Why I Became a CLP
This is the thirteenth article in a series about the Certified Lease Professional program, explaining why individuals decided to become a CLP, the process, and their reaction to the knowledge and other benefits gained. I entered the Leasing Industry in the fall of 1986 when I joined a company that many of us remember as Copelco Leasing Company. I started out on the very bottom rung of the corporate ladder and was afforded many opportunities to learn various aspects of leasing from operations to sales support, pricing, and treasury functions, (just to name a few). After 10 years with Copelco, I joined American Business Leasing (ABL) as a Regional Broker Sales Representative. It was during this time that my sales manager and mentor, Kathy McGurk encouraged me to take the CLP test. Now I am not the type person who enjoys written tests, but I was seeing a number of my broker customers studying and taking the test to become certified through the UAEL's CLP Program. My decision to do the same was simple. If it was important enough for my current and hopefully future customers to become certified, how could I not participate and provide my customers evidence that I was as committed to and had the necessary knowledge of Leasing and abided by the Code of Ethics that this certification represents as they are. While I felt I was well grounded in my knowledge of most of the areas covered by the test, I was given the option to attend the extended study class prior to taking the test. This class was being sponsored by and held at the Advanta Leasing Offices in Voorhees , NJ . Our instructor was Johnnie Johnson. To this day, I am amazed that we were able to cover as much material as we did in just a couple of days. Our group consisted of a variety of levels of experience and expertise in leasing. The day of the test was brutal to say the least but waiting for the results of the test was worse. Finally our results were out and I had passed! Since that day, I have proudly used my CLP designation. Over the past few years I have worked with several other leasing companies, eventually going back to the roots of my training and experience to work on the operations-documentation side of leasing. Some of the companies that I have worked for were not familiar with the CLP program. I have proudly explained the meaning, qualifying process and significance of the program. I feel that in most cases, having this certification has been beneficial to me in the hiring process as it gave my prospective employers a sense of confidence that I had evidence of having the industry knowledge backing up my resume. I have been a CLP since April, 1999 and have never regretted taking the time to make this commitment. Recent years have seen many changes to the names of the players - mergers, acquisitions and unfortunately far too many closings. If you're fortunate enough to be in love with this industry as I am, I can only say, keep up the spirit and hold to the code of ethics whether you're a CLP or not. If you're not, you owe it to yourself to accept the CLP challenge and make the commitment to yourself and to the Industry. rrester@hitachicapitalamerica.com
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