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You are here: Home / Blog Post / A critical volunteer in your auction checkout process
Oct 21

A critical volunteer in your auction checkout process

Sherry Truhlar Leave a Comment

auction volunteers the clerkThe auction checkout process is a thorn in the side of many Auction Chairs. I’ve got a 90-minute Simple Auction Checkout training webinar that explains the step-by-step process, including the roles and responsibilities of the people on that team. 

Today’s post introduces you to one team member, whom I’ll argue is the most important.

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Benefit auctions are run by volunteers. So when the big day arrives and you’re unlocking the doors to greet swarming guests, which volunteer is CRITICALLY important onsite?

  • It’s not the décor chair.
  • It’s not the gal overseeing the catering.
  • It’s not even the Auction Co-Chairs, though I have built my business around their existence.

When it comes to your onsite team, the most important benefit auction volunteer is … the clerk.

Auction clerks go by different names. You might refer to your clerk as a recorder, secretary, or tracker. 

In essence, the clerk the person responsible for writing down the sale price and bidder number, in that order.

(Professional auctioneers are taught to state the “sold” price first, followed by the bidder number. Setting it up in that order on your live auction tracking bid sheets will be the easiest for you.)

When I sell the first item and say, “Sold for $700 to bidder #146,” the clerk is writing down “$700, #146” on the first item ticket (ticket = a piece of paper).

If the auction is running fairly typical of most galas, another volunteer is taking that piece of paper from the clerk and physically walking it over to the auction checkout team for processing.

One of my clients is a church group.  At their most recent auction, I sold 32 items ranging from “a 2-week supply of homemade frozen chicken noodle soup” to “shooting lessons on an MP5 and Glock 22 at a range with a federal agent.”

The primary change we made to the event this past time was in the auction checkout process.

The auction chair and I spent well over an hour one night talking through a simple, manual process that would work without computers or credit card machines. Part of our training included a discussion about the role of the clerk.

At the event itself, I made a point of introducing the clerk, whom I will call Kelli. 

Kelli was seated to the right of me, facing the crowd.

“Kelli has the most important job here tonight,” I told guests, “She’s much more important than I am because she’s tracking the money. Don’t bother her. If you’ve got anything to say or ask, go see the Auction Chair or our DJ. But do NOT come within 8’ of Kelli.”

Everyone laughed. And no one bothered Kelli.

Working in peace, Kelli tracked the numbers accurately, despite our having to make some spontaneous changes during the live auction. For the first time in six years, this event had a systematic check-out.

The Auction Chair was rightfully proud. At the end of the night, she had a spreadsheet that listed sale prices, item numbers, and bidder numbers. “Look at this!” she said, grinning ear-to-ear and waving a spreadsheet for me to see.

When it comes to the clerking role, here are some tips.

  • The clerk should sit up next to the auctioneer, facing the crowd.

She should never be seated at a table in the midst of the guests where she can be easily distracted by guests.

  • The clerk should have self-confidence.

What does this have to do with anything?

If your clerk misses a sale or bid number, she needs to have the confidence — and a strong enough voice — to LOUDLY interrupt the auctioneer and ask for the sale or bid number. These numbers are critical data!

Many auctioneers – myself included –promptly forget the numbers once verbalized. It’s easy to correct a missed number if the correction is made immediately. It’s harder to find the winning bidders once we are two or three items further along.

  • Good clerks are detail oriented.

For instance, at one of my auctions, the CFO of the nonprofit is the clerk. As a CFO, he is detail-oriented and clerking is a fitting role.

  • Clerks should understand how their assignment fits into the larger checkout process.

Usually the clerk is a member of the check-out committee / team.

  • Clerks should be focused and not easily distracted.

Clerking is no time for socializing!  In this sense, an outsider whom no one knows could be a good fit for the job.

  • A clerk is one person, not two people.

There is no need for job-sharing when it comes to clerking; it’s a solo performance.

My experience has been that co-clerks make more errors than a single clerk. Instead of taking personal responsibility for tracking numbers, they rely on each other to get a number.

“Shoot, I missed it,” they think, “but I don’t want to interrupt the auctioneer. I think the other clerk got it, so I’ll just let this one slide and copy the number from her sheet onto mine.” 

UGH! This is not what you want.

In short, if you screw up the clerking, your event is screwed.

You have inaccurate data … you don’t know who bought what, for what… and you’ve just lost important historical data points that would have helped to plan next year’s benefit auction.

Do you see why clerking is such an important role? It’s uber-important to wisely select a clerk.

simple-auction-checkout-volume-3-book-1And don’t forget! If you’re not so confident in your auction checkout process, my DVD training – Simple Auction Checkout: How to run a manual auction checkout. No software (or drama) required!” – teaches you how to set-up, staff, and run an auction checkout flawlessly.

