Auctioneering and bid calling contests play an important role in our industry and for our associations. The benefits for the auction profession globally are several. They include:

1. Establishing and raising the Industry Standard. The many state competitions and the several regional and three national contests have over the years established how a professional, trained auctioneer should look, sound and present themselves. It is hard to believe that such a high standard would have been developed or sustained as efficiently by happenstance.
2. Providing an entry point for many young or inexperienced auctioneers to become involved and gain the benefits of association membership.  While auctioneer associations work very hard to be open and inviting groups it can be hard to entice younger or less experienced auctioneers to invest in membership. A robust and worthwhile contest appeals to the competitive spirit found in many and tips the scale towards membership. Once at the event, hopefully, the many additional benefits of membership will be obvious.
3. Raise money for other programs and efforts. Managed correctly a contest should return monies to the general fund of a group to help support education, advocacy and promotional efforts.
4. Create a newsworthy event to help promote the larger association and the auction industry. It is doubtful that the local news will cover a class on Buyer’s Premium. However they will cover a contest and new champion. The press LOVES a winner. This is a golden opportunity to share the message that #AuctionsWork.
5. Auctioneering contests are FUN. People gather and support events that offer excitement, competition and enjoyment. An auctioneering contest is all those things.

Auctions are Fast, Fun and Transparent and a good contest reveals all those things. Contests at all levels have been and will continue to be an important tool to build and expand our auction industry.

This blog post accompanies “How to Win an Auctioneer Contest: Part 2 – Why Contests are Important” and is offered in partnership with the Fast Talking Podcast and IACInsider.com.

Thank you to the series sponsor: