Clayton Homes Reviews

Pros

Clayton's approach to business and our commitment to our associates is one in the same - an unwavering commitment to do things the right way. Sales Professionals have the ability to experience career growth through increased personal income and the opportunity to take on sales leadership roles.

Cons

Working in a retail environment the hours can be difficult for some individuals to commit to but the need to be available to show homes and assist prospects on Saturday is a must.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to explore additional housing options/floorplans that offer a great value to prospects. I believe in the Clayton product and believe that the more people we can share the benefits of building a Clayton Home versus contracting a site builder for Build on Your Lot projects will continue to increase Clayton's marketshare as America's Largest Homebuilder.

Pros

We had the best staff, a great system, but when sales were down..we got axed!!

Cons

if you have no life & enjoy working 10-12 hrs a day, plus no weekends off....this is for you. The senior leaders, zone managers, don't care about the individual, they only care about numbers & what have you done for them today. The problem today is lending. If there's no money to lend then no sales, then the sales associate gets fired.

Advice to Senior Management

As a former dedicated employee, I worked hard, treated customers with respect, but when sales were down...i was let go. I have a family that I need to provide for & there was no severance package to help, but you get your pay checks & live comfortably. Have fun flying around the country using the corporate jet!

Pros

Great facilities and great peers.

Cons

Clayton Homes is currently laying off yet they still are recruiting team members through radio ads and job fairs. It is hard to stomach a lay-off when you hear ads running for current employment.

Advice to Senior Management

Value your employees.

Pros

Opportunity to make decent money if you are a smooth talker.

Cons

Practices of management are not always what many would feel are ethical.

Advice to Senior Management

Take better care of your sales teams and put the store managers under closer supervision.

Pros

Not necessary to have a college degree to advance within the company; a lot of training offered throughout the company.

Cons

Difficult to predict when you would be expected to work long hours as mid level management. Was expected to stay 16-18 hour days if GM or PM was angry with production.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop the management merry-go-round and let your production staff solve their own issues and take ownership of their product, good or bad.

Pros

You can make lots of $ if you're motivated

Cons

Expect to work 11 hours a day despite what you are told initially. Managers have autonomy to be there when they feel like it and sales covers 8am-7pm. So, if you have no life, jump right in. NO training until you defeat the odds and look promising, which I was able to do. There is very little sales support or construction support so you will sell homes, build them, be a receptionist, interface and juggle warranty issues from the house you sold last month and the person who bought 5 years before you got there. All this and an expectation to keep on top of building sales momentum. I am successful here, but the more successful, the less personal life you can have because you will go back to having 7 houses to build, calling trades, visiting sites, etc... oh, and no gas/car reimbursement. If you are motivated and want to make money but do not care about your family, a great place to work. I used to have weekends off, but when one our fellow salespeople didn't make it, it was put on us to be there all day every day and every weekend and I forgot what "vacation" means.

Advice to Senior Management

Support your sales team. We work tireless hours while you are home with your families. Give us a construction person to handle what bogs us down. We pay YOUR salaries.

Pros

Very laid back pressure from above compared to most in the industry. They really just let you do your thing but I'll tell you why in the cons. They own the bank which does allow you to finance some clients that couldn't normally get financing anywhere else, but also gives you a lot of misery. See below as well.

Cons

Clayton Homes is a Berkshire Hathoway company. Backed by billions and they know it. The majority of the company's revenue comes from their lender, Vanderbilt Mortgage, which has much looser requirements to get their customers financing in this tough market. But if they do get financed, expect the highest rates in the industry from 10% - 15% making their payments higher than site built homes. Good luck taking that to the finish line. Plus, their company makes money off the factories, insurance, and operating expenses of their sales centers. Example, their sales center can lose up to $20,000 a month in net profit but Clayton Homes will still profit from that store. Another example, a customer can go default on one of their homes, and Clayton Homes will still profit from that customer. Why this is important?....
The main reason why I couldn't stand this company is because they have a system set up to where the COMPANY can't lose. The real losers are the sales people and most GM's. Sales people get $0 salary. Yes you saw correctly, $0 salary. They fool you in a $600 a week loan that you have to pay back when you sell a house. Sales people do you own marketing. (use own car and gas money to drive out and put out knock down signs all over the country that are illegal). They don't do TV ads, they don't do radio, and every once in a while will do newspaper ads that don't work. Once you get in front of customer and sell them, you have to do your own financing for them. Then once it's delivered, you have to drive out to their house a few times on you own gas money to check on them. So let me summarize this for you. Sales people, (although with $0 salary) are in charge of doing their own marketing, their own financing, their own selling, their own merchandising of the houses, and their own followup with sold customers. Why? Because sales people are free labor! Their corporation is impossible to deal with and are slow as can get out, making it only that much longer before you get a commission. But here is this formula. It takes on average about 3 months to get paid on a deal from the time you sell that customer. But if you rack up $7,800 in loans in that 3 month period, and you usually only make from $1,500 - $3,000 commission per house then things don't quite add up do they? Most sales people send back their HARD earned commission checks right back to corporate.
Because of this, the company doesn't hire great talent. They don't need it or want it. They want someone who isn't that experienced or good/smart so they won't see that the company uses them. Most great sales people come and go leaving only the weak and desperate. So, because of that, the GM's are promoted from that pool of the weak. 90% of the GM's in that company are morons who couldn't spell leadership and aren't even managers. So with no support from lower management, and absolutely 0 support from upper management who is non-existent, you are left by yourself to somehow deliver 3 homes a month just to stay ahead of the money you owe the company. Good luck sticking to that number when you're dealing with all of those duties at once.
Advice those seeking a job here.... if you are very talented and looking to make close to six figures, go elsewhere. Only the top 2% of the company's sales people make that at Clayton. BUT, if you are just ok with a company that stays off your back and lets you do it your way and you're ok with $30,000 - $40,000 a year then this is your company. Heck, after 6 years of doing that, you'll prob get your own store and might make $60,000 a year since will actually get a salary.

Advice to Senior Management

Kudos on brain washing thousands of employees to work for you at no salary, and wearing more hats than any other sales company in the U.S. Don't know how you do it but kudos.

Pros

Locations, benefits, some good people in general managers positions, name reconition, staying intouch and making relationships with customers and friends for life

Cons

Extremley long hours, no family time, no saturdays off. Financing that Vanderbilt provided in the past for the sale of new houses is virtually gone

Advice to Senior Management

This company was founded on the mobile home business, quit trying to make it something it's not. The product line is not in a I-house, it's in the mobile home market. Go back to your roots !!!!!!!!

Pros

the people are fun to work around.

Cons

when orders started slowing down and wondering if we will work the following day.

Advice to Senior Management

i think they are doing a great job and should keep up the good work.

Pros

ok pay and good people around me.

Cons

lack of skilled workers or enough workers to get the job done on time

Advice to Senior Management

try to look at some of the areas that might need more help