Five simple steps to confidently leading your charity auction as a Volunteer Auctioneer.

By Sherry · Monday, April 12th, 2010

I’ve heard the complaints.

The school auction chairperson calls. “I know our parents,” she’ll tell me, “and I know we have more money in the room than what we’re getting. I attended XYZ auction, and they made a lot more than we ever do.”

When I ask her who the benefit auctioneer was, how that auctioneer supported them, and why they weren’t using him again, she says, “We use a parent. He’s nice … but … “

Then I hear what went wrong.

“The auction took too long.”
“He insulted one of our big donors.”
“We wanted to try this new idea. We explained it to him, but he didn’t understand. It flopped.”

…. Over the years, you’ve shared quite a few “wrongs.”

“Everyone got bored and started to leave before the band played.”
“He sold two identical dinners for two different prices. The guest who paid $600 wanted a $100 refund at check-out.”
“He has these ‘skits’ he performs when he sells each item.”

…. I wrote all 67 “wrongs” down.

“Our pledge portion lacked enthusiasm.”
“He wasn’t familiar with our items.”
“He’d been drinking.”

…. And identified which you could easily improve for the most bottom-line impact.

“He only payed attention to people he knew had money and ignored others.”
“Our auction seemed amateurish.”
“We had a consigned item, and he sold it for less than what we had to pay for it.”

And now — with my 5-step formula — you and your volunteer auctioneer are going to learn how to run a flawless auction FAST.

This Wednesday (April 14) at 2 PM EDT, join me to learn how your Volunteer Auctioneer can help you enjoy …