They said I couldn’t do it. They said I was too inexperienced. But with passion and perseverance, I transformed my career from real estate sales to a booming auctioneering business.
Continuing our exploration of Andy Reid’s remarkable journey, we delve deeper into the founding of Apollo Auctions Victoria and the challenges and triumphs that have shaped this thriving business.
“Knowing what my purpose for being was, and owning that purpose, was something that I had tremendous struggles with. In 2010, I moved from London to Melbourne and transitioned from hospitality management which was a sector that I used to enjoy and get a real buzz from, into Real Estate sales which I had never done before.
“Going into a new industry in a foreign country, having never actually bought a house myself was an interesting challenge as it stood! But the psychological impact that it had on me went way beyond the pressure of learning new information, as it would have, if I had gone into any other industry from the one that I had been enjoying for the previous 8 years.
“I had gone from a function that I felt at ease in, within an industry that the public loved you for, to being physically avoided once it was discovered what I did for a living! Think about it, I was the GM of a vodka bar in London, so men wanted to be seen shaking my hand, and women…well…the vodka was enough to make Frankenstein look like Brad Pitt! So, to go from that to a position of popularity to one of the least-trusted professions was a huge dent to the ego, and it put a big chip on my shoulder that regularly prevented me from finding any real joy in the job.
Discovering my calling
“By chance though I was going rather well, putting up reasonable sales numbers without really having that burning desire to be an amazing agent, but by focussing more on the human than the house which was proving to be quite successful. Then in 2012, my boss at the time threw me in at the deep end by signing me up to call my first auction with just 3 weeks’ notice and from a position of never having practised, let alone called an auction! “I reckon you’ll be good at it!” he said as he wandered down the corridor, leaving me to drown in a wave of concern!
“It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me in my career to date. That first auction went well. The property sold, which helped, but the adrenaline rush had me hooked from the very first steps I took out of the house and in front of the crowd. An obsession was born that wasn’t going away any time soon…I simply had to immerse myself into the craft of auctioneering.
“Fast forward to the middle of 2016, and I was now running a sales team of five, coaching and mentoring them as well as putting marketing campaigns together, on top of prospecting, listing and selling for my own clients. I had won a few auctioneering awards and spent a lot of my spare time focussing on the craft, and the obsession had grown into me preferring to watch auctions from anywhere in the world on YouTube as opposed to seeing which bachelor had married which farmer while strictly dancing around a big sibling’s house that they were locked up in.
“That obsession had led me through a serious phase of self-reflection and soul-searching, not only because I loved the craft, but in finding something that I loved to do, I had stumbled across a functional representation of my purpose (not that I had defined that at the time). I discovered a place that put me into a ‘flow state’, and if you find a place like that, you’ll know that all you want is more of it, more often, and so I knew that auctioneering had to become my focussed profession.
“Now, there can be a few challenges when you want to make a shift like that, and this was no exception. Aside from the earning limitations of a service in which you are selling your time for being physically present, being a professional Real Estate auctioneer was not a proven business concept in Melbourne as opposed to other cities in Australia, on account of the way in which offices in Melbourne use ‘in-house’ auctioneers as opposed to outsourcing the task.
“I also couldn’t take the foot off the gas in the sales team, because they were relying on me to help them put deals together, bring in new listings and upskill them into being strong agents themselves. So, if this was going to happen, it’d need to happen outside of work hours, but bearing in mind that I was working 60 hours a week on average…it was going to take an effort!
“This is where that obsession in the craft really paid dividends. I was so convinced to the core that auctioneering was what I wanted to do, so despite the hours at work (plus a wife and young child at home), finding the energy and commitment was not an issue.
Leveraging digital marketing
Because I backed myself, I put my money where my mouth was on occasion, offering to give them their money back if they weren’t happy with my call on the day. You’ve got to back yourself at some point!
“The first challenge when I started this business in February 2017 was raising the awareness around the unique nature of the required skillset, and how that differs from a normal sales role. The general belief for a lot of salespeople is that auctioneering is just a part of their role, so generating a narrative around how much of a gamble it is on their reputation, let alone the deal at hand, if they don’t have a focus on the craft.
