Volunteer Bid Spotters or Professional Ringman ??

My friend Ron Harke of Harke Auction & Appraisers wrote the following on his blog,  www.harkeauction.com/blog. This is a big topic of negotiation with every benefit auction committee and a professional benefit auctioneer.  However, usually after the event and using professional ringman, that organization will not want to go back to using :volunteer bid spotters" . Thank to Ron for allowing me to repost. 

Just about every Professional Benefit Auctioneer across the country has written a blog or article about this subject.  Volunteer bid spotters, or Trained Professional Bid Assistants, i.e. Professional Ringman.

I understand reasons why a school or non profit would not use their help. At the schools (large & small) all the moms, dads and grandmas and grandpas love to see their kids working the auction.  Waving that flashlight or sparkly wand. After all the parents are bidding and they get a kick out of seeing their own working in the crowd.

Non profits many times just do not want to spend the money for extra help, and yes many of their volunteers love to stand up and have fun and do the same as the students, wave the flashlight or sparkly wand, many do  love to entertain and believe they can and add to the evening, I do appreciate that.

Let’s consider the simple definition of each. 
Bid Spotter: A bid spotter stands in an area assigned by the chairman of spotters, does not move from his 4 or 5 table area and puts up his hand so the auctioneer can see the bid. Usually only with a  flash light or wand, with no yell or "Yep" and yes ,sometimes after a while just loses interest or starts talking to their friends around them.

A Bid Assistant:
 Hired by the auctioneer (via, the organization) he is there for one thing, "To Work" he is trained, (there are Professional Ringman schools that many attend) he has worked auctions, and knows the auctioneer.  He moves from bidder to bidder, he is as active as the auctioneer. Many times he does not use a flash light etc, because auctioneers and bid assistants communicate by sound as well as "gestures".  An assistant "Yeps" a bid and the auctioneer reacts to that, without even seeing the bid, because he knows his "assistant" has that bid.
The Bid Assistant is animated, adding excitement and helping to hold audience attention. He is not afraid to step in again asking the bidder to raise his bid.   It has been proven again and again that a Bid Assistant will more than pay for his fee, before the auction has ended.

Ok, so why don't more non profits and schools use trained Bid Assistants.  I think the answer is they just do not know enough about the Professional Ringman, or have not attended an auction using Ringmen. They have not witnessed the excitment.  If they had they would know what the Ringman does for a fast moving money producing auction. Estate, consignment, gallery or the Benefit Auction. 
 Many of these same schools and organizations still use volunteers and celebrities to auction (sell) their items and try to raise the bids at their one large benefit of the year. 

Benefit Auctioneers around the county agree! An Auctioneer and 3 perhaps 4 Professional Ringman can work an audience of 400 people.   Less if the crowd is smaller. That should tell you something right there.  That’s much easier that organizing 12 volunteers standing around the parameter of the room waiting for someone to raise their bid card.?

I think the old model is changing and will change, as more organizations have an opportunity to visit a Benefit Auction using Professional Ringmen(Bid Assistants)  Non-profits and schools are beginning to take notice that other groups are adding to their evenings, bottom line.  That’s what a professional, who does this for a living, can do for you. 

Please watch this clip from the NAA Ringmans Competition, tell me it would benefit you to use Professionals!!!!              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsngqAvBQjI

To Use a Professional Auctioneer or Not For Your Benefit

You and your organization are planning a fundraising event.  It has been suggested that you look into a benefit auction.  This is a great way to raise funds, without having to have multiple "fundraisers' per year.  Although there is nothing wrong with other types of fundraisers.

As you come to your first committee meeting to begin planning an benefit / charity auction, you will be presented with a very common question.  Who will we get to be the auctioneer for the event?  There will be someone that will say something like, "I know a guy/gal that is really good in front of a crowd, that MIGHT be able to do it." or someone will say, "Why do we need to pay someone to be the auctioneer?" These are just some of the questions that will or may be asked when the initial planning is started.

Let me address these two as I feel they are the most asked questions.  But before I do that, let me say this, I am not condoning any organization that doesn't use a professional auctioneer.  Many organizations choose not to for the simple fact, that they do not know the difference.  My goal is to provide information that will assist an auction committee to be able to have a profitable and memorable event.

