Solution Selling Key To Barter Industry’s Expansion 

By Doug Dagenais

When BarterCorp was sold in 1999 to Intagio, Doug Dagenais became the new National Sales Manager handling their retail and national accounts. He also took over management of the Chicago Corporate owned location.

In 2003 he left to build the barter division of Shell Vacations Club. There, he coordinated $1 million annually in room-night trades with many exchange groups as well as direct vendor transactions.

Contacted by Steve White in 2007 to compliment the organic growth of ITEX, he was brought onboard as National Sales Manager. Subsequently, new nationwide account registrations for the company have exceeded 30% over the past year.

For most of the history of selling, one could present their product or service to the prospect and they either bought it or didn’t. By seeing enough prospects you could make a profit. But with our present competitive world, and messaging that bombards our every waking moment, this is no longer sufficient.

There’s a major paradigm shift that should be recognized and addressed if one is to stay on top of the curve and win customers for the long term. It’s Solution Selling.

I’m certainly not suggesting that this is new. Many organizations have been shifting to this format for some time. It is increasingly becoming not only the norm, but necessary. Major corporations of both products and services are finding the way of the future in defining each prospects’ needs, and then tailoring their product/service to meet those needs. Find the niche and fill it!

Sound familiar? This has been a particular application used in the barter world, as our true function is to improve business for our clients. Solve their problems and you’ll have a long time relationship. Throw them into a network and expect things to happen….and some things will happen. But neither we, nor our client, will realize the full potential of participating in a barter network. We’ll all leave money on the table.

Although application of this theory should extend throughout our client relationship, it really begins in the selling process. Are we presenting our program to anyone who will listen, or are we finding out what issues the prospect is challenged with and then solving the issues? Are we knocking on doors that every other B2B marketing effort is messaging, or are we approaching a prospect that we will have a “transactional” or “relational” basis with?

If we take the approach of solution selling, a number of elements take place that have ancillary benefits:

1. Targeting the prospect is significantly easier. It’s not the whole world, it is someone we have a specific issue with that needs to be addressed.

2. Getting the prospect to respond to the initial contact will tend to be immediate, as we are approaching someone that we have business for or that we can solve a problem for. This touches the very essence of why people make buying decisions…to either make a gain, or prevent a loss. Present the option of a new customer (with a specific order) or conservation of cash on a specific purchase, and you have a reason to meet.

3. The prospect is more willing to spend time in understanding our program. It will have immediate impact on his business.

4. The decision process is shortened and “I’ll think about it” isn’t an option.

5. Because transactions occur quickly, there is instant gratification for both parties. It not only creates transaction fees for the barter company, but gets the client engaged as well. This is essential toward improving the “business life cycle” of a client.

So-o-o-o, how do we apply this? By focusing on a specific approach to a specific prospect. And where do these come from? Our current clients. We work for our clients. Whether your base is one client, 100 clients or 1,000 clients, our clients’ needs direct us. Thus, we become “partners” with our clients. We work together toward the goal.

Carry out this philosophy as a core business strategy and you’ll never run out of prospects, transactions, or satisfied customers.

Paradigm Shift For International Reciprocal Trade Association

The commercial barter industry’s international association will seek out and welcome large corporations into its membership, including the usage of IRTA’s Universal Currency (UC).

A recent announcement from IRTA has revealed a bold move...adding a Non-Industry Membership Category. The NIM is offered to large corporations which participate in trade and barter as a significant component of their normal business operations. Benefits to these members encompass:

·         Increasing revenues by receiving full access to UC and its trading platform for buying and selling excess inventories, products and services.

·         Participation in international and U.S. conferences.

·         Ongoing education and news updates for the trade and barter industry.

·         Access to the latest changes regarding governmental and IRS matters.

·         Networking with peers in the industry to increase one’s company sales.

Non-Industry Members annual dues are $2,500 cash and $1,250 UC currency. This membership category has full IRTA member voting rights with UC participation fees of $50 cash, $25 UC per month, plus a 10% cash transaction fee on sales and .25% trade (UC) on purchases.

