Pulling In A New Generation

Since its inception, auctioneering has been a dynamic industry constantly evolving to meet demands, but the shifting generational markets create an ongoing challenge. 

Bryce Hansen, CAI, president of Hansen Auction Group, put it best when he said in last year’s Conference & Show seminar on the subject of shifting generational markets that “this is something that could have been a topic 50 years ago – how do you adapt to the new people coming in? This industry is all about change, and it’s about how to adapt to buyers and sellers.”

The Value of Education

Anne Nouri, CAI, AARE, BAS, GPPA, a licensed real estate professional, is on the front lines of generational wealth shifting hands and feels a responsibility to educate the public about what the auction industry can provide. One outlet through which she offers this information is her podcast, The Downsizing Coach. Some topics include tax-deferred real estate investing, from clutter to cash, estate planning 101, heritage preservation, and downsizing.

“I use that as an opportunity to bring in other individuals to interview and to educate my audience,” she said, adding that there needs to be a shift in auctioneers’ mindsets that they’re more than just service providers. “I think the mindset should be that we are educators about different options. And providing options and opportunity to sellers is the greatest gift we can share.” 

Auctioneers are in a unique position. They have direct contact with folks looking to part with property and pass on the earnings to their loved ones. The auctioneer can connect them with professionals who can guide them in reinvesting those earnings instead of cashing out and taking a huge tax hit. 

Nouri notes that while the younger generation may not have amassed the wealth necessary to acquire assets, having that conversation now about how to pass on assets from the elders to their loved ones is an important one. “We are able to create family harmony,” Nouri said. “We’re able to help them transition from not just selling the asset, but now you’ve opened the door to purchasing potentially multiple assets.”

The Role of Social Media 

The agriculture and construction industries are no strangers to the auction method. But the average person on the street is unfamiliar with the auction process, so would they consider selling their family estate at auction? “No, they don’t. There is a huge opportunity for new sellers to become clients” he says.

In an effort to reach that audience, Hansen says his company is relying, at least partially, on social media. But it takes work. It’s not enough to have a website or a Facebook page. The analogy he offers is having all your friends over to your house and slapping a “for sale” sign on the wall, which is the impact a basic social media will have. Auctioneers are tasked with getting beyond that layer of friends/followers and to the larger audience actually looking to buy, which takes creating an actual campaign built on a solid, data-driven strategy. “Are you just posting on your Facebook page or are you developing ad content and good ads to a target market?” he said. “It’s really a night and day difference.”

Not all content is going to land directly on buyers, and that’s okay, as Hansen says that the younger generation may not have the wealth to make purchases, but they influence those around them who can. This is especially true with the content his company develops for TikTok. “Seventy percent of the users on TikTok are 18 to 25,” he said. “They are influencers to the buyers.”

Most of his company’s TikTok posts get a couple thousand views and a few likes, but one went viral, getting 132,000 views, 26,000 likes, and 111 comments. But does going viral bring his company buyers and sellers? That is yet to be determined, but they do know that it is helping to build their brand.

Hansen notes that the younger generation is more motivated to engage if they are more emotionally invested, which is why his company is creating behind-the-scenes Reels for Facebook and content on other platforms. These Reels provide a connection that a traditional ad cannot. “That attaches and they build relationships more with that,” he said. “They want to see more how we do it, why we do it.”

Becky Tarlton has lived and breathed auctioneering since 1987. She has reached an age where she jokes that she should consider not only retiring but also “going into assisted living.” Ironically, one of Tarlton’s tasks at Swicegood Group, a real estate and asset marketing firm, is to get their goods in front of a younger audience. Like Hansen, she’s also had success with social media. Tarlton was surprised at how much engagement she gained on a Facebook Reel about some of her company’s assets.

“I did a little Reel on Facebook and it had over 4,000 hits,” she said. “I had people come to pick up their items and they said, ‘we’ve never met before, but I saw your Reel on Facebook.’ That lets me know they’re looking and we’re bringing in people who would have never been a registered bidder with us.”

Investing in Interactions

Change is difficult, and for auctioneers who have done something the same way for years and years, it’s even more difficult to make change. But to reach the younger generation, said Kari Chance, a seller success coach with Sandler Custom Growth Solutions, “you have to change the way you think about a situation and the way you approach it.” “That all starts with your mindset,” she said. “And then you change your actions and then your interactions.”

Why listen to Chance? Aside from the fact that she educates clients full time on changing the way they approach communicating, she’s also a Millennial – the generation of people auctioneers are trying to reach. One of the stereotypes about Millennials, which Chance confirms, is that they are ready and willing to say “no” to just about anything. Furthermore, when someone tells her generation they “should” do something, they will likely do the opposite. The better option, she said, is to understand how they choose to be communicated with and to adapt the way you are speaking so you are heard.

“We don’t trust salespeople,” she said. “The key here is when you have interactions, you’re not trying to sell them on becoming a part of the auction world or utilizing auction services – you don’t want to sell to them – it’s the last thing you want to do, because the harder you sell, the harder they push back.”