Suppose that someone has said they know someone who is good in front of a crowd and MIGHT be able to do it for us, or the flip-side of that is we need to get a celebrity to do it.  Contrary to the belief of some, there is much more to what the auctioneer brings than just showing up and selling the day of the event.   A professional benefit auctioneer can help with many various things that will help you and your committee focus on other aspects of the event.  Most professional benefit auctioneers are willing to add valuable input and ideas that will help progress your evening in a favorable way.  After all the object of the evening is not only to raise funds for your organization that evening but rather to create an event that the guests will remember and will want to return the following year.

Another drawback of having a friend or a celebrity do the calling is the pressure of success that is immediately put on them.  If the event doesn't quite go as well as planned, or the crowd is not engaged in the bidding of items, the friend or celebrity may take it as an insult.  A professional benefit auctioneer not only is trained in working the crowd, just as importantly he/she is involved in working WITH the crowd. The Auctioneer knows when more time needs to be spent on a particular item based on the value, the interest showed, and if necessary how to peak a little more interest to increase the bidding.  This creates an atmosphere that is generally enjoyable for everyone.

The second question that is asked is "Why should we pay someone to do this for us?"  This is a subject that many organizations actually miss the importance of.   Many organizations think that by paying a professional benefit auctioneer that the profit from the event will be lessened.  The truth of the matter is that a professional auctioneer should not only be able to make his fee but should also be able to bring in more money than a non professional.  This goes back to the previous comments of the training and understanding the whole picture of the auction process.  Along with that, many organizations will not hesitate to pay for other aspects of the evening so that they don't have to worry about it, the caterers, the band or the DJ, the venue, etc.  The auctioneer is another service being provided that by using a professional may reduce the amount of stress to you and your event committee.

As you can see, a professional benefit auctioneer can bring many different aspects to an event.  So can you really afford to not use one at yours.

Oral Auction Items vs Silent Auction Items

Your organization is planning on using a benefit auction as a fund raiser.  You have established a committee and are in the planning stages of the event.  The question comes up, "What makes good live auction items and what makes good silent auction items"?

There are several things that you would want to take into consideration when this question arises.  First off and probably the most important question,  How many live auction items do you want to sell that evening?  This is an important point, and will need to be addressed with the auctioneer you choose for the event.  Each auctioneer has a different style and has a different amount of items they feel comfortable selling in an hour or two.  Most live benefit auctions should be limited to no more than two hours maximum.

The next point to consider is what is the expected crowd going to be?  This changes from event to event based on location, type of event, and what the benefit is for.  You may be able to use different items based on the demographics of the people that you are expecting to attend the evening.  For example a small church auction may be able to use a specially made cake by one of its members as a live auction item, but that same cake probably wouldn't do to well at a formal event.  This is another point that the auctioneer that you are planning on using should be able to help you with.

The third thing to consider is the anticipated value of an item.  Obviously you will want to put the items that will bring the highest value to your event on the live auction.  Gift certificates may not necessarily be a good item to put on the live auction for a couple of reasons. First, they are for an exact amount.  the people who are bidding know the value of them and usually will stop bidding before or at that particular amount.  Secondly, gift certificates may only apply to certain locations or areas.  This can cut your potential bidders down greatly. 

But what about when you have several of the same type of items, for example several donations of sporting event tickets to the same team.  These can bring high bids in the live auction unless you have to many sets.  This is the point when I suggest to create packages using the other items donated.  Maybe you can add a nights stay at a hotel or add a gift certificate for dinner.  Any thing that will add a little spice to the package and create a little bit of something different usually works.  Also when you set the order of items to sell if you do have multiple similar items, you want to space the items out so that there is some time in between selling each one.  Again the auctioneer that you are working with should be able to help you setting the order.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas that may help you to decide when you receive the donations for your auction as to where they should be put for the either.  Live auction or silent auction, the choice you choose on each item could affect your profit margin for the event.  The best advice to remember is, the auctioneer that you choose, should be both knowledgeable and willing to help you make these decisions on you items.