My high school baseball coach Bob Dohm had a saying. “The biggest room in the world is the room for self improvement.” While I’m pretty sure he said it to me more than anyone else on the team, I’ve become quite fond of that saying over the years. I firmly believe that wherever we are in our personal and professional lives, there is always another way that we can better ourselves.
The recently-created Designation Prerequisite Course was established by the NAA’s Education Institute to form a knowledge base that could serve as a common starting point for the designation classes offered by the NAA. In an effort to better the auction profession in general and not only the membership of the NAA, the Education Institute has made these materials free to the general public and all auctioneers.
The Designation Prerequisite Course comprises seven modules.
- Auction History and Ethics
- Business Analysis and Marketing
- Prospecting
- Negotiation Skills
- Contracts, Legal and Financial Concerns
- The Auction Process
- Technology
The materials are basic, but the topics are broad. It’s a great place for a new auctioneer to start learning more about the industry as well as a veteran professional to get a quick refresher on topics that may not be a usual part of the day-to-day operations.
The content is free. If you wish to prove competency in the materials in order to enrol in one of the NAA’s designation courses, you can purchase the quizzes and final exam. If you already hold a designation, you can access the exam for free by sending a form in to NAA headquarters.
The free course – as well as other premium content from NAA – is available at naaeducation.org.