There are a number of reasons to use barter in your business and a number of benefits to being a member of a business-to-business trade exchange. When you join a trade exchange they provide record keeping, networking opportunities and the ability to buy from and sell to a group of other companies.They also provide an additional sales and marketing force for your business.

In a B2B barter exchange, members are generally matched with a broker or an account executive to help manage and assist with purchases and sales. Here are a few ways they can help:

• Find ways to save cash: An account executive will proactively find ways to save you and your business cash. They will present you with the best offers and potential purchases to help your company offset current cash expenses or create new budgets and find the right companies to make it happen. By understanding the vision and short-term goals of your company, they can help target the resources you need to get there.

• Market you company to the network: An account executive will find your business new customers. Using the marketing materials of the trade exchange and the relationship with other members, they will find customers in the network to purchase your product or service and will work with the other account executives to make sure you are getting in front of the right types of customers. By being a member of a trade exchange, you are essentially hiring a new sales force.

• Manage your listing: They will make sure the information that is available to the network is up-to-date. Whether that is an online listing, marketing materials or the information other brokers are giving out about your company, your broker will work to make sure it is correct. Therefore bringing you more customers and the right customers.

• Oversee your purchases and sales: They will make sure everything you buy and sell is recorded correctly. They will make sure the billing goes through for each purchase or sale and that the correct amount is charged.

After joining a trade exchange, your account executive will help make the B2B trade exchange become a beneficial business tool for your company.