Dell Cow Parade Auction Ring Crew

I recently attended the Dell Cow Parade Auction in Austin Texas to watch the great Spanky Assiter at work. I left with a new appreciation of what a professional Ring Crew ( Sometimes called Bid Assistants) can do for organizations that utilize their services.

Spanky is a very good Auctioneer, but frankly so am I. So is Andrew Bost of Bost Benefit Auctions, Dean McCurry, Gayle Stallings of FUNAuctions and Scott Swenson of United Country Real Estate Auctions.  But 1.5 MILLION dollars was raised for Dell Childrens Medical Center Foundation that Sunday. Why did Austin break all records and sell Cows for as much as $150,000?  Twice?

It was his outstanding crew of professionally trained Ringmen headed by Spanky’s bride Amy Assiter that kept the bidders focused and continued to encourage them to raise the bid, in a very fun and non- threatening way.  This was in stark contrast to the opening of the event when a well meaning volunteer and former newscaster shouted at the crowd to “Shut Up!”  She meant well, but that was not the way to get bidders focused and feeling good so they could start bidding.  The Bid Assistants had the experience and training to be able to inspire the attendees to bid higher and higher.  And they did.

Auctioneers who specialize in Charity Benefit Auctions around the country concur on this point.  An Auctioneer and 3 perhaps 4 Professionally trained  Bid Assistants can work an event with about 500 people.   Less if the crowd is smaller.  Ask yourself,  is that easier that recruiting and 7-10  volunteers standing around the tables in ballroom and silently waiting for someone to raise their bid card and then pointing at them?

Now it is understandable why a school or non profit would want to utilize this resource. There is a cost associated with the crew and besides (I am sometimes told) all the moms, dads and grandmas and grandpas love to see their kids or friends waving that flashlight or sparkly wand and working the auction.  After all the donors and supporters enjoy seeing their own working in the crowd and having fun. I get this all the time. “Joe knows everyone so he can really encourage them to bid”. Yes, like that well meaning volunteer but how does this make the donors feel when Joe shouts at them to bid higher?

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 by “Spotting Bids”. They believe they can and add to the evening and Organizations are sometimes worried about offending them.

But what if that worry was costing you $20,000? $30,000? More?  Would it be worth your while to consider a professional crew?

So you have two choices: 

The First Choice is the volunteer Bid Spotter: A bid spotter stands in an area assigned  by the committee or Gala Chair.  He/She has a set area, and they do not move from their area. If there is a bid they raise their hand or flashlight so the auctioneer can see the bid. They do not yell or “Yep” or make any sound at all and sometimes after a while just loses interest or starts talking to their friends around them. They are normally an attendee so they feel free to have a drink, or two or three (and they should, they paid with money or time to be there) and a strong supporter of the Charity.  This brings another point. Many times the volunteer Bid Spotter feels they need to watch for bids and will not bid themselves. So the Organization has taken 5-8 actual bidders off the floor!!

The second choice is a professional Bid Assistant:

Note: This definition was written by Toney Thornhill , a great Benefit Auctioneer  and is one of the best I have read.  

They are 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.

 So this begs the question as to why more organizations cannot bring themselves to use trained Bid Assistants.  They can’t bring themselves to spend the extra money when they have volunteers willing to work, or they just do not appreciate the value of the crew. Again they do not realize what the well meaning volunteer is costing them, and I am absolutely serious about it costing $20,000 or more by not using them.  If you have not seen the excitement and enthusiasm that Ringmen bring to the event  as I did at the Dell Cow Parade Auction then you are not making an informed decision.

 If they had been there then they would know what the Ringman does for a rapidly moving, revenue generating  auction.  It does not matter if it is an Automobile Auction, a Business Liquidation or the  typical Charity Gala or Auction.  Bid Assistants, properly trained and experienced are vital to your success!

A lot of Organizations still want to use volunteers and celebrities to auction (sell) their items and try to raise the bids at their one large benefit of the year. But, 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.