Industry Voices By Savvy Insightful Passionate MH Professional

vacancy-problem-mhc-md-

Industry Voices By Savvy Insightful Passionate MH Professional

vacancy-problem-mhc-md-

Social Media, Mass Emails vs. the Personal Touch? Field Testing Business Development Methodologies

TimConnorCSPManufacturedHousingIndustryDailyBusinessNewsMHProNews-2

As someone who has been selling my services globally for over forty years, I recently decided to dramatically reduce using technology, social media and mass email marketing as my primary approach to achieving increased sales and acquiring new clients.

Now before you start shaking your head and laughing until you can’t breathe – hear me out.

Everything keeps changing – from direct mail, fax machines and snail mail to texts, websites, YouTube, and email blasts to who knows what it will be tomorrow.

We all have a choice – evolve, adjust, improvise and adapt or stay stuck and comfortable

Well, as an author I have been sending out my Weekly Email Booster articles around the world every Monday for over 15 years to over 100,000 subscribers.  I have six websites and I have over 4500 Facebook friends and 2500 Linkedin connections – so before you start pointing fingers about where you think this article is going – you might want to just chill before judging me.

I am not against change, progress or new stuff.  I am also not against fundamentals, the basics, and what works.  I am an advocate for what I refer to in many of my seminars and keynotes as a belief in The Blending Process.

Let me explain.

Years ago, I spent hours on the phone every week telemarketing.  I sent out direct mail on average of once a month to over a thousand potential prospects and I also gave away over 500 copies of one of my books every year to potential customers and clients.

Well, something changed – Now I had to have a website, a blog, send emails, follow up with texts etc. etc. etc.  So, I adapted.

I let go of what worked for twenty-five plus years and started over with the new wave of marketing, sales, and promotion. That included all the jazz of SEO for search engines, measuring and counting clicks, and well I could go on, but the odds are good that you know all that stuff.

And you know what happened? Business over the years gradually got slower and slower, and why?

Perhaps I lost via electronics the personalized uniqueness of my telephone contacts.  My creativity, my cleverness, and was now just a part of a bigger (and much bigger than I could ever compete with) competitive world. Now, you could say, “Well Tim, maybe you just weren’t in touch enough to hold your own.”  NO, I finally figured it out.  Yes, millions of people want to become famous on Facebook.  Millions of people want to be known by their Twitter handle and millions of people get hundreds of emails every week that the vast majority just don’t read.  Those are facts.

A friend of mine provided the following data from MailChimp, similar to what Constant Contact or others use.

Per Mail Chimp, in Media and Publishing, the average open rate is 17.3%. For many kinds of emails, that number is high.  Also in Media and Publishing, the average click through rate is a mere 3.6%. Imagine, for people who sign up for reading someone’s email news, less than 4% will actually click through?  By the way, my friend does much, much better than those totals, but it still reflects how low those opens and clicks actually are.

TimConnorCSPManufacturedHousingIndustryDailyBusinessNewsMHProNews

Back to the Future?

Try it, just go to any social media site for an hour and do nothing but stroll.  And you know what you will find?  Thousands of people trying to create a niche, fame, new friends (and I use that term very lightly) in some market or with some group or to just feel important or not alone in some way.

Social media, websites, emails etc. are not the end of the story.  Nothing in the past 2000 years has ever been the end of the story and this law or rule has not changed.  Someday in the future – something new or different will replace what is common and comfortable today.

So – lessons learned, I decided for the end of 2018 and all of 2019 I would try an experiment – I would go back to the way I did things twenty and thirty years ago – telephone calls, follow-up notes, thank you cards and no online submissions for new business but conversations with the hiring influence.

“So, Tim, how is going back to the past working for you?”

Well, I’m not going to brag or act like I’ve got everything in life and business figured out better than others, but what I will say is; I’m having more fun, I’m enjoying my client relationships better, I’m getting more referrals like I used to, I’m back to separating myself from the crowd NOT THE CLOUD, my cost of doing business is less than it has been in years, I’m creating more valuable relationships and it feels good to know that I don’t have to follow the masses to be successful and enjoy life and the time I have.

The short term results are the same going lower tech, my time invested in marketing is about the same, my costs are lower, and long term, there are indicators that this will be more successful than all of those electronic contacts were.

Let me repeat – I’m not telling anyone what they should or shouldn’t do when it comes to business development, sales, marketing, promotion etc.

All I’m saying is that there are things in the past – called fundamentals and basics – that when blended with both the now and what can or will be in the future are the best combination of tactics, strategies and/or techniques to use if you want contentment, peace and personal value and not just success.

What will you try new in 2019? ##  (See bonus video, below.)

timconnorconnorresourcegroup-posted-manufactouredhousingindustryvoices-mhpronewsBy Tim Connor, CSP

MartinMartyLavinJD-PhotoQuoteDidAnExpertWitnessAssignmentInIndiandaNotImpressedManufacturedHomeCommunityResidentsTreatmentYesCostsMoneyToBePoor

Marty Lavin, J.D., Weighs in on Resident Complaints of Predatory Behavior by Manufactured Home Community Consolidators

Tony, I am not familiar with this situation, other than as the news account details. On the one hand I know from personal experience that …

Read More →
KarlRaddeQuoteSouthernComfortHomesByranTX-rePendingPlanBanMobileManufacturedHomes

Karl Radde – TMHA, MHI, Southern Comfort Homes – Addressing Bryan City Leaders, Letter on Proposed Manufactured Home Ban

To All Concerned [Bryan City Officials, Others]: As the retail location referenced by Mr. Inderman, I would like to take a moment to address the …

Read More →
EdwardAsk-EddieHicksIndustryVoicesManufacturedHousingMHProNews-1

MHC Pro Eddie Hicks, Federal Stalemate, and the 28th Amendment Solution

If you, like me, are somewhat totally perplexed by the apparent “stalemate” our duly elected members of Congress are in, perhaps it’s because in recent …

Read More →
TrailerParkBoysCommentaryAlKempExecutiveDirectorManufacturedHomeParkOwners-AllianceBritishColumbiaDailyBusienssNewsMHProNews-2

“Trailer Park Boys” Al Kemp, Canadian Manufactured Home Community Association, Reacts to Netflix Series

Hi Tony, The short answer is that – at least in Canada – “trailer park” connotes exactly the type of persons portrayed in Trailer Park …

Read More →
TimConnorCSPManufacturedHousingIndustryDailyBusinessNewsMHProNews-2

Social Media, Mass Emails vs. the Personal Touch? Field Testing Business Development Methodologies

As someone who has been selling my services globally for over forty years, I recently decided to dramatically reduce using technology, social media and mass …

Read More →

The Importance for Businesses and Investors in Manufactured Housing for Selecting the Next Supreme Court Justice

Predictability in law is the key to a prosperous Republic. Laws must be interpreted based on the language in them first and foremost. Only, when …

Read More →
FreeTradeOrEconomicWarMartyLavin475-AA

Free Trade or Economic War?

Anyone going to school in the U.S. after WW II has learned the breakdown in world trade was a primary, though not only, cause of …

Read More →
RealEstatePersonnelCanSellMHCASusanBrentonManufacturedHousingIndustryVoicesDailyBusinessNewsMHProNews

Law Allows Real Estate Personnel to Sell Homes in Your Manufactured Home Community

Real estate personnel are now allowed to sell homes in manufactured and mobile home parks without first having to be licensed as a broker under …

Read More →
RevDonaldTyeJr-ManufacturedHousingAdvocateQuickestWayWealthIndustryVoicesMHProNews550

Manufactured Homes – Access & Equity – a Key Cure for America’s Housing Shortages, Wealth-Building Says Activist Donald Tye, Jr.

Manufactured housing could cure most of the ills we have in this country as it pertains to the housing shortage. Why then is it not …

Read More →
MHCommunitiesOfAZNealTHaneyPresidentWhyTheyQuitManufacturedHousingInstituteMHIDailyBusinessNewsMHProNews

State Association Quits Membership in Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), Explains in Writing, Why?

The manufactured housing industry has long been a mainstay of affordable housing in the United States.  For decades the industry has provided an unmatched quality …

Read More →
GusRodriguezTejasHomesConroeTXIndustryVoicesDailyBusinessNewsMHProNews

“No Greater Resource” in Manufactured Housing Industry

Dear Tony and Soheyla, Thank you for your great reporting on our industry and the challenges we face as independent retailers. There is no greater …

Read More →
EconomicRacismIlGenAssemblyRevDonTyeJr-JDHarperArkp-ManufacturedHousingAssoc-IndustryVoicesMHProNews-2

McCrory Lawsuit – “Significant Victory Against Zoning Discrimination” – Manufactured Homes

The McCrory lawsuit is a significant victory against zoning discrimination that many working families in Arkansas face from cities and towns when they attempt to …

Read More →
Scroll to Top