For more information go to www.irta.com.

ITEX Enters “Software As A Service” Market

ITEX Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: ITEX), a leading marketplace for cashless business transactions in North America, today announced that ITEX Chairman and CEO Steven White is scheduled to give a presentation on Tuesday, March 11, 8:30 AM (PST), at the Montgomery Technology Conference in Santa Monica (CA).

He is expected to discuss ITEX’s current operations and announce the company’s strategy to enter the “Software as a Service” (SaaS) market. The presentation at the Montgomery Technology Conference will be the first opportunity to showcase its new SaaS strategy.

A video replay and copy of the slide presentation will be available on the ITEX web site (www.itex.com), under the Investor Relations section, from the end of the day on March 11 through May 31, 2008.

White stated, “We are pleased to be invited to present the ITEX story to this technology-savvy audience and to announce our entrance into the SaaS market. ITEX has grown revenue 50% since fiscal 2005 and is expected to reach $15,000,000 in fiscal 2008. Operating income has increased on average 25% annually; more than 142% what it was in 2004, exceeding $1,500,000 in fiscal 2007.

“Part of our success is attributed to our dynamic and robust internet based technology platform which has proven to be practical, easy-to-use, efficient and scaleable. For the last couple of years we have enhanced our platform in order to capitalize on a large opportunity for our company—to offer our technology platform, and the many features and benefits it provides, so other businesses may enhance the value proposition and revenue streams for their marketplace or community, while at the same time creating new revenue streams for us.”

White continued, “ITEX launched its internet based platform in 2003, internally named TEAM (Trade Exchange Account Manager). More than just Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, the platform has payment processing, record-keeping, and billing functionality and provides comprehensive transaction data on 24,000 active members within the ITEX trading community as they complete over 1,000 transactions each business day.

“Our web interface can be customized and branded for a variety of online marketplaces or communities. What makes our platform unique, is its ability to track both cash transactions and those based on non-cash currencies...such as rewards, points, units or other consideration a vendor decides to use.”

Montgomery & Co. is a leading provider of merger and acquisition advisory, private placements, and private equity for companies in the media, communications, information technology and healthcare sectors. The firm has emerged as the premier investment banking alternative for growth companies in the U.S. by offering its clients in-depth industry knowledge, financial expertise, access to key relationships, and a high degree of customer service.

IMS Enrolls Record Number Of New Clients In January

International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM), a worldwide leader in business-to-business barter services, announced it had enrolled a record 375 new members into the IMS barter system for the month of January. In addition, the company had gross revenue of $1.2 million, compared to $1.1 million in January of 2007, an increase of 10%.

Commenting on the new-member sales totals, CEO Don Mardak noted, “It is extremely gratifying to see the positive results of our efforts to build a strong sales team. Barb Martin, our national sales manager, has done a magnificent job in assembling this group of people who are very dedicated to expanding the IMS barter network. We believe that this program will be the heart of future organic growth.”

The totals listed above are taken from the company's internal records and have not been audited.

For more information visit www.internationalmonetary.com.

Bartercard Launches New Mobile Text Service

Beginning in January 2008, Bartercard members can now take advantage of instant transactions and access to their Bartercard Account via SMSPOS text message. Not only can members check their balances instantly, but they will also benefit from instant confirmation of transactions.

As soon as they sign up for the exclusive SMSPOS service, members can take advantage of this new benefit, spending less time on paperwork and more time running and growing their businesses.

SMSPOS offers Bartercard members:

• The ability to process transactions immediately with funds being transferred into their account at point of sale.

• A time saving alternative, eliminating the need to wait for vouchers to be posted and then processed.

• A balance request to your mobile, via text message.

• Freedom to transact/trade whilst out and about...perfect for industry members on the go.

“Almost all of our members use mobile phones and are familiar with texting. Our members deserve and need instant access to their Bartercard accounts, and this groundbreaking service does just that,” stated Tim Sparks, Joint Managing Director, Bartercard United Kingdom

For more information visit www.bartercard.co.uk.

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