Yacht brokers nationwide now have a new benchmark for measuring their skills, abilities and performance. Boat sellers and buyers will soon be in a better position to select qualified, competent yacht brokers.
These are the goals of the new National Yacht Broker Certification program; a joint effort of the Yacht Brokers Association of America (YBAA, Annapolis, MD), the Florida Yacht Brokers Association (FYBA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL), and the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA, Seattle, WA).
In development since 1999, the yacht broker certification project objective has been to set a performance baseline for professional yacht brokers nationwide. A program Design Team of volunteers from the three associations worked with the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute to define the industry body of knowledge, which lists the key areas of performance skills and knowledge required to be a professional yacht broker. The team then crafted a certification exam, comprised of 151 questions, designed to be an objective measurement of a brokers knowledge.
“The process of developing the certification concept and determining the essential skills that a professional yacht broker needs to have was daunting,” stated Michael Myers, president of Boston Yacht Sales, N. Weymouth, MA and YBAAs president. “This has never been done before and it was both a challenge and an honor for our volunteer team to be involved in this project. I firmly believe that our efforts will result in raising the bar of performance for the yacht brokerage profession, and will greatly enhance our credibility in the minds of the boating public.”
Like many other industries, performance standards, professional training and recognition are essential tools for ensuring that the industry encourages and maintains aggressive performance goals and sound business practices. YBAA, FYBA and NYBA each have had in place, for many years, association mandated codes of ethics, which provide the minimum standards for ethical broker performance and which are mandatory for all brokers who desire membership in the organizations. The Yacht Broker Certification program will take this process to a new level, providing a comprehensive method for qualifying eligible brokers who have the necessary experience, skills and know-how to be recognized as a Certified Professional Yacht Broker- CPYB.
In addition to defining the industry Body of Knowledge and creating the CPYB exam, the newly expanded Certification Advisory Council will work over the next few years to identify and develop training and education resources that will assist applicants, as well as developing new training seminars and resources that will form the basis of a yacht broker education program.
“Thanks to YBAAs efforts, combined with the support of FYBA and NYBA, our industry will now be better positioned to meet the needs of the boating public,” noted Myers. “This will serve to make their boat selling or buying experience more rewarding, and will greatly enhance the yacht brokerage profession.”
For further details, please contact the National Yacht Broker Certification Program office at (410) 263-1014, or visit their web site at www.cpyb.net.
