Article for the NEBBI Newsletter

Chris Kinzie and Chris Spinelli of Present Value had an article featured in the latest National Equipment and Business Builders Institute (NEBBI) newsletter. The NEBBI is an international organization that trains and certifies certified machinery and equipment appraisers to perform appraisals that comply with USPAP standards, and Present Value is proud to be an NEBBI member. NEBBI members share resources and information, cross sell, and network, all in an effort to improve their individual businesses and the machinery and equipment appraisal industry as a whole.

In Present Value’s article, Kinzie and Spinelli discuss the company’s evolution from strictly a real estate appraisal company, to a more diversified company that offers a full complement of appraisal services, including machinery and equipment appraisals. They share with the NEBBI members some tips about creating a business plan, creating a business identity, and creating an effective marketing plan. The full article follows:

The Successful Partnership Between Chris Kinzie, CMEA, San Diego, CA and Chris Spinelli, CMEA Newton, MA 

Becoming a CMEA has been a huge benefit to our business. Our background is in real estate appraising and many years ago we wanted to diversify our business into other areas of appraising.  As members of the NEBBI we have some of the best resources at our fingertips.  We have this incredible forum to exchange information, network, cross sell, and grow.  We’ve worked with several other members on joint ventures, included several more on individual assignments, all the while watching the impact on our bottom line increase.  It wasn’t a fast process for us and we had to learn our in and outs as any other business.  Our hope is that our insight in this article might benefit you and your situations. We thought this article would be good to focus information toward newer members getting their business off the ground or others who might be struggling to get things going.  It benefits us all when more of us are doing better.

One of the best places to start when reworking your current situation or just new in the business is to “form a plan.”  Sit down and write out a simple business plan which would include what you want to do with this designation and education, research your competition, research the marketplace, who would be your potential clients, decide where you want to specialize (this is an important one), set your time goals, set your pricing for services, financial goals (short-term, long-term), create a budget for your business infrastructure and your marketing.  

Create an identity for yourself in this business. It gives you focus and credibility, which is crucial to success.  You need to stand out in some way from the rest.  One way is to specialize in a particular field of M&E appraising or consulting, another might be to offer a boutique of services.  Pull from your background, your interests, or your former career contacts.

Marketing is by far the hardest thing to grasp in business, especially if you’re working the business and your marketing at the same time.  We’ve discovered the more personal the interaction with a potential client the greater the chances for turning a lead into a job in a shorter timeframe.  People need to know who you are and what you do.  People especially listen more when you have something to offer rather than something to sell.  Don’t sell someone your service, offer them help.  A great way to get in front of people is join a networking group … join a few.  It gives you a voice, adds credibility, and provides a new sphere of influence that will grow.  You might have to visit a few but when you find the right one it can do wonders.  If you don’t know where to start try www.meetup.com.  
 
Another source for leads is your own accountant, CPA, or tax attorney.  They may not give you business but they’re a resource to interview and show you the inside track of how they think and where there may be a need.  Talk to everyone!  If you have a fear of speaking in front of people or making presentations, one resource to work on is www.toastmasters.org.
 
Follow up, follow up, follow up!  If you do a letter campaign, phone campaign, or any other type of marketing you had better follow up on those leads.  Be consistent, dedicate time, and keep in contact.  If you’re not good at marketing, join forces with someone who is.  

So who needs you? Many lenders have approved lists but not like residential appraisers are used too.  You might get a call from the lender or they may make the borrower find you. The commercial lending department is a good place to start for the decision maker. From our experience it doesn’t matter which appraisal discipline you work in, typically it comes down to pricing and turn-around time who gets the job.  With regard to attorneys and accountants, we’ve found it really depends on their clientele.  Most areas have a book of lists, which most business journals have.  This has been a good resource to find more about the local and regional leaders in industries.   The larger the company the more complex and diverse the needs are for your services; if you’re targeting large corporations you may be looking at multiple decision makers and multiple streams of income.  

We hope some of the ideas that have helped us be more successful will help you.  Be good and remember to be honorable and upfront in all that you do.

By: Present Value

Tags: equipment appraisal, Machinery and equipment appraisal, machinery appraisal, NEBBI, NEBBI Newsletter, USPAP standards
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