John Scott, Ceo Of Bartercard Celebrates Their 23rd Anniversary In NZ

When John Scott took on the role of chief executive of Bartercard New Zealand in January 2013 he knew he had a challenge ahead. He also knew he held the ideal skillset, having spent the previous seven years as GM of credit information bureau Dun & Bradstreet, ten years as Auckland manager for Thomson Reuters, and time in his native UK working for a business and financial information services company.

Bartercard celebrates its 23rd anniversary in New Zealand this year with 7,000 member businesses across the country, 15,000 cardholders, 13 local branches, 125 staff and trades more than $200 million worth of goods and services outside the cash economy annually. It’s what Scott calls an “enigma brand” Scott was attracted by the prospect of utilising his skills in formulating and executing strategy – and by the calibre of Bartercard New Zealand’s board at the time.

Top priority was to simplify Bartercard’s message and provide more transparency around such things as fees and marketing services. Scott says the website and information about Bartercard wasn’t transparent to non-members. “There was way too much confusing information. The site had to be simplified; we had to better explain what we’re about. Scott’s vision for Bartercard is for it to be the “sales growth network of choice for all New Zealand businesses”. His simple message is “We bring you more sales.

“We want to grow small business sales by ten percent or more in the first 12 months within the Bartercard community,” he says, adding that the ten percent figure is based on research into the company’s historical data across all clients, which reveals average sales growth over the first 12 months of 9.8 percent, continuing through to 24 months. “Bartercard complements your cash business,” he adds. “The ‘sweet-spot’ is five to 15 percent of overall sales. It allows you to improve margins and expand, without the need for discounting. And it’s particularly effective for generating income from where you would have idle capacity (think vacant motel rooms or café tables).”

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 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 visit their website at http://www.bartercard.co.nz .