On a typical Saturday in Victoria, auction day can feel like controlled chaos – vendors anxious, buyers hesitant, crowds reading the room.
For agents, it’s the moment everything either comes together or falls apart.
Harcourts Victoria has been asking a simple question – what if agents could rehearse for that moment before it counts?
The answer is an auction simulation training program, now in its third iteration, that gives agents across the network the chance to practise the full arc of an auction campaign – from vendor meetings through to post-auction negotiation – in a low-stakes environment before the real thing arrives.
“We’re trying to practise scenarios on ourselves rather than on our clients,” Adam Fiteni, CEO of Harcourts Victoria said.
“In the classroom it’s fake money and fake houses. But when we’re on the street, we’re dealing with real money, real houses and real emotions.
“We want to be prepared for whatever comes our way.”
More than just the auction
The session runs for approximately five hours and is open to the entire Harcourts Victoria network – not just auctioneers.
The first half focuses on process including vendor management, buyer management, set-to-sell meetings, reserve-set conversations and quote ranges.
The premise is straightforward in that the result achieved at auction is largely shaped by the work done in the weeks leading up to it.
“How competitive that result is going to be is in the lead-up to auction day and what work has been done with the agent prior,” Adam said.
“We go to auction, and we get a result, but so much has already been decided before anyone raises their hand.”
Simulating pressure
The second half puts that groundwork to the test.
Participants take on rotating roles – vendor, agent, bidder, crowd member, neighbour – and run live auction scenarios from start to finish.
Not everyone in the simulated crowd is given the full picture, replicating the complexity agents navigate in the field.
Each simulation is followed by an immediate debrief: what worked, what didn’t, what could have been handled differently.
Multiple scenarios run across the afternoon, with the training team – which between them has called in the vicinity of 20,000 auctions – drawing on a deep well of real-world experience to construct situations agents may not have encountered before.
The program was originally developed by Tony Lombardi and Robert Ozzimo from Harcourts Rata And Co, the office widely credited with pioneering the format, and has since been adopted across the Victorian network.
Working the room
One focus of the training that tends to surprise participants is what agents should actually be doing while the auction is underway.
Adam has seen enough auctions to know it’s an area that often goes unaddressed.
“I’ve been to auctions where agents just stand around and do nothing,” he said.
“We train our agents to ask every single person in that crowd if they’re a bidder, why they’re there, who they are. If they’re a neighbour, that might be future business. If they’re a future vendor – even better.”
Agents are also coached on how to support hesitant bidders rather than leaving them to work it out alone.
“If you see someone who’s hesitant, go up and ask: have you bid at auction before? If not — would you like me to help you today? It builds rapport with the crowd and makes people feel more comfortable.”
When it passes in
With Victorian clearance rates below 50 per cent in some periods, the training gives equal attention to what happens after the hammer doesn’t fall.
Post-auction negotiation scenarios are built into the program, with agents practising how to bring vendors and buyers closer together once the crowd has dispersed.
“If you’re passing in 60 per cent of your auctions and you’re not trained in post-auction negotiation, those properties are going to sit on the market for a very long time,” Adam said.
“The market is telling you what buyers are willing to pay. The skill is in bridging the gap between that and what the vendor is willing to accept.”
What’s next
The program’s reach looks set to grow.
Kobe Ray from Harcourts Queensland recently attended the latest simulation with a view to adapting it for Queensland and potentially other states.
For agents outside the network looking to develop their auction skills, Adam’s suggestion is to go and watch.
“Auctions are one of Victoria’s favourite Saturday spectator sports outside of football.
“Go to other brands’ auctions, observe, understand what the market is doing.”
His one condition is to leave the name badge at home.
“You’re not there to give out business cards. You’re simply there to observe.”