How Would You Answer These Modular Home Builder Rants?

On any given week I get one or two emails from builders either venting to me about the modular home factory they buy from and/or asking my advice on which factory to switch to.

Below are three recent emails I received and I would like to know how you would answer them:

The first modular home builder:

The factories give us absolutely no support with marketing
and when the builder makes the initiative they want to latch on. I just always
feel they ship it out the door and could care less what happens and leave it to
the builder to make it look the way it needs to. Not to mention I had more
than one house that came in with multiple issues and the amount of rework we
had to do onsite to make it right doesn’t deserve to have the factory name on
it.

This seems to be a typical problem encountered in our industry. How would you answer him?

The second builder has two very similar problems. 

I built three modular homes from XXXXXXXXXX  in PA so far this year and I have had problems with
all of them. I have the most problems with the Service Dept and my rep.
 The service manager is the rear end of a donkey. On my
second home I had 6 service items that were clearly something the factory
should correct. When I spoke to him about the problems, he said he would have
someone there in 3 days to fix them. A week went by and no service. Called and he told me he had no record of me calling even though I spoke with him directly. Said
he would have someone there in three days. Another week went by and work
stopped on the house because nobody from the factory showed up. I called for
the third time and was told to correct the problems and I would be reimbursed.
I did the work and after 6 months I still don’t have a check.
 My rep has never built a house or even spent any time on the
production floor and knows very little about the codes or requirements needed
to build a house in XX. I asked the sales manager for a new rep, one that I don’t
have to spoon feed and was told that I am in their territory and if I can’t
work with my rep, his hands are tied by the factory owner. I’m still trying
work with this person. I recently found out that my rep is  giving out leads
to another builder close by and none for me.
 I’m ready to leave this dumb ass factory for another. Do you
have any suggestions for which actually know what they are doing and can
service my company.

How would you answer him?

The third builder is the most vocal and direct yet. This builder doesn’t need an answer as much as he needs the factories to step up to the plate and start swinging. But for fun, how would you answer his email?

I hate to say it but it’s true: the PA modular industry is
populated by morons. No that’s too nice… try retards. The definition of
retardation is slow of mind and action. What I deal with on a daily basis is
folks who don’t know anything else other than building a decent house indoors.
Like it’s still 1985.

There is no progressive thinking in sales & marketing.
No thought given to better design software from engineering. No desire to
facilitate order processing through web-based portals, or to use CRM software
to facilitate factory/builder lead management. Last year I suggested one
factory switch to shipping with USPS instead of UPS their drawings to save
substantial money – it was a tiny little no-brainer that they finally did and I
heard directly that it saved them $hundreds/mo.

I suggest you put out a survey to BUILDERS only. Get
feedback from them about their experience with the factories. Use Survey Monkey
and you may well garnish a boatload of feedback that should be nothing less
than stellar negative and positive criticism. In a democracy like ours (when
it’s properly running) it is the voices of many that dictate the actions of
few.

These are not little, one or two homes a year builders. Together they will build about 40 homes in 2014. If they are having problems, what is happening to the rest of you?