In a previous life, I'd be called upon to fly a little Italian fella around Sydney suburbs in a traffic helicopter. He'd call the live traffic and we'd point the camera around at congestion - almost always Pennant Hills Rd. It made this fella wildly popular at a time before social had evolved, and at time when TV was still a source of influence. In a sense, he was the first auctioneer to get celebrity status.
On most weekends, he'd call auctions at an inflated rate, and I'd often tag along to lend a hand (we worked on his digital through his agent). He wouldn't get the best results, but because a lot of agents advertised his presence (as a celeb), we'd often see good numbers. Most agencies knew this, but they used the numbers as means to introduce themselves to a new market.
In the 600+ auctions I've attended this year, it's the 'influencer' types that consistently deliver lower numbers. They often arrive late, don't have time to read the room, usually don't understand the buyer sentiment, rarely seem entirely present, and they'll often focus more on the phone that is streaming their efforts to Facebook than those in attendance... and then they'll leave seconds after a result so they have time to record a video in their car (I'm writing this in my own car with a well-known auctioneer in front of me streaming an update to her Facebook group).
There are other auctioneers that call fewer auctions and perform significantly better than others, and they'll *always* get better results. If an agency doesn't have in-house expertise, it's these guys that I'll refer.
If you're looking to support your sales team, give me a call and I'll refer you to somebody that'll return better numbers.
(The photograph is the only aerial on my phone - taken by Dom pre Olympics in our first helicopter).
