FRANKLIN, TN – It comes as a surprise to no one that Jeff Brasher has the auction business in his blood. A third generation owner in a business that was started in 1949 by his grandfather, Frank Brasher, Jeff's auction career began when he was eight years old, when he worked cleaning up the detail shop at Brasher's Salt Lake Auto Auction. Though it wasn't glamorous work for a young boy, he does remember taking the opportunity to drive the cars every chance he got. From the detail shop he moved to doing general lot work, and at the tender age of 14 he started writing condition reports for Ford. By the time he was 16, he was doing detail work and began painting cars at age 17.
Brasher took a two-year break from the auction to spend two years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He returned to Salt Lake in 1993 and jumped right back into the auction working as the body shop manager. In 1994 he moved "inside" into the finance department, handling floorplanning and collections.
In 2000, Brasher moved to Reno to open a new auction for the Brasher family, which he has been managing ever since. In 2007 Jeff served as NAAA's Western Zone President, and this month takes the lead as ServNet's President for the 2009-2011 term.
"I started attending ServNet meetings when I was a teenager, and enjoyed meeting all the owners and listening to what they had to say," remembers Brasher. "As I grew in the business, those meetings became an even more important resource for me, providing a forum where I could bounce ideas off friends in the industry and network with customers."
As he looks ahead to the next two years, Brasher plans to build on ServNet's strengths, qualities that have been developed under the watchful eye of the auction owners who have served as president before him since the group's founding in 1988.
"Our message to the industry is clear: not only are ServNet auctions among the best facilities in the country, they offer the best service in the country," Brasher explains. "Couple that with the fact that our clients work one-on-one with the auction owners, in the office and out there on the block on selling days, and you get a clear picture of what sets ServNet auctions apart from the rest."
ServNet auctions' success with their customers is born out by the many awards the auctions have received over the years, notes Brasher. Recent citations for outstanding service have put individual ServNet auctions at the top of the nation for a number of national remarketers, including RSA, Wheels, ARI, Triad Financial, BB&T, Donlen, HSBC, General Motors, Peak 5, Ford Motor Company and Bank of America.
Brasher indicated that while the ServNet group is currently 22 auctions strong, he and ServNet CEO Pierre Pons will continue look for expansion opportunities.
"Our goal is to make ServNet's consistent, top-level service available to auction customers in every market, and will continue to expand our geographic footprint with the right owner who shares our commitment to service standards and best practices," said Brasher. "With the expansion of vehicle sales on the Internet, customer service is more important than ever before. We must build trust with buyers who may never visit our actual auction facilities, and I believe that there's no better source for online buyers than a ServNet auction."
