Today I’m talking with Lynn Kuhns, President of Apex Homes in
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| Lynn Kuhns, President of Apex Homes |
Modcoach:
how did you get started in the modular home industry?
I have been in the modular home industry for 22 years and with Apex Homes since
1992. I started in sales and worked my way up to my current position as
President of the company. During the years with Apex Homes I was a regional
sales manager, VP of Sales and Marketing have been the President since 2012.
Modcoach: I hear from a lot of East Coast factory owners
that
had an impact on their business. Have you seen
It was unfortunate for the people effected by
industry to grow our business and have steady work for our employees. We have established
several new relationships with builders. Combined with our long term
established builders and the new clients the
market has made a huge improvement on our work flow and the rest of the
industry as whole has been able to grow from the negative effects of
opportunity to educate the stick builders to our industry, and demonstrate what
we can accomplish with shorted time frames and increased volume to the
builders.
Modcoach: Is the size of today’s home different from the boom
time before 2008?
We have noticed the home sizes increasing over the last few years. The average
square footage has increase from 1800 plus over the last several years to the
new average of 2197 square feet per home. We have been building many single family
homes per year in the 6,000-10,000 square foot range. A few short years ago we
were building a basic affordable home or the extreme high end, very few
mid-range homes. Today we are building all ranges in size and style, with an
increased interest in energy efficient methods of construction as well as
increased amenities such as hardwood floors, ceramic tile and kitchen cabinets.
Modcoach, Let’s talk about codes for a minute. Have code
regulations been hurting our industry?
I would have to say yes. With the increased changes to code regulations it has
increased delays in getting approvals and made it difficult to maintain normal
timelines for permit sets and production. The additional calculations required
due to the new codes and regulations are in some cases expensive and time
consuming. It also takes away from the modular advantage, by increasing the
time needed to provide the documents to meet the regulations. In some areas our
industry is required to provide things that are not required of the site
builder, putting us at a disadvantage.
Modcoach:
I’m starting to notice Apex showing up on social media sites. Are you getting
more involved with social media such as Facebook and Pinterest?
social media has become a huge part of our marketing and the results have been
very positive.
Modcoach: I have asked every factory owner and manager this
question. Why do you think that the modular home industry is still stuck at 3%
of the total new home market?
Lynn: I feel as an industry we are not working together
collectively to promote or educate the site builders or the retails customers
of our products and services, such as the design flexibility, specifications,
shortened timelines, the overall advantages of modular etc. As an industry one
manufacturer may do things a little different from the next manufacture, but in
the end we are all focused on providing a quality home at an affordable price
while trying to grow our market share and by working together as an industry I
feel we could grow our market share. There are people within the communities
where we employee hundreds of employees that think we are still mobile homes!
Another area I feel we could grow the industry market share
is to focus on the site builder. Over the last several years we have been
focusing a lot of attention of educating the site builder and converting them
to Modular. Granted, this is not always an easy task. But we as an industry
cannot continue to chase after the same modular builders that have been in the
industry and switch from one manufacture to another because someone else offers
a more cost effective product, better turn around, better service, or whatever
the sales pitch may be. I am not saying as an industry we cannot work with
existing modular builders or solicit modular builders, just approach them with
respect to the current manufacturer, talking down about one manufacturer to get
there business is not good for our industry. There are way more stick builders
out there to be converted than we as an combined industry can supply, so let’s
focus on trying to convert these builder, yes it may take a little longer to
close the deal, it may require more education on our processes, but in the end
will establish a lasting relationship that will allow all of us to grow and
profit from the efforts.
I have been preaching to an empty church for years about working to convert “new
to modular” site builders. It’s great to hear that this is one area you have
decided to concentrate your efforts on to increase sales.
It was a real pleasure speaking with you and I hope the best
for you and Apex Homes.
