Movement

Albert Einstein had many great quotes, but I love one of his simplest ones:  “Nothing happens until there is movement” This past week I took that to heart and decided enough of these dial in conference calls.  The great part about old fashioned, live meetings is that it forces everyone to focus and elevates the […]

Reply To All

Hi Everyone. I thought it might be healthy for me to confess to a blunder I just made.  They say confession is good for the soul, but bad for the reputation.   At the risk of my reputation here goes my blunder. After three decades chasing deals I still live for the win and want […]

A Good Salesman

Hi All. Just got back from a whirlwind sales tour in Europe. We had a good week. It was funny when I met competitors for a few beers to catch up at the end of a good trip. They said, “Ross, you’re winning because you’re such a great salesman, and taught your guys how to […]

It’s What We Make It

Hi All. Mae West said it best, “you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough”. I came home this week kind of pooped from lots of sales calls and travel.  I was going to complain to my wife Kelly hoping for some attention and sympathy.  But one look gave me […]

What Really Matters

Hi All. I was on a sales call today.  It wasn’t  that different than the last five thousand I’ve been on over 30+ years. The client said he is talking to several firms and knows he needs an auctioneer. He said, “you guys all sound pretty much the same so I guess I just go […]

Auctioneer Bid War

Hi Everyone. I just got back from another auctioneers bidding war.  I won’t tell you the contract we went after to protect both the innocent and the guilty . We had a world class team. We worked with relentless effort with our partners to be agressive as possible in our pursuit. We were certain we had […]

Viagra Years

Viagra Years I watch ‘those’ commercials about four hours and say, “Why not me?”   The last five weeks traveling from coast to coast really let me know I am no kid at 60 plus.  I’ve turned into the cranky “old guy” my father was.   I can’t stand the lines at the airport or […]

Perfect Storm

Hi All. There is no CEO or Managing Partner worth his salt who lacks the stomach to deliver his board each year an aggressive plan. Afterwards they all go home and bust their butts to make their numbers.  Secretly they all shut their eyes and pray they are right, but inside they know they need […]

Evolution of Asset Trading

Hello all.   I just left a CEO summit and felt both young and old.  They said, “you really had vision” and, “you should be so proud your ideas were right about assets trading globally over the web”.  “Everyone followed your lead”. It’s impossible to now take pride in an idea that everyone claims was their […]

The New Old Thing

Hi Everyone. Tomorrow is once again opening day at the HGP Track.  Here we go, again off to the races.   My first year with my Partner, Kirk, was 1985.   Before that, it was Me with Dad and Grandpa.  Before Kirk, we started every year deciding what we could take from the warehouse to […]

Auctioneer’s Bar Chat

Hi All.  Have a Great Holiday Season. It’s likely that this is my (almost final) blog this year. I thought you would enjoy a bit of bar chat when the top fifty of us auction guys got together for our Industrial Auctioneers Association conference (IAA) in November. I was having a beer at the bar […]

The Promise and Challenges of Manufactured Building

The use of prefabricated building components during the construction process offers many benefits. These benefits include cost savings derived through the use of standardized panels, shorter construction project times and higher construction quality, and increased efficiency and productivity. The use of prefabricated materials in construction, according to a National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) report, […]