I have found yet another side-advantage of barter.  It makes me a better salesperson.

When you talk to seasoned salespeople or sales coaches, they will all tell you that good sales from a REAL salesperson boils down to caring about your clients.  Rather than try to sell them something, you need to try to solve their problems.  You have to actaully want to help them.  The second it’s about the money you’re done.  Plenty of salespeople make a living pushing whatever they have to sell down their client’s throats, but those aren’t REAL salespeople and they will never reach their true potential.

So what does this have to do with barter?  Simple.  Barter helps take the pressure off the money aspect of the sale and concentrate on helping the client.  Every good salesperson that is honest with you will admit that their desire to help people and their desire to earn a commission battle against each other on a regular basis.   The beautiful thing is that when I’m bartering it takes the pressure off me to make the sale.  Business that I do on barter is extra business that by definition I don’t HAVE to HAVE to make it on a day to day basis.  What that means is that it makes it easier for me to let go of any self-imposed pressure to close a sale and simply concentrate on helping the client.  If I get the job…great!  If I don’t…no big deal.  Additionally from the client’s point of view the pressure is off too.  Although we all know that purchases on barter are not free, they are definitely cheaper than paying cash.  Because of that the client’s first question in a barter deal isn’t always “what will it cost?”  They can settle down and think about what is the BEST way to solve the problem rather than what is the cheapest way.

There are some things that are harder to barter for than others.  Some of those more difficult things to barter for are physical products like construction materials.  For a year or so I’ve been consistantly told that I will not find double paned windows for my house on barter.  Every time I was told this I would smile and say that it can’t hurt to ask.   I am pleased to announce that my new custom-ordered 100% barter windows and sliding glass door will be ready in about two weeks. The supplier is only an hour and a half away so I can pick them up myself and avoid shipping! So….the lesson is to just keep trying.  And with that in mind I should probably remind you all that I am looking for a late model Toyota pickup (4wd).  Yes…..I know….I’ll never find it.

Depending on your medical insurance (or lack there of) the value of bartering for prescription drugs will vary.  In my family’s case, we have excellent insurance, however it has a high deductible which means for the first half of the year I pay cash on the barrel head for all things medical.  So at the beginning of the year, I’m paying cash for prescription drugs.  I’ve been buying perscription drugs on barter for about a year and this is what I’ve learned.

• Although I have found a number of pharmacies that will barter for prescription medications, they have never been near by.  That means that you are working through the mail.  This is not necessarily a problem, but it does mean that you need to plan ahead.  It also means that it’s unlikely that you will get antibiotics for your children when they have an ear infection.  Bartering for medication is suitable for ongoing treatments that you know about ahead of time.
• Pricing is not fantastic with barter pharmacies.  Especially if you are used to simply paying co-pays.  If you are bartering for prescription drugs, get ready to pay more than the retail rate.  That being said, I’ve found that when I take into account the wholesale price that I acquire barter credits at, the pricing works.   There are a couple reasons for the high prices:  First off, as with all hard goods that are in demand, it’s pretty normal to pay a relatively high barter rate.  Secondly, it’s generally smaller independent pharmacies that are open to trade.  They don’t have the muscle to negotiate the kind of prices that big chain pharmacies do.
• While my wife was recovering from major surgery, she was on pain killers that are more strictly regulated than most medications.  I was able to barter for these, however these prescriptions cannot be called or faxed in to the pharmacy.  The pharmacy needs the original prescription.    I would personally recommend that you have all prescriptions like this mailed directly from the doctor’s office to the pharmacy.  That way if it gets lost somewhere along the way, no-one will ever think there was any funny business on your part.
• Because timing and accuracy are so important with prescription drugs you really have to watch for good customer service.  I’ve worked with two pharmacies.  One was fantastic and the other one was horrible.    Find one you like and really take good care of them.  Pharmacies generally aren’t used to dealing with barter and adding another layer of complication in a business were mistakes are not allowed can be tough.
• It has not been my experience that pharmacies work with insurance when they are bartering.  What I have done is paid for the drugs on barter, then submit them to my insurance company myself.   Each insurance company while allow a different price for a particular medication and it will probably be considerably less than what you paid on barter.  As I mentioned in my last post…once I hit my deductible, I can submit my receipts to my insurance company and they will send me a cash reimbursement check.