We are excited to reintroduce our YouTube Channel this week with our first video in some time. “We are SAM Auctions” dives into the story of our company and explores some of our goals and values that drive us to do business the way we do today.
Foundation:
Over 30 years ago our founder and CEO, John Lines, started this company as a service provider for grocery stores. Over time he morphed the company into the full-service industry leader in supermarket related projects across the nation including performing store closing or relocations auctions. After over thirty years of experience, John has been able to grow his company into a true one-stop-shop for all things related to supermarket equipment.
“We were using other auction companies’ years back for our sales and we found out that these companies were not always honest on how they took care of things. We said to ourselves, if this is how one of the nation’s top auction companies operates, we can clearly do a better job. So, we did.”
Not Just an Auction Company:
Working for SAM Auctions over the past year, have learned that we are not just an auction company. Many of the national retail auction houses simply perform the auction and move on to the next deal. SAM Auctions offers in-house professionally trained sales team members that understand your equipment and intentionally call buyers from across the nation to direct them to the auctions to purchase your items. Many other auction houses provide a set it and forget auctions process.
After we achieve a great ROI for your equipment, we will broom sweep the building and return you building back to you. Many of the larger liquidation companies place “a right to abandon clause” for the unsold fixtures clause in their contracts, meaning when they complete their sales they have the right to abandon the unsold equipment and you the “seller” needs to clean up the mess. SAM Auctions handles the process professionally in such a manner that you won’t have to pay somebody to come in and cap the lines, check the electrical, remove the equipment. That’s all part of our services.
We perform both live and on-line auctions. We have some of the best on site liquidators in the nation. SAM Auctions also can offer a hybrid approach, a combination of upfront liquidation with the auction on the backend. We will work with you to determine the best way to get you and your company the best ROI possible.
The Sustainable Auction Company:
The more we sell, the less that has to go into a dumpster! Sustainability initiatives all over the country are requiring retailers become friendlier to the environment. SAM Auctions has been partnering with other retailers on various sustainability opportunities for years and we were one of the first to put the environment ahead of a short-term profit.
“At SAM Auctions we pride ourselves in how many dumpsters we don’t use.”
That is what sustainability is all about!
Core Values:
When I interviewed for my new role at SAM Auctions John Lines stated, “Honesty and transparency is one of our core values.” Sam Auctions does a great job of making sure that that communication is there from day one. When we set up a auction or a liquidation tag sale, we share the inventory with our customers before we go live. We give you, the seller, every opportunity to save what they need to save or reuse.
Marketing & Sales:
Our ultimate goal with our marketing is to help our clients get the highest ROI on their equipment. We are able to help drive traffic in a lot of different ways to connect the retailer’s products to the customer’s needs. Depending on the sale we provide banner ads, flyers, building signage, social media posts etc. Email blasts are the most effective marketing tool that we use. SAM Auctions has been performing on-line auctions for many years. Many of our competitors are just starting to ramp up their on-line presence since Covid started. We have a nearly 10-year head start on them collecting email address for our future auctions. The more we advertise, the more people will find your auctions and bid! SAM Auctions has buyers all over the country that know what they want.
Our in-house sales team is very knowledgeable in regard to your equipment needs whether buying or selling. They use their industry leading contact lists, to help obtain the best ROI possible.
Our auctioneer is one of the top in the nation at understanding the products he is auctioning. He takes great pride in helping buyers understand certain pieces of equipment. For example, is it gas powered? Is it electric powered? Is this refrigerant going to work in my store? He is knowledgeable about the assets.
In closing, I have enjoyed getting to meet the family at SAM. John’s wife told me that although we are a nationwide company it feels like you’re dealing with family. It can be heartbreaking when you go into somebody’s personal business and close them down. We do everything we possibly can to get them the best return and make it as painless as possible
SAM Auctions is more about building a long-term relationship with our clients. If we’re not always trying to improve our team and fail to offer superior service, somebody else is going to come and do it. People know us, people trust us. Our goal is to keep it that way!
My quote of the day comes from SAM Auctions CEO, John Lines, “Good is the enemy of great.”
Make it the best week yet!
Scott and the team at SAM Auctions
