COMMENT When the country was sent into lockdown in March, like so many other businesses, we were forced to rethink the way we operate – and fast. Alongside our regular online auctions, we had room auctions scheduled for three different venues that week, with sellers banking on us to help them get a good price for their properties.
Fortunately, we already had measures in place for such a situation thanks to technology we have been using successfully for years. Our auctions are already filmed for our live video broadcast so it was relatively straightforward to switch to a “behind closed doors” model with social distancing and remote bidding. Now, more than two months on from when we had to embrace the virtual auction room, we have experienced a number of unexpected benefits.
More data means increased security and customer insight
As part of our broadcast auction process, we are learning more about our customer base than ever. In traditional room auctions, we would typically only gather information from those who win each bid. But the online registration procedure means that we have a deeper understanding of exactly who is interested in bidding for our lots.
Like any business, this type of detailed customer insight is incredibly useful to ensure we can adapt our services to suit those who are using them.
Additionally, security is increased. With access to our customers’ details before each auction, it gives us more time to run them through enhanced anti-money-laundering) checks, which altogether helps us build a more robust business, benefiting our stakeholders, bidders and vendors.
Barriers to entry are reduced and audiences are broader
For many seasoned bidders the physical auction room feels like a natural environment, but for others the remote process feels much more accessible.
We are finding that our audience is broadening in a number of ways. For an average broadcast room auction, our audience gender split of men to women is much closer to 50/50 than the 80/20 typically seen in a traditional setting.
While we work hard to create a welcoming environment at our physical auctions, we admit it might feel daunting for those who have never entered one before. Those that weren’t confident enough to bid previously seem happy to interact online. Virtual auctions also break down any locational barriers, enabling us to diversify our catalogues with lots from all over the country and give vendors and investors access to a wider market. Those who previously might not have been able to commit to visiting a room auction are enjoying the simplicity of logging on and experiencing a room auction without disrupting their daily lives.
In fact, we are seeing more bids submitted per lot, with an average of 10 people in our May auction, compared with the average two or three we experienced in the auction room.
Vendors and bidders adapted fast
People have accepted the change quite quickly, and each broadcast auction is busier than the last. In May, we took more than 10,000 phone calls related to auction lots and hit 2,00,000 website page views. Our May auction was watched by 1,500 people and we had 22,155 legal pack downloads from our website, compared with 15,719 for April’s auction.
Naturally there was some vendor nervousness experienced at the start, particularly with the lack of physical viewings. But the success of our first auctions quickly proved this was no barrier, and was testament to the benefits of building a business that your customers trust. Other logistical concerns included things like handing over the keys to each lot, but again these have been overcome quickly as we continue to adapt.
It is a fast-paced environment and our staff have had to adjust their methods of communication to maintain the smooth running of each auction – at our sale in May we had over 200 telephone bidders, more than 600 people bidding via the internet and 20 proxy bids. With the help of secure messaging and video conferencing tools, we are able to offer a continued service.
A glimpse of a virtual future
There has been much speculation in the media about whether the current crisis will lead to changes in the way we live and work, and I believe it would be unwise to disregard all the lessons we have learnt from the experience. We have discovered more efficient ways of operating and how we can use these to help our customers, and this is sure to influence our future business model.
Rather than being a temporary solution to keep our staff and customers safe, we have found this sudden switch has accelerated the sector forward five or 10 years, and we have been fortunate to enjoy the beginnings of what might form a brighter future for all involved in property auctions.
While the future may not yet be certain, I do know I have seen many changes take place at SDL Auctions over the years and feel confident we will always adapt to suit the circumstances – and, most of all, to serve our customers in the very best way we can.
Andrew Parker is managing director and auctioneer at SDL Auctions
