Becoming an auctioneer can be a key point of difference for female agents looking for a way to stand out, helping them develop confidence while using their natural abilities to their advantage.
From building confidence under pressure to bringing greater empathy to challenging campaigns, female auctioneers can use their unique strengths to stand out in a competitive market.
According to Barry Plant Docklands sales manager and auctioneer, Alice Geddes, women can add greater empathy, emotional awareness and attention to detail to the auction process.
Geddes, who started her property career in a sales role in 2014, joining Barry Plant Docklands, said she took up auctioneering as a way of standing out in the market.
“Through the Barry Plant Group, we do an auctioneering course – the group actually allows their sales associates to grow and learn within the company, which is great,” she said.
“Effectively, I put up my hand to do it. In the city, there’s really only two or three female auctioneers [within Barry Plant]. So it’s just a point of difference for me, personally.”
Despite the male-dominated industry, Geddes said she hadn’t encountered many obstacles in her auctioneering career as she enjoyed growing with the job and putting herself out there.
“Personally, I like that sort of challenge, but I can see why some people might find it more confronting,” she said.
“There can be a misconception that you need to be extremely loud, aggressive or have a very dominant personality to be successful, and I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”
She said that personality type had little to do with whether an auctioneer would be successful, and it often came down to developed skills such as communication, negotiation, reading clients, and the ability to think quickly under pressure.
Geddes said that she was beginning to see a change in the auctioneering space, with more women taking leading roles.
“As more women step into auctioneering and demonstrate that there are different ways to be successful, it hopefully encourages more women to see it as a career they can genuinely excel in,” she said.
According to Geddes, women brought a unique perspective to auctioneering, often bringing greater attention to detail and a focus on buyers’ feelings no matter the circumstance.
“I think we’re more emotionally aware, especially when you’ve got clients that maybe are in a difficult situation like deceased estates and maybe marriage breakups and things like that,” she said.
“I just think that we add an extra layer of credibility and maybe also empathy, which will help clients make the most or the best-informed decisions.”
She said the most important quality an auctioneer needed in the current market was confidence.
“When you’re learning a new skill, it can be confronting when you have to get up in public in front of a lot of people and call an auction,” she said.
“But I’d say confidence-building with the market is one thing, but it helps throughout not just auction campaigns, but just campaigns in general.”
Additionally, Geddes said that maintaining transparency and timely communication were pivotal, given the tight deadlines of the role.
“It definitely grows you as an agent because you have to become more pointed and direct with conversation, communication and feedback,” she said.
“Some auctioneers have had to adjust auction strategies and potentially look at price adjustments based on market feedback through their campaigns, just given the current climate.”
For women considering taking up auctioneering, Geddes encouraged them to step outside their comfort zones and set themselves apart from the crowd.
“It’s character building and confidence building, and it gives you another skill set. And if you’re working in a specialised market like myself, it’s a big point of difference.”
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