infonews.co.nz
INDEX
BUSINESS

Innovation At Bartercard

Wednesday 11 May 2016, 9:11AM

By Beckie Wright

314 views

In 2013 Bartercard New Zealand CEO John Scott embarked on a remarkable transformation project, using the skillsets he had displayed in his seven years as General Manager of Dun & Bradstreet and ten years as the Auckland manager for Thomson Reuters. As John reported in an article written about him in NZ Business Magazine, “I come from an innovation background and my specialty is looking at relationships, identifying what needs to be changed, and getting buy-in. It’s all about sharing the learnings and developing the talent that you have.”

As Bartercard celebrates its 23rd anniversary in New Zealand this year with its 7,000 member businesses across New Zealand, 15,000 cardholders, 13 local branches, 125 staff and trading more than $200 million worth of goods and services outside the cash economy annually, it’s what John calls an “enigma brand” but for John it was a mystery long overdue for an overhaul.

 For John, his top priority was to simplify Bartercard’s message and provide more transparency around such things as fees and marketing services to allow prospective members in particular to better understand what Bartercard was all about. In other words, the website had to be simplified to better explain what Bartercard was all about. “People do not understand the scale of the Bartercard business. We’re actually a tool to help you grow your business.”

John’s vision for Bartercard is for it to be the “sales growth network of choice for all New Zealand businesses” and his simple message is, “We bring you more sales.” However, he stresses that the network does not offer unlimited choices when it comes to spending trade dollars, unlike the open cash economy, “so you have to be creative in how you utilise those dollars.”

As John explains, a number of platform updates are underway, including a more intuitive Bartercard Maps, which helps members locate each other more easily. There will also be a new B2C app, bucqi – an everyday rewards programme to attract more sales for small business. Although strictly speaking a B2B2C solution, because it’s based on trade dollars, John describes it as a “beautifully elegant solution; a way of bringing a whole new cash audience of consumers to your business”.

As for his own personal highlight from his first three years in the job? “It was the day Bartercard handed over a cheque to Child Cancer for $113,000. The proceeds from our 2015 one day fundraising appeal. That was a very special, and humbling, experience.”

For more information on Bartercard please go to http://www.bartercard.co.nz .