So, you are looking to change up your event and add a new component. You’ve thought about adding technology in the past but were nervous that your guests were not ready and your Board would not approve the cost.
Maybe you’ve heard that other organizations have increased their auction revenue and raved about the guest experience. Or, maybe you have experienced mobile bidding for yourself and you are now sold on it… but you are not sure how to convince your board or committee.
To do that, start by informing them of these three main benefits.
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Benefits of mobile bidding for your silent auction
BENEFIT 1) Mobile Bidding will increase revenue
Ok, it's not a guarantee, but we would be shocked if you didn’t see a marked increase in auction revenue. Provided you don’t shoot yourself in the foot, mobile bidding will increase your revenue for the following reasons:
- You can keep your auction open longer and give your guests more time to bid. Your guests can bid before they arrive…. Even days before the event if you open the auction to prebidding. You can also close the auction closer to the end of the event as you won’t need to spend a bunch of time calculating bid sheets.
- Your guests will stay connected to the auction. With paper bid sheets, your bidders are not able to bid unless they are physically standing over them. With mobile bidding, bidders can bid from anywhere and will also be instantly notified when they are outbid.
- You can lower your starting bids and bid increments and get your bidders into the game sooner. Your bidders are not likely to walk over to a bid sheet to outbid someone by $5. But that is easy to do on their phone. With lower bid increments, your bidders will bid more; and at some point, they will care more about winning the item than the price they are paying!
BENEFIT 2) Mobile bidding eliminates errors (and cheating…?)
Unless you are one of the lucky ones whose bidders have really neat handwriting, you are likely to have a few bid sheets you can’t read (especially if your guests spill wine on them… yep.. We’ve seen that too). Or, maybe you have experienced the well-intentioned but sinister bidder who steals a bid sheet, physically blocks people from writing down a bid or steals the pens (yes.. Seen that too!).
In either of these cases, you won’t have to strain your eyes to determine if that is a one or a seven. All of the bids will be recorded electronically and your bidders may (should) have a card on file you can run at the end to secure bids.
BENEFIT 3) Mobile bidding expands reach to a broader audience.
As we discussed earlier, mobile bidding can increase your revenue at the event and eliminate mistakes; but it can also increase your reach. You have the opportunity to connect with bidders all over the world - which is another way to increase your revenue.
While that may initially raise a concern that people “you don’t know” are bidding your items, ask yourself if you would rather see 2-3x more revenue on an item if you allow remote bidders. We had one client who opened up their auction to remote bidding, promoted their auction on Handbid, and saw their auction go from $23k on paper to $115k on Handbid!
Are you ready to make your case?
We gave you three great reasons to consider mobile bidding for your next auction event., but there are many more reasons why. Check out our full list of features and benefits.
We are also ready to help you build your case when you are! Please reach out to us to chat more about your event and we can help you with your presentation and help you prepare for any objections you anticipate.
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