Grab your own DVD and watch it again and again to nail down this process, prior to your next auction.

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Copyright © 2013 Red Apple Auctions Co. All Rights Reserved

About Sherry Truhlar

Fundraising auctioneer and educator, helping schools and nonprofits plan more profitable benefit auctions. A prolific writer for her own blog and other fundraising sites, she’s been covered in The Beacon-News, Town & Country Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, Wiley's Special Events Galore!, AUCTIONEER, and other publications.

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Sherry, oh, Sherry! You were an invaluable asset to this year’s gala. With your assistance we were able to add so many new elements that truly made a difference in taking our event to another level. This year was the most successful yet! Everyone loved you and the amazing energy that you brought to the event. We look forward to having you again in 2018!

Krystal Fenwick
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Thank you so much for the outstanding job you did for us on April 1! I have received so much positive feedback from so many who attended. You even earned Sister Suzan’s (our Vice-Principal) seal of approval! Safe travels to all your many events and thank you for making our biggest fundraiser of the year our best ever!

Diane Albano, Director of Development
St. Joseph Academy Catholic High School (St. Augustine, FL)
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Sherry is flexible and easy to work with. She gives honest feedback and advice throughout the planning and implementation process. Without a doubt, Sherry and Red Apple Auctions has helped take our annual fundraising event to the next level.

Beckie Middendorf, Development Director and Janet Gulla, Development Coordinator
St. Henry District High School (Erlanger, KY)
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Sherry is “on board” from day one of auction planning, works closely with our steering committee and is only just a phone call away. The night of the auction, we toss her the keys and let her drive the event! We are never disappointed!

Charly Ryan, Director of Institutional Advancement
The Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, MD)
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I was very fortunate to have Red Apple on board for my first auction. Working with Sherry was invaluable. She provided guidance at every phase of planning, from procurement on forward – and she challenged us to make our event more ambitious and more successful at every stage. Thank you, Sherry!

Pete Goldlust, Director of Development
Oak Hill School (Eugene, OR)
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If your auction needs to upgrade, call any auctioneer you find on Google. But if you want your auction to be impressive, meaningful, and profitable, you need to call Sherry.

Erin Banda
2016 NYUMBANI Board member
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The auction was entertaining .. proactive … the crowd was involved and felt a part of it,” he said, emphasizing, “The entertainment value was huge.

Darrell, a long-time attendee
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We plan on booking Red Apple Auctions much earlier for our next event so we can take advantage of more of the pre-event offerings.

Nicole Carr, Director of Grants and Special Events
The Ivymount School (Rockville, MD)
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Sherry, personally, I can’t even begin to tell you the immense amount of positive feedback that I received having YOU (and Darby) there with is this year! Some of the tidbits: You added EXCITEMENT and ENTERTAINMENT… You added EXPERTISE and FUN… You helped the evening FLOW, in a wonderful and positive direction… You were FUN,… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

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Aren’t KK and Michael a cute couple? They liked that I “moved the crowd along … kept the crowd engaged but wasn’t obtrusive or invasive. We were able to talk but still keep track of what was going on.”

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You have NO idea of how many people came up to me (I know Julie as well) and said, ‘That auctioneer was incredible … she engaged the crowd, … she got the bidders to bid without being rude/pushing, … I loved observing her, I just watched her, … she did a great job.’ It was… Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

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Geri said: “Great job of getting potential donors in the room to step up to the plate and not feel guilty or bad about it. They actually wanted to give more … and that’s not something I’ve seen in many other auctioneers.” The following year, she herself ‘stepped up’ and became one of the gala… Read The Rest “Geri”

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Irene attended one of my New Hampshire auctions and assumed I must be a radio personality — until I started to chant that fast talk. “I’ve been to this event before with a couple of other auctioneers,” she said, “Your ability to get personal with people in a way that isn’t intimidating — men, women,… Read The Rest “Irene”

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Most product & consulting remarks are found on their respective webpages, but I’ve listed two below so you’re assured my products are as spot-on as my auctioneering.   Not only was our 2013 auction a blast, but our Washington, D.C. public school raised $67,000 — that’s $25,000 more than last year! The evening went off… Read The Rest “Carolyn Kahn-Hall and Andrea Del Vecchio”

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As a former Fox News Anchorwoman, I am often called on to perform at auctions. So, I know first-hand that auctioneering can be a difficult job. Sherry Truhlar is one of the best in the business. She is skillful at managing an audience and keeping them focused on the task at hand – which is… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”

Cynthia Steele Vance
Guest at The Potomac School 2014 auction (McLean, VA)
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