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More Leasing Association Reactions---- From Dr. Ray Williams, CAE Regarding your recent report on leasing associations, thank
you for your supportive comments on my tenure as UAEL's exec. As I have mentioned before, you provide an invaluable service
to the Equipment Leasing Industry. Hope all is well. My Best, Ray -- From Bob Bell, President, National Association of Equipment
Leasing Brokers As you might have guessed, I have received numerous e-mails
from members and former board members of NAELB regarding your articles
on leasing associations and the inevitable comments by some of your
readers. As the current president of NAELB I believe it is incumbent
on me to offer a few comments as well. I can’t speak for other associations and I certainly
don’t claim to have divine insight, but I do know a great deal about what
our members want and what has made our association resilient and successful.
Yes, successful. We owe
an immeasurable debt of gratitude to those hard working former NAELB board members and leaders who came before
us for their insight, tenacity, and dedication to create, nurture,
and develop this association. I
wish I could name them all, but surely I would slight someone, and that would be extremely unfortunate.
The reason for the decline in association membership has
been dissected and examined ad infinitum. It is not just the leasing industry that has suffered from the slow economy and shrinking business count.
That having been said, I still expect our membership to be at
an all time HIGH by year end. This
will be accomplished by providing tangible economic as well as educational and networking benefits to
our members. We are not just strong on membership and benefits, but our
financial condition is extremely solid as well. It has been said that due to advances in technology and the
information super highway, leasing associations and annual conferences
are passe. Kit, I know opinions are like belly buttons, everybody has
one, but a recent member survey indicated that 73% of our members consider
the Annual Conference to be “important”
or “93very important” to their business. Furthermore,
I anticipate we will have excellent attendance at our Fall regional meetings in Irvine on September 19-20
and Atlanta on November 7-8. Everyone
is invited to attend and can register as of next Wednesday at www.naelb.org Our plan, which we began implementing several years ago,
was simply to provide leasing professionals with so many tangible benefits
(i.e., $2.00 credit reports, $7.95 overnight shipments (unlimited
weight, no pickup charges, or fuel surcharges), .039 long distance,
free access to legal assistance, and of course the ever so popular online
Leasing Forum, that they would feel compelled to join. Once a member of NAELB, our hope was and still is, these new members would get actively
involved and by doing so, grow professionally and economically.
The plan seems to be working! In conclusion, I can only surmise those having divine insight
or consummate knowledge of the leasing business, have no need
to associate with any of the leasing associations. The rest of us mortals, however, can find substantial benefits in belonging to and participating
in one or more industry organizations. I will be at both regional meetings and I look forward to
seeing old friends and making new ones. Kindest regards, Bob Bell, CLP President NAELB 877-349-5957 -- Due to some
unknown e-mail glitch you did not get the entire text of my e-mail.
You should have know when you saw it come through unsigned.
I would appreciate it if you would print the whole thing. I don't want anybody to think that I have, or would ever give up
on the association movement. Bob Rodi President LeaseNOW, Inc ( Your e-mail was signed with your full signature. I still
have a copy. However, if you
say there was a glich, which has happened in the past with e-mail
from LeaseNOW, we are glad to print what you had originally intended:: I have read your association piece and I have
enjoyed the responses. Please
allow me to advance my comments and voice my opinion. First of all I would characterize your comments
on the UAEL "having it all" as somewhat misplaced. Without reopening old wounds I will simply say
that what UAEL had during that era was merely a façade. The dismantling of that façade began with Jim
Lahti, continued with George Davis and simply ended with me. As far as your characterization of certain members
who have left the UAEL and now actively work for other associations
I think they may fall into the categories that were described by Jeffrey
Taylor. Many of these members
simply find themselves being left behind by the industry. The "perfect storm" has claimed a lot of victims. Many of them have been "swamped" by
the technology wave and other changes in the industry that undermine
what little competitive edge they thought they had.
Now many of these people find themselves trapped in an industry
that they can't leave because that technology wave has created barriers
to entry in many industries. Instead
of bowing out gracefully they will choose to swim against the current
until they sink beneath the waves of the perfect storm for the final
time. Ironically enough, I recall a conversation that
took place between me and a prominent UAEL member more than 10 years
ago. It was a very successful
fall conference and this individual looked out over the room and said,
"Bob, the funny thing is that half of these people are out of
business and just don't know it yet".
That was sage advice from a very experienced and respected
member of that organization. That
observation proved to be very astute. I would also comment on the "run up"
in membership that was experienced by associations in the mid nineties.
Many of us knew that new entrants to the industry were not
there because of their commitment to the industry.
They were attracted by wide open credit windows and the volume
driven philosophy that was meant to produce quick profits and leverage
the cheap money of securitization. These companies were never serious players.
Many of them were members one year and gone the next year but,
Jeff Taylor was right again when he observed that all of the association
leadership was enamored with the money that these companies were willing
to throw around and spend. That being said I would not trade one minute that
I have spent volunteering or working for UAEL nor do I have any regrets
about any amount of money I had invested in UAEL membership. I sat down one day and added up what we had
invested in the UAEL over the past 17 years. Including dues, travel,
conferences and the extra money spent to be a part of the leadership,
I calculated that I had invested approximately $130,000.00. I have personally earned well over 30x that
amount during the same time period.
In addition we have employed more than 50 people, all of whom
were well paid with good benefits.
In 17 years I have never missed a conference and
when I land in Portland for the UAEL fall conference I will be attending
a WAEL/UAEL conference for the 35th time. I learn something from one
of my peers at every conference and I get to see long time friends
and yes, play golf. Hopefully
other attendees learn something from me.
That is what the association is about.
It is not about discounts on Fedex and Credit reports. Jeff Taylor may be right and the association movement
may be heading for its final days. Over the next 10 years it will serve an aging
and dwindling membership base. As
increasingly sophisticated risk based scoring models are developed
the customer base will be sliced and diced into increasingly discreet
categories. The behavior of these applicant pools will be
predictable and intelligent systems will render decisions and even
be capable of "subjective" decisions.
This will negate the need for the originator and it may in
turn negate the need for the association. Whatever the case, I can
guarantee that I will be there to turn out the lights for the last
time at the last conference. I just can't imagine drinking with a credit
scoring model, no matter how good she looks. Bob Rodi, CLP President LeaseNOW, Inc. www.leasenow.com 1-800-321-LEASE (5327) x101 Coda: Please print this for me. After I reread my comments I would like to clarify one item. I stated that the "dismantling of the UAEL façade" began when Jim Lahti was president and continued with George Davis, subsequently ending with me in the year 2000. I want to point out that Jim Lahti and George Davis had two of the best years, financially, in the association's 25 year history. The UAEL executive committee of that era began to realize that the association had to change and that G&A expenses were spiraling out of control. By focusing on and subsequently isolating and eliminating the problem, the current leadership was free to concentrate on service to the membership rather than competing with other associations. Bob Rodi, CLP President LeaseNOW, Inc. www.leasenow.com 1-800-321-LEASE (5327) x101
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