What is a barterdeal? How can I use barterdeals for my exhibition, event or tradeshow?

The propensity to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals
- Adam Smith

Barterdeals can be very interesting when organizing an exhibition or event. Bartering can be defined as "the act or practice of trafficking by exchange of commodities; an exchange of goods." Instead of paying for a product or service with money, you pay with a product or service of your own. The essence of bartering consists of a mutual interest or gain from the collaboration. If there is no mutual gain, it makes more sense to close a unilateral deal, where one party simply pays the other party with money. It can be very interesting for exhibitions, events and tradeshows to explore the possibilities of closing barterdeals with certain parties.

Bartering with media
Probably the most interesting parties to close barterdeals with are the media (tv, radio, internet, publishers, etcetera): the mediacompany (f.i. the publisher of a magazine targetted at the same sector your tradeshow is targetted at) can benefit from presenting itself in a more personal manner at your exhibition, thus creating a bond with the exhibition visitor, doing market research, selling subscriptions, etcetera, while the organiser of the exhibition can benefit from the publisher promoting the event in the magazine, thereby making this part of the campaign for visitor recruitment. In turn, this promotion can be used by the organiser towards potential exhibitors as an argument to participate in the exhibition.

Bartering with suppliers
There are situations where the suppliers of the exhibition can benefit from participating in the exhibition as an exhibitor or be visible at the exhibition in another way. In this case, a barterdeal can be used to reach an agreement which reduces your purchasing costs for instance, and thereby making your exhibition more profitable.

The content of a barterdeal depends on the situation at hand: what party are we bartering with, for which exhibition or event, and what are the goals of both parties for this particular barterdeal? It is important to clarify these questions during talks, and to come to the table prepared. Negotiating is much more effective and pleasant, when you know in advance in what way the other party can best meet the goals you have set for this barterdeal. Being prepared means you can come to the point quicker and you can close the barterdeal faster.

Finally, it is important to write the agreements of the barterdeal down:
1. Which party is supplying what? Be as precise as you can with regards to numbers, sizes, durations, etcetera;
2. How will the invoicing be handled? Will both parties send invoices for corresponding figures or will no invoices be send at all?
3. What is the procedure should one or both parties not (be able to) fulfill their end of the deal? Here, the importance of being as precise in your description of the agreements comes into play again, because otherwise you'll have trouble determining whether or not the agreements have been fulfilled 100%.

When making barterdeals, take into account, that the parties you barter with, will most likely be important parties, with whom you want to build a solid relationship. Treat your barter partners the ways you would want to be treated as a business partner, to ensure a consolidated relationship which will last throughout the years.

30 March 2011 09:17