Climate change, sustainability and corporate social responsibility have risen inexorably in the public and corporate minds over the last decade, says Ernst & Young. They go on to state that while businesses and consumers are vying to out do each other’s green claims, the scientific community is issuing increasingly stark warnings about the urgency and depth of cuts required to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

A survey carried out by Ernst & Young in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit among executives from US$ 1 billion plus corporations to see how organizations view the impact of sustainability on its supply chain and sourcing, indicates a high level of awareness of sustainability, with an appreciation of opportunities it offers within the supply chain. More than half of the respondents to the survey indicated reputation, cost reduction, and revenue growth as the top three opportunities that arise from sustainability. An increased cost base was highlighted as the greatest risk, inferring operational and energy savings will be offset by capital costs and increase in prices from suppliers.

The survey also indicates that a company’s approach to emissions and accountability for its supply chain activity could make or break corporate reputation. 71% of the respondents to the survey view the impact of sustainability on the supply chain as a brand / reputation opportunity allowing to secure competitive advantage. It is thought that supply chains are key to enhancing reputation, both through avoiding risks such as unfair labour practices and using unsustainable material, and in ensuring businesses live up to their carbon reduction promises.

The survey further states that in addition to corporate reputation, cost saving and revenue inducing factors contribute to the business case for sustainability. These include operational and energy efficiency, energy and carbon trading, and new product development and green marketing. The survey findings also indicate that operational and energy efficiency has become key factors in the review of sustainability, since soaring energy and raw material prices has become significant corporate issues. 50% of organizations in the survey see sustainability as a cost saving issue and significant opportunities exist for this throughout the supply chain.

Energy and carbon trading is a factor that strengthens the business case by creating revenue opportunities. 63% of the organizations in the survey clearly identify sustainability as opportunity for revenue growth with carbon trading schemes and investments in renewable energy generation. To combat rising energy prices and reduce in-house emissions, 40% of firms have invested in on-site renewable energy generation such as onshore wind on telecom sites and biomass combined heat and power at factories. This offers greater control over energy costs, enhances corporate reputations and promises profits from the sale of surplus renewable electricity. Similarly, an increasing number of firms are creating revenue from carbon trading. Under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, participating firms must operate within an annual emissions cap. Operating outside a designated carbon cap could mean paying for excess emissions. Developing countries that do not have emission caps provide finance for greenhouse gas reduction projects through Clean Development Mechanism in return for Certified Emissions Reduction permits which are sold on the open market to firms with emission caps. Multinational businesses could use this scheme to finance energy efficiency and renewable projects for their developing world sites and suppliers.

Revenue through new product development and green marketing is another opportunity. Energy efficiency legislation promises to phase out energy-intensive products replacing them with more ‘greener’ ones, while consumer campaigns and an abundance of product labels aim to increase demand for more sustainable products and services. Businesses are competing to launch sustainable products and services to increase their market share. While many firms limit innovation to certain products, enhancing their reputations as a result, the real challenge is to mainstream them across existing product ranges.

Further, 65% of the respondents to the survey have taken measures to implement labour standard improvements as action on corporate responsibility aspects of sustainability.

Despite indications that the impact of sustainability results in such a varied range of opportunity and threats, organizations seem to be taking a back-seat when it comes to dealing with it. Only 12% of firms rated sustainability among their top three supply chain priorities. This maybe an indication of the mixed messages businesses receive from governments, regulators and consumers – their three key stakeholders as indicated by the survey. Consumer pressure and PR spin has resulted in some very challenging public commitments resulting in businesses over-promising and under-delivering their commitments. Many large global companies have yet to realize the full potential of the savings and benefits that can be achieved by integrating sustainability issues into their supply chain management. With growing legislation, dwindling resources and increasingly vocal consumers, sustainability will continue to grow in importance as an opportunity for forward thinking firms and a threat to their competitors that fail to act.

Source-dailymirror.lk

WAUCONDA, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fidelitone Logistics, an industry leader in providing comprehensive third party logistics (3PL) services, has been selected as one of the Top 100 Third-Party Logistics Providers for 2008 by Inbound Logistics magazine.

“It’s a global world, and without the best-in-class supply chain solutions offered by Top 100 companies such as Fidelitone Logistics, business logistics professionals going global would face enormous difficulties,” said Felicia Stratton, Editor, Inbound Logistics. “For its ability to help customers explore new markets and new opportunities both domestically and around the world, Inbound Logistics is proud to recognize Fidelitone Logistics as a 2008 Top 100 3PL.”

“We are honored to have been selected by the team at Inbound Logistics as one of the top 3PL providers in the country for 2008,” said Fidelitone Logistics president Josh Johnson. “Fidelitone Logistics is committed to providing the very best in 3PL services and supply chain management, and we’re ecstatic our team’s hard work is getting recognized by such an esteemed industry publication.”

The Inbound Logistics (IL) editorial staff selected the Top 100 3PL service providers out of over 300 submissions from companies nationwide.

Each year, Inbound Logistics editors select the best logistics solutions providers by carefully evaluating submitted information, conducting personal interviews and online research, and comparing that data to readers’ burgeoning global supply chain and logistics challenges. IL editors selected this year's class of Top 100 3PLs from a pool of more than 300 companies. The service providers selected are companies that, in the opinion of IL editors, offer the diverse operational capabilities and experience to meet readers' unique supply chain and logistics needs.

The Top 100 providers will be featured in the July issue of the Inbound Logistics magazine and in the publication’s online “3PL Decision Support Tool,” where readers can enter in their outsourced logistics requirements and find solution providers best suited to meet their specific needs.

Founded in 1929, Fidelitone Logistics is a privately-owned business headquartered in Wauconda, a northwest suburb of Chicago. With nationwide facilities, access to immediate space anywhere in the country and a worldwide distribution network, Fidelitone Logistics provides vendor management support for more than 2,000 well-known consumer, industrial and MRO related brands and more than six million individual SKUs, shipping millions of packages via all carriers for our clients. Services range from forecasting, procurement and inventory management through distribution, last-mile delivery and return logistics.

To learn more about the 3PL solutions Fidelitone Logistics provides, visit http://www.fidelitone.com.

ABOUT FIDELITONE LOGISTICS

Fidelitone Logistics is a recognized 3PL leader in supply chain management solutions and execution excellence. With nationwide facilities, Fidelitone Logistics services a wide array of customers, including Best Buy, Black & Decker, DMSI and the nation's largest provider of home services. For media inquires, contact Lauren Littlefield at Dittoe PR at 317-202-2280 x.17 or laurenl@dittoepr.com. For more information on Fidelitone Logistics, visit www.fidelitone.com.

ABOUT INBOUND LOGISTICS

Inbound Logistics is the pioneering publication of demand-driven logistics practices, also known as supply chain management. IL’s educational mission is to help businesses efficiently manage logistics, reduce and speed inventory, and neutralize transportation cost increases by aligning their supply to demand and adjusting enterprise functions to support that paradigm shift. More information about demand-driven logistics practices is available at www.inboundlogistics.com.

Source-businesswire.com

In the near future, possibly in 5-10 years, the size of China's economy could exceed the size of the US economy if the robust rate of growth continues. Japan's economy is one of the largest in the world and South-Korea's economy is growing fast and also India's economy. With that being said it is very clear the Asian economies play an important role on the global markets today and that role could become even more important in the near future.

Having access to the best financial information on the Asian financial markets is necessary for any global trader whether he is trading on the foreign exchange market, stock market or on the commodity market.

Financeasia.com is a Web service that provides news and commentary on Asian business deals and the Asian financial market with content categorized by country and topics. RSS feeds are available in various categories.

Sources : www.b2btoday.com

Search engines don't provide us with results updated to the minute, yet, but that day may come sooner than later. We have the news search engines at our disposal, but then a lot more is included.

The Web community is answering this need with clever link lists; RSS search engines, rolling links lists or whatever it is called. The need for specialized desktop feed readers is diminishing since RSS feed reading and management can be done entirely in the Web browsers.

We recently found a very useful new Web site that publish aggregated results from some of the most popular and recognized tech and business blogs. A simple and clear presentation of constantly updated headlines makes it easy to use and accessible for anyone with a browser.

Source : www.b2btoday.com

Five-year agreement brings leading-edge marketplace to
Aliant's subsidiaries and suppliers

Saint John/Montreal, September, 6, 2000 -BCE Emergis and Ariba
today announced they have signed a five-year, multi-million
dollar agreement with Aliant Inc. to provide a fully-managed
business-to-business corporate marketplace and e-procurement
solution. The agreement will extend to all Aliant's subsidiaries
and approximately 400 of their major suppliers across North
America.

Aliant, which includes NBTel, IslandTel, Maritime Telegraph and
Telephone Company (MTT), and NewTel, will be the first large
corporation in Atlantic Canada to benefit from the BCE Emergis
e-procurement solution, a fully-managed Internet-based
marketplace featuring Ariba's (R) B2B Commerce platform.

The integrated solution will create economies of scale and supply
chain efficiencies for Aliant, its subsidiaries and suppliers.
Aliant expects to improve the management of its $800 million
(Cdn) in annual purchases which include indirect and direct
goods.

"This initiative will streamline our procurement process and make
it more cost effective, as spending is directed through the B2B
e-procurement solution," said Perry Jarvis, Director of
Procurement for Aliant. "By giving our employees and suppliers a
common e-commerce environment, we can leverage our appreciable
buying power to create improved economies of scale."

"Through this agreement, we are extending our e-commerce
expertise into Atlantic Canada and to Aliant's large group of
national suppliers," said Christian Trudeau, Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer, BCE Emergis. "Furthermore,
it expands on our existing relationship with the Aliant companies
that already market our services in their existing portfolio of
e-business solutions."

"This agreement with Aliant is further proof of the strength and
success of Ariba's alliance with BCE Emergis," said Kevin Dwyer,
Vice President of Ariba Canada. "Ariba and BCE Emergis are
committed to helping Aliant receive a fast and significant return
on their investment and to improve their overall bottom line,
through B2B eCommerce efficiencies."

The Emergis enabled marketplace, which embeds the Ariba B2B
Commerce Platform, helps companies realize greater economies of
scale and commerce process efficiencies by providing an open
trading environment - via the internet - rich in services such as
payment, business document exchange, order management and
security services. With the Emergis B2B e-Commerce infrastructure
and the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform, Aliant employees can
electronically approve and aggregate corporate purchasing from
each employee's desktop and direct spending to preferred
suppliers, that can also benefit from the rich service
environment of the Emergis enabled marketplace.

The Aliant group of advanced technology companies (TSE:AIT) and
its staff of 10,000 professionals deliver full service,
integrated solutions through its core lines of business: wireline
and wireless telecommunications, information technology, remote
communications services, and internet-based business solutions.
From its base in Canada, Aliant serves North American and
international customers. For more information, visit Aliant at
www.aliant.ca.

Ariba, Inc. is the leading business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce
platform and network services provider. Through the Ariba B2B
Commerce platform - an open, end-to-end infrastructure of
interoperable software solutions and hosted Web-based commerce
services -- the company enables efficient on-line trade,
integration and collaboration between B2B marketplaces, buyers,
suppliers and commerce service providers. The global reach and
best-of-breed functionality of the Ariba B2B Commerce platform
creates Internet-driven economies of scale and process
efficiencies for leading companies around the world. More
information can be found at www.ariba.com.

BCE Emergis delivers network-centric e-commerce services that
significantly improve customer processes through secure B2B
exchanges. Combining e-commerce, e-payment and security services,
BCE Emergis offers clients in the healthcare, financial services,
telecommunications and transportation industries a full suite of
core and vertical-specific services that are the essential
building blocks and infrastructure required for e-commerce. BCE
Emergis is one of the top e-commerce providers in North America
and its shares are included in the TSE 100 Composite Index. For
more information, please refer to www.emergis.com.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements
that reflect the current views and/or expectations of BCE Emergis
with respect to its performance, business and future events. Such
statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. Actual results and events may vary significantly.

Source  :  bce.ca

Mutually beneficial collaboration is only possible when different players have access to full information, which is never possible with a competitor in a pure, competitive market. Therefore, the obvious question is whether the supplier would attempt to take advantage of the relationship with the buyer.

The answer is "no," because pivotal to this relationship is "full information." The buyer still has access to prices from other suppliers, and it's in the buyer's best interest for the supplier to stay away from a monopolistic approach to pricing. Sustaining a good relationship allows the buyer to prosper from its superior quality and ability to deliver.

Buyers can have any number of such partnerships, with "partners" either in the same competitive space or mutually exclusive in the products and services they provide.

To make such a system work, the buyer's system should be able to rate:

• Product quality.

• Mean Time to Failure of the product.

• Ability to deliver the product on time.

• Ability to maintain competitive price compared with other suppliers of similar scale and size.

This allows buyers to keep suppliers honest, and for suppliers to keep existing business by maintaining a high rating on buyers' systