There are persons in my profession who unwittingly undercut themselves when they believe that they are acting competitively. Like a dog chasing its tail, those individuals will probably not catch the elusive thing. They will continue chasing their perceived market with deceiving self-platitudes about how professional they are. But are they giving the client thoroughness and real value?

This deceit will destroy the quality of talent and decision making logic as well. Is it logical to give away one’s profession with poor judgment and poor economics? What is professional other than something or someone who has taken the trouble to learn through sacrifice and work?

Machinery and technical specialists work hard to make a living as professional valuation experts. My appraisal society strives to make their members professional through education, participation and a designation that is difficult to get but means something to those who aspire.

The definitions one finds in dictionaries and that great electronic tome in cyberspace, Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia,” tells us that “A professional is a worker required to possess a large body of knowledge derived from extensive academic study, usually tertiary, with the training almost always formalized.”

“Professionals are at least to a degree self-regulating, in that they control the training and evaluation processes that admit new persons to the field and in judgment if the work done by their members is up to standard.”

Unlike real estate, personal property appraisal of which machinery and technical appraisals fall are not regulated or licensed. Personal property appraisers who strive for professionalism reinforce their standards through recertification. This means renewing our vows so to speak. We are required, every five years, one-hundred credit hours of education, participation in our society, and seven to fifteen hours of The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, USPAP.

All of this upkeep over five years means that we have to spend our money and time to achieve those one-hundred hours plus keep an office, pay ourselves and pay our taxes. As independent appraisers this paying of self gets more difficult as the playing field is inundated with legal and financial gopher holes.

Many of the people in our profession come from another life before they become appraisers. They may already have some financial independence that makes it easier to compete with neophytes who would enter the profession. They are also highly experienced with the knowledge to back opinions of value. But, this comes with a cost.

In addition to necessary living expenses it is mandatory to keep up our professional credentials. We are professional because we belong to a society whose regulations include ethics, minimum appraisal standards and rules of the road. This is inline with other professions.

Attorneys, CPA’s, and doctors are required to meet ethics and professional standards. In the technical appraisal field we have similar requirements but there aren’t as many of us.

What are appraisal services worth? I’m not speaking just in an economic sense, but through the sense of thoroughness and pride in an assignment well done.

Trades people like plumbers and electricians get “trip-time” and use a book to price services. You know they aren’t inexpensive. Are professional appraisal services worth at least a plumber’s hourly rate? Appraisers wonder sometimes about the client’s perception when an appraisal is proposed. What is a professional appraisal?

At the turn of the 20th Century, economist and sociologist Max Weber ( Maximilian Carl Emil Weber [maks vaybere] 1864-1920), said “professions are defined by the power to exclude and control admission to the profession, as well as by the development of a particular vocabulary specific to the occupation, and at least somewhat incomprehensible to outsiders.”

Now, I don’t believe that appraisers are a band of trained, gibberish speaking monkeys. We do try to achieve professionalism as Max Weber pointed out through:
1. The highest academic qualifications, i.e., university, college or other education not available to the general public.
2. Expert and specialized knowledge in field which one is practicing professionally
3. Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession
4. High quality work in . . . creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing or other work endeavors.
5. A high standard of professional ethics, behavior and work activities while carrying out one’s profession as an employee, self-employed person, enterprise, business, company, or partnership/associate/colleague, etc.

It may be that I am overly conscientious, but I appreciate a job well done as well as the client does. I almost always exceed my estimated time but stay firm on the quoted estimate. I’ll later berate myself of selling short. I know what I’m worth, but try and convince a client that you can’t work for less than break even is difficult.

Lately, I’ve had to invoke that little piece in my engagement letter that says if I get more involved that originally contracted for, or the client starts slipping in more than contracted for, that they have to pay. Most clients are reasonable that way, but there are a few that will balk.

Attorneys and accountants generally bill by the fifteen-minutes whether it is face time or phone time. Appraisers normally couldn’t do that, but a continuing high cost of living may push us to it. Independent appraisers incur expenses for dues, education, travel to and from seminars and the upkeep of their credential.

Technical appraisers should bill fairly, bill equitably, but also bill professionally. Price competition is one thing but the old adage stands that the competition knows what their services are worth.