "many people who are building are seeking homes without high-end features that were common during the boom". These features used to be the high profit items needed to help boost the basic profit.

Now that these features have been curtailed for many home builders, they must keep a closer eye on many of their operating costs, especially fuel and labor costs.

ESTATE PLANNING

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, "but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit 20 million dollars."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at estate planning than men

NEW SERVICE FROM "MODULAR HOME BUILDER"

A new service has been added for any System Building Manufacturer by Modular Home Builder. A blog can be created and maintained by us for your company.

Manufacturer's need to communicate with a lot of different companies and people to alert and/or inform them about new ideas and company happenings. With this in mind, we can create and maintain a website separate from your company's website.

Here are some of the features we can add to your Blog:

• Spotlight particular builders
• Sales techniques and aids
• New home design help
• New product annoucements
• Industry news
• New company Procedure
• and much more...you choose

The Blog would be updated daily! We would take the initiative to contact key people in your organization that you identify as accurate news sources and also interview key builders that you want to spotlight as great examples.

CONTACT ME AT modularcoach@yahoo.com for more information.

RUNAWAY PRICING IN CHINA

You are probably asking yourself "why should I care if building material prices are going up in China?. The answer is, YOU NEED THAT INFORMATION.

China supplies a tremendous amount of building materials for the US home builder. Faucets, flooring, kitchen cabinets, steel, insulation and much more.

The other thing you need to know is China is having a fantastic building boom in their own country. Many contractors there were underfunded and have folded up their businesses while foreign companies are cashing in. I read recently that they are building the equivalent of a new major city every month!

So what was considered lower material costs because it was made in China is no longer the rule but rather getting to be the exception. Add our dollar's deflation against the Euro and India's rise in the world market and it might soon be that American Made will be the lower priced option.

Who would have thought that just a decade ago you would as concerned about the global market as you were about how much Lowe's was charging for a 2x4.

ANOTHER REASON TO GO MODULAR

How would you like to be in a business where all of your raw material costs were going up, fuel costs were climbing faster than a 6 year old on a jungle gym and products that were built last year and still for sale this year are priced lower than you can build your product?

Guess what.....you are!

Going to the lumber yard used to be a good trip. You knew what to expect (almost) and you could plan your budget and quote homes based on a fairly stable price. Today that has all changed. Prices have gone up 10% in the last 2 months. Even if you build luxury homes for people who aren't cash strapped, you're finding that building their home the old way is hurting your bottom line. You've probably switched to either a cost plus basis or a management fee.

And how about getting to the jobsite? Still driving to the site and finding that you or one of your crew has to make several trips to the lumber yard to pick up materials. Here's a quick cost analysis:

2 trucks @ 30 miles round trip to the jobsite PLUS one truck @ 2 trips to the lumber yard @ 20 miles round trip equals 100 miles. Divide that by 16 miles per gallon and you've used 6 1/4 gallons of gas. That equates to $19.50 a day minimum. Now add all the other trips you have to make as the owner and you're probably at $25.00 a day. Here we go! Take 120 working days to complete a basic 2 story home and you've spent $3,000!!!!!

Let me guess...you didn't think to add that into you price.

And then you have the Big Builder down the street with 50 homes built last year that he is selling at a discount and you find yourself quickly sucking the exhaust.

One of the best ways to deal with these problems is to turn to modular construction. Not only do you save a bunch of trips to the lumber yard, your price is locked the second you sign the contract with the manufacturer and send off a deposit. Even the factory quote is good for 30 - 60 days. The only real variable is freight charges which is usually increased through the use of a surcharge.

Modular is the way to go for profit...again!

WHY MODULAR FOR SMALL BUILERS

Here is a video for the small builder considering going modular. I found it on BuildTV and thought you might find it interesting.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185051962/bclid1184739202/bctid1334447344

You have endure a commercial before it starts but it's worth it. You'll also find a lot of other links on it featuring products and help.

ENJOY!!!

B.S. METER

Here is a little something you can use to tell if your prospects are lying to you (works on Sales Reps too)

THINGS THAT SUCK!

Everybody has things that SUCK. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Batteries: you put fresh batteries into your digital camera and within 20 minutes of taking pictures of a jobsite, the battery dies.
• Car Alarms: your car came equipped with one of those annoying alarms and nobody even looks twice when it goes off. And they go off at 5 AM in the motel parking lot or whenever you reach for your keys and hit the panic button.
• Customer Service: enough said.
• Junk Mail: how many trees have to die to let you know that your pre-approved for another credit card.
• Knees and Backs. and ear hair! Nothing sucks worse than getting older. Knees that once ran the marathon can't even bend to pick up a hammer and nail. Your back is sore all the time and who would have thought that ear hair would grow faster than anywhere else on your body. Major SUCK!
• Subscription Cards: Pick up any magazine and about 10 subscription cards fall out. How many times do I need reminded to order the magazine....apparently every 20 pages!
• Teleconferencing: wouldn't you like to know what the other people are doing while you're talking or giving a training session. I know I've had breakfast and brushed my teeth during most of them. An 11 AM conference call allows me to sleep in until 9 AM. Great!
• Traffic: where did all those stupid drivers get their licenses? Most of them travel in the passing lane and 2 miles per hour below the speed limit. Out of my way Jerk!

Let me know if you have anything to add.

STREET OF DREAMS DESTROYED

Even though these were not System Built homes, they were touted as environmentaly friendly. I cannot even imagine how the Earth Liberation Front can justify this act when it means that more trees will be cut just to replace the damage they did.

Officials are blaming "domestic terrorism" for fires early today that destroyed three multi-million-dollar homes and damaged a fourth which were built as part of last year's Seattle Street of Dreams in the Maltby area of Snohomish County.

Damage was estimated at $7 million.

Early reports indicated that explosive devices were found inside the homes. And nearby, a spray-painted sign bearing the initials of the Earth Liberation Front, challenged builders' assertion that the homes featured environmentally responsible construction methods.

TRUE MODULAR LOG HOMES

I'm always impressed when I see something new that fits a need in the modular business. I'm also fascinated by log homes. But when you combine both of these in one neat package, you have to ask yourself why didn't somebody think of this earlier?

Blue Ridge Log Cabins is one such company. They have been building modular log homes since 1992 and the finished product is something to behold!

Conventional site-built log homes arrive at the site on large trucks, but they’re shipped as unassembled kits or packages. They require a general contractor and crew to build on-site. Typically an electrical contractor and plumber are also required. While you may require the services of these contractors for modular construction, the time they spend on the job will be far less than with site-built construction.

Blue Ridge Log Cabins is one of the only modular log home companies to use 8-by-6-inch kiln-dried white pine logs. Most modular companies that build log-style homes use 2-by-6-inch exterior wall studs and cover the outside with log siding. While there are certain advantages to typical stud wall construction (such as the ease of installing wiring), Blue Ridge offers the customer the experience of owning a true log home. They also install all of the wiring at the factory.

This is a great company. For more information, just click on their link on the left side and get ready for something unique in modular housing.