I have been going to auctions since childhood, but early in my auction career, I was referred to a widow who was down-sizing and significantly changed my perspective on auctions. Her home felt too big to live in by herself now that her children were grown, and the emotion she was experiencing was evident. She was friendly during our walk-through and I could see there were some nice items for auction. However, I could sense she just wanted to talk for a bit. We went into her living room where there was a portrait of her three children featured prominently as well as the coffee table she had told me about when arranging my visit. As we sat down, she mentioned her daughter for the third time. I commented, “your daughter looks so beautiful, what is she doing now”? Her reply, “she passed away when she was 16 from cancer,” shocked me. I expressed my condolences, then listened as she shared stories about her family’s life in their home and especially in the living room around her treasured coffee table.
She shared the kindest and most heartfelt words several minutes later when she said, “thank you for listening” and “you remind me of one of my daughter’s friends”.
We went on to talk about the auction process. Her whole body relaxed when I told her that her coffee table could be auctioned. She hoped and imagined another family enjoying it. She later thanked me when it brought several thousand dollars. However, it was not really about the money for her… she felt that someone spending several thousand dollars was likely to really care about it. Selling can be an emotional process, and helping this client was when I really internalized auctions not from the perspective of a buyer or an attendee, but as someone truly helping the selling client.
I have heard words similar to “you remind me of one of my daughter’s friends,” quite a few times over the years, and it reminds me how important it is to listen. Whenever I hear words like that, I know that I’m doing my job compassionately helping selling clients through the process. Client experiences like I have shared here helped inspire me to earn the CSA – Certified Senior Advisor® credential to help better serve older adults.