AUCTIONS
“There is a major difference in the way that Auction House operates. Whilst other auctioneers hold centralised sales, we sell properties through a network of regional auction rooms, all of which have the necessary local knowledge and experience at their fingertips, but are also backed by the marketing muscle of a national brand.” The model brings a mix of auctioneering
firms; some are old established regional auction houses that immediately appreciated the benefits of being part of a major national network. Others are estate agencies looking for another income stream and, in some cases, craving the excitement that only the atmosphere of the auction room can provide. Finally, some people are attracted to the idea of an Auction House as a stand-alone business. As it’s a franchise, or licence, to be
completely accurate, Auction House isn’t a sell-out option; established agents maintain their own name, simply adding Auction House into it, Auction House Manning Stainton, for example. They also maintain their greatest asset, local reputation.
Numerous beNefits Other benefits are almost too many to list, among them is the value of a larger organisation. When you consider the business of a small local auctioneer, it’s a bit of a lonely world. Interaction with other agents is limited to membership of, perhaps NAVA, attending their meetings – which is great, but there is no day to day interaction with like minded people. As an estate agent, if you want to start
a new division, it’s hard to know exactly where to start. How to introduce it, how to market it, what to do and how to do it… David Pank of Auction House Manning
Stainton holds a licence in West Yorkshire. He says they wanted to offer more to their clients. “In increasing the services offered to our clients, we wanted a partner that would give us the support, assistance and training that would really let us hit the ground running – and that’s what we got from Auction House. They provide excellent training, a manual with a virtual ‘A to Z’ in how to set up your auction, a telephone line for the queries that inevitably come up when you set up a new business and the back-up of a first class auctioneering service. “One of the best things about the
franchise is the coming together of ideas – not just from Auction House’s head office – but the other franchisees around the country, who are all inputting their own
Professionals in the north
Sarah Maines, Auction House Sarah Mains, Tyneside. “We decided to join the Auction House network as we realised that there was a need for a much more professional approach to auctions in the north east of England. I had previous experience of offering an auction facility – but not on the scale and professionalism that Auction House offers. The brand is extremely strong and the franchise has proved to be very successful us. The key to a successful auction is the auctioneer – and the team of auctioneers at Auction House UK are absolutely tremendous in what they do.”
These auctioneer estate agents know
their area and they market auction properties to their residential applicants as well as a register of auction buyers. By comparison other major auctioneers all hold centralised auctions and mainly sell to London trade buyers. “This regional approach and very
powerful local marketing is the reason for our growing success – we advertise heavily in local press, hold regular Open House viewing sessions hosted by auction team members and promote lots extensively through email marketing,” says Roger. The prices achieved in the Auction
House local auction rooms are, therefore, well ahead of those delivered by London auctioneers – comparable figures indicate differences of over 10 per cent for typical residential stock.
ideas and experiences from their own local areas – and that’s invaluable. We’re doing very, very well with it – we’ve been in profit from the first auction.” For many multi branch estate agents like Manning Stainton, auctions is the one service area that they have not covered in the past, says Roger. “They see it as having great value in a challenging residential market and want to become a successful regional player. Auction House has a proven model, a track record of successes and our offering suits those firms that have a strong local/regional presence.” And that local/regional presence is one
of the keys to the success of this model, because the auctions are held regionally, with regional licensees and local properties.
‘This regional approach and our very powerful local marketing
is the reason for our continuing success.’ roger lake auCtioN House
NatioNal marketiNg The other key is marketing. Again, the national-plus-regional balance scores again and is promoted in a huge single national auction catalogue. Modern technology helps, the catalogue would cost thousands of pounds if printed and posted out, but as a digital catalogue it can bounce onto potential bidders’ screens through Auction House’s website as well as through the licensees’ websites or, indeed any other website or newsletter like
PROPERTYdrum.com and JUNGLEdrum, linking any number of sources and providing massive reach. “This is the first time that we have
gathered all of our regional catalogues together in one collection that can be viewed from the website. The launch of the national e-catalogue further strengthens our ability to market our properties UK-wide, without losing attention to local detail and regional service,” says Roger. Lucy Crapper, of Blundells Auction
House, Sheffield, the only female auctioneer in Auction House and winner of an award for Residential Valuer of The Year in 2007, agrees. “We felt that adding Auction House to our estate agency would expand the client service we could offer. We like their marketing approach, and we like the fact that they are across the whole of the UK – we’ve had leads from outside the South Yorkshire area which we would never had before. Plus we saw it as an excellent revenue stream in a somewhat fragile market at the moment. With 88 per cent sold share for the market, we’re expecting this year to be a strong year, and next year to be even stronger.”
PROPERTYdrum OCTOBER 2010 61
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