“Video content was a necessity, but a main proponent of my awareness strategy revolved around a DM (direct message) strategy, paired with a social media support strategy in which I would make sure I liked and provided valued commentary to validate agents/agencies’ existence basically turning ‘vanity metrics’ on its head and turning it into ‘positive reinforcement’ that generated a sense of gratitude within the Real Estate space.
“Being laser-focussed on my message about that distinction, while walking that tightrope of bringing the established order into question was something that did test my commitment at one point, but my passion for it made even the most disgruntled onlooker feel ‘ok’ with me challenging the status quo.
“Of course, the biggest thing that was going to build my business was my reputation, and that was only going to happen by calling more auctions and getting the chins wagging that there’s this English guy on the scene that’s got some power as an auctioneer. Because I backed myself, I put my money where my mouth was on occasion, offering to give them their money back if they weren’t happy with my call on the day. You’ve got to back yourself at some point!
“Working 17-18 hours a day to build a momentum with my auctioneering, whilst not short-changing my role as a Sales Manager to the business I was in (and maintaining my own commission levels) sounds like an impossibility, but when you love something as much as that it becomes a joy that you even got the chance in the first place. But by August 2017, I had earned the trust of enough agents to the point that I had an amount of work that started to question how much commitment I could physically put forward to both fronts. And in February 2018 after a year of sheer, consistent hard work I took the leap into full time auctioneering, sacrificing a much bigger income to chase my obsession.
“After an interesting market in 2018, in which auction volumes in Victoria had dropped significantly, I added a simple marketing service, sales team coaching and a ‘community support’ programme in which I offered my services to charities and nonprofits (that last one was for free). These diversifications opened up doors to grow my reputation, getting me out in front of more people more often, not relying on my actual auction calls in order to build reputation. I also joined with the Real Estate Institute of Victoria and entered into the Senior Auctioneering Championships to further develop my skills.
We also added a network of auctioneers to the team, because there’s no way I’d be able to manage the masses of traffic in Melbourne and make it to all of the auctions in time! Critically, I knew that I had to vet the auctioneers who had put their hands up for work – it takes ages to build a reputation and no time at all to harm it, so these guys needed to carry that with care, and I needed to ensure that service standards were set and met. Sample auction videos, content vetting, and calling past clients of their auctioneering services were a must before I started to send them work.
Utilising some efficient social media marketing plays, combined with info-animations and ‘elevator pitch’ one-take videos, I built up the client base so that in 2019 the rising tide in the market led to a significant rise in auction clients & volume. Listening to my clients & key consumer demographics, I put a very popular information series together about auctions for both buyers and sellers in Victoria and had them captioned in Chinese to cater for a large portion of my client base. I also aligned and wrote advice articles for the major industry publications which further increased my recognition and started to earn some column inches in the main newspaper for Victoria (Herald Sun).
Building a strong brand
“COVID lockdowns made my craft slightly limited of course, but ironically this was the year that I solidified my position as a person of trust in the industry by turning into one of the ‘go-to’ operators for advice and support while the market had its wings clipped. Setting up for online auctions in my shed (!!), putting informational PDFs together for both agent and end consumers, and providing the backbone of support for my clients who were struggling with change. I also started a live Facebook interview series called ‘The Silver Lining’, which was an idea I had at 2:30am to interview lots of people and provide connection during a disconnected time. I soon ran into some personal challenges that eclipsed COVID, but remained committed to the process of live interviews even when I flew over to England, and while I was there I even ran a Real Estate auction for a property in Melbourne while I was in the middle of England (which must be some sort of record for biggest distance between auctioneer and property!).
Since then, I have won both State and National titles as Auctioneer of The Year and used my craft to assist in supporting lots of events, charity auctions, public speaking duties which allowed more people to connect with me personally. It’s really important that, as a small business, you work as efficiently as possible, but you really need to stamp your name and brand across as many mediums as possible. Getting onto podcasts to be quizzed on auctions, offering up highlights to mainstream media, and constantly turning up on social media is a necessity because every small effort in this area accumulates into big reputation pay-offs.
I made plenty of mistakes along the way, and some rather expensive fails too! But when you love what you do, none of this feels like work which keeps that river of good energy flowing towards building something that aligns with who you are & what you enjoy, while keeping the wolves from the door!
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Continuing our exploration of Andy Reid’s remarkable journey, we delve deeper into the founding of Apollo Auctions Victoria Founder Friday, founder friday Dynamic Business
