Auction Day…for many, the focus is purely on the transaction.
But it’s way more than that. An auction is the most visceral, visible, physical representation of your brand, in which everyone connected is being judged by both vendors, buyers, potential vendors and neighbours who will eventually sell themselves.
Are they judging you based on the transaction? Potentially. Because of course it’s always going to be impressive if the auction sails past reserve and 12 bidders battle it out. But none of that is guaranteed.
No one process is 100% successful and the public understands that via the clearance rates that get plastered across the media as a barometer for market conditions.
Ultimately, there are variables outside of our control when it comes to the outcome, however, the stuff that is within our control can be, and should be, enough to have everyone leaving your auction with the belief that you and your team are an impressive outfit irrespective of the outcome.
Now, lots of you will know or have an idea as to what to do individually on Auction Day, but do you know how to work collectively as a team not just on Auction Day, but before and after well?
And that’s not just the listing agent working with their team, but also with the auctioneer & other agents in the office?
Pre-listing…
Before you’ve even picked up the listing, there’s an opportunity to show your strength as an agency with a small amount of team collaboration.
If you’re a listing agent who is not the proposed auctioneer, you can almost guarantee that potential vendors will have a degree of anxiety in putting their trust in you, without having a brief chat with the person who is going to be calling the auction.
It’s their biggest day, and as good an agent as you are, they’re likely to be more comfortable if they had a chance to speak to whoever’s going to be standing out front!
By scheduling a brief call with the auctioneer, you get another strong, legitimate touch point if they haven’t signed, and you’re providing a solution to their anxiety by giving them a sense of control and understanding over the critical part of the process.
That extra sense of familiarity could be the difference between a listing and a loss.
During the Campaign…
Although it is good to have one central voice with the owners through the campaign, the team can still be leveraged to support the process.
A conversation that I have with vendors that always helps agents when it comes to positioning reserve is the understanding that the target price and reserve price are two different figures, and to have that come from someone who is separate to the deal early on in the campaign allows the agent to provide price feedback with more context, which allows the vendor to process news more constructively.
On top of this, I’m still surprised to see a lack of cooperation and support from teams around their auction campaigns – very few agents are willing to share the auctions that their teammates are holding across their social media, which isn’t a great look for your vendors if you’ve been banging on about how good your ‘team’ is, and is a missed chance for agents to show a greater level of activity.
On Auction Day…
I’ve said this so many times – although the auctioneer is the focal point, the entire team is in view, so it is vital that everyone involved plays an active role.
Having your team say hello and good luck to the owner would make them feel supported.
Getting the auctioneer to take the owners to one side to chat about how the general market has been in that week to provide that ‘helicopter perspective’ to the owners is so important in assisting owners to understand the strength of an offer based on market conditions.
Getting teammates to interact with potential vendors to support your claim that you are the right team for their sale…so many ways that you can work more collaboratively for the greater collective good!
As the auction begins, it always feels more dynamic when agents are prepared to interact with the auctioneer during the call.
Hearing different voices, familiar voices if buyers and onlookers have spoken to the listing agent or colleagues more regularly is a great touch to help maintain attention.
Matching the energy of the auctioneer, and more importantly making sure that any movement or action from the team has purpose is vital when, as a team, you’re looking to create that active environment that generates action from the crowd.
Using the auctioneer to get more bidding from someone by challenging the auctioneer to take a smaller increment is a great way to show buyers that you’re trying, whilst letting the auctioneer know that there’s more money on the way!
After the Auction…
If it sells, it’s straightforward normally. But if it passes in, the listing agent is going to need help to keep the vendors on-side and moving forward, otherwise the blame will be getting pointed directly towards them.
Having the auctioneer go to the owners first once it passes in is a good move so that they can face that initial hit of disappointment, so that when the agent comes in having organised the team and spoken to potential buyers after the event, the disappointment has been handled, so that the listing agent can immediately talk about next moves and give the owners the feeling that the campaign is still moving closer to a deal.
That subjective voice that the auctioneer has can (and has, in my case) helped to get subsequent deals over the line, because the agent can use the auctioneer to either deliver the reality of the situation in plain terms, preserving the agent-vendor relationship.
If you’re a listing agent that is outsourcing your auctioneer (either to someone else in the office or externally), you need to know that your auctioneer has your back and has the ability to have these conversations in a way that is going to not only help with the deal, but enhance your reputation with a level of credibility.
It’s way more important than you realise, and you’ll be so grateful when more deals get done, and more opportunities come your way!
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