The magic words that get bidders to hand over their credit card at auction registration

One key to running a fast auction checkout process is to collect credit card information as guests arrive.

A long line at checkout is virtually guaranteed if a nonprofit decides to wait until the end of the event to collect a guest’s credit card information. Instead, the secret to smooth auction checkout to swipe the credit card at the registration desk. 

However, some Gala Chairs have found it hard to convince guests to hand over their credit cards upon arrival.

“Our team says that our guests won’t do it,” they tell me, “Our crowd just won’t share their credit cards. They insist on waiting until the end of the night.”

I disagree. I’ve stood behind dozens of volunteers working registration and have identified the problem.

The reason your guests refuse to share a credit card at the registration desk is because the volunteer greeting the guest hasn’t been properly trained to say the magic words

(It’s not because your crowd is particularly stubborn or “different” than any other audience.)

The majority of your guests will swipe their credit cards upon arrival when you confidently greet your guest with the approach I share in today’s video.

Watch below.

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Article by Sherry Truhlar

Fundraising auctioneer and educator, helping schools and nonprofits plan more profitable benefit auctions. A prolific writer for her own blog and other fundraising sites, she’s been covered in The Beacon-News, Town & Country Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, Wiley's Special Events Galore!, AUCTIONEER, and other publications.