Auctioneering is more than learning the chant, teasing out a reluctant bid or knowing when to pound the gavel.

        The work before the event often determines how well the auction will go and what revenues it will produce. During a sale, an auctioneer's conduct can build his customer base or destroy his company's credibility.

        Persistence, integrity and a penchant for deal-making are necessary for success in auctioneering, says Myron Bowling, whose Ross Township, Butler County, company is one of about 20 industrial auctioneers in the United States.

2-3 ITEMS PER MINUTE

Myron Bowling said sales for his auctioneering firm have risen steadily since he entered the industrial plant liquidation business in 1985.   “Back then, a sale of $200,000 to $250,000 looked pretty good,“ he said. “The vast majority of our sales now are between $1.5 million and $2 million.”   During an auction, the company tries to sell two to three items a minute. Sometimes, those items are $5 drill bits; sometimes, they are machines worth half a million dollars.   Working alone or in partnership with another auction company, Myron Bowling Auctioneers handles between 50 and 55 plant liquidations each year. It typically loses money on four.   The three auctioneers have a full-time support staff of about 13.   Myron Bowling Auctioneers is at 3901 Kraus Lane in Ross Township, Butler County. It can be reached at 738-3311 or www.myronbowling.com.

        Mr. Bowling has known since he was 12 that he wanted to be an auctioneer.

        “I was a farm kid and worked for a neighbor who had a riding stable. He had horse auctions on Thursday and Friday nights,” he said. “There were horses, girls, money and trucks there, all the things I wanted.”

        Once his mind was set on his future career, Mr. Bowling said it was a challenge to pay attention in school.

        “I went to Miami University for a few days — not consecutive days — and got involved in motorcycles,” he said.

        Working for a motorcycle dealer, Mr. Bowling met Tom Sander, whose small ad agency handled the dealer's account.

        “We hit it off from the beginning,” Mr. Sander said. “Myron said he was going to get his auctioneer's license, and I said, "I'll find you some stuff to sell.'”

        The first “stuff” was exotic cars, which Mr. Bowling auctioned on a fledgling ESPN during game breaks. He moved on to small business and estate liquidations, then to cars and trucks. When he decided to specialize in industrial plant liquidations, he asked Mr. Sander to join him as marketing director.

        Working grueling hours and using innovative tactics to lure prospective clients, the two men built Myron Bowling Auctioneers into a national competitor.

        “While the other companies worked, we worked. While the other companies slept, we worked,” Mr. Bowling said.

        Mr. Sander added, “If you're not a competitive person, this is the wrong business.”

        In the plant-liquidation business, repeat customers are essential. To make an auction customer into a repeat customer, Mr. Bowling said, you have to deliver what you promise.

        “Some companies have hidden reserves or purchase items themselves,” he said. “We conduct old-fashioned, no-reserve auctions. You understand if someone else bids higher and got an item you wanted, but you'd be mad if you came to an auction only to find that the item you wanted was never really for sale.”

        These days, Mr. Sander handles marketing and publicity from the company office, while Mr. Bowling and fellow auctioneers Geoff Smith and Joe Oliver conduct their auctions within the United States, Canada and Mexico.

        Myron Bowling Auctioneers has helped liquidate all kinds and sizes of plants. Most recently, it completed an auction for the Beloit Corp. in Beloit, Wis. Next up is a major sale at California's McClellan Air Force Base, which is being converted to an industrial park.

        Sometimes, the company takes a commission on what it sells, and sometimes, it purchases the assets before auctioning them. It may work alone or it may work with another auction company. But everything goes on the block.

        Before deciding to take on a job, the company must believe it can at least break even. The auctioneers must appraise the assets to be sold, then figure their commission or try to buy the assets at or below that price.

        Sometimes, saving a plant is a better prospect than selling its real estate and equipment.

        “If there is any way to save all or some of the jobs, we will do it,” Mr. Sander said, citing a sheet-metal plant in Iowa and a cabinet shop in the Tristate that the company rescued — in one case, by finding a buyer for the business and in the other, by selling the equipment so the shop could retool and refocus.

        While the company touts its old-fashioned values, it's taking increasingly high-tech approaches toward reaching customers. The company's Web site publicizes its upcoming auctions and solicits e-mail addresses from prospective customers. To date, that address list includes more than 20,000 people from 20 countries.

        Some auctions are broadcast live over the Internet via LiveBid.com, a division of Amazon.com. According to Mr. Sander, almost 200 companies registered to bid online for the Beloit Corp. auction.

        The Internet also allows Myron Bowling Auctioneers to locate potential buyers of very specialized equipment, increasing the revenue realized from such sales. Through the databanks of such sources as infoUSA, Mr. Sander can develop a list of individuals or companies to receive mailings about esoteric equipment that would be of only marginal interest to most bidders.

        “We are maybe a little more sophisticated than most auctioneers,” Mr. Sander said. “We customize our mailing lists from scratch for each auction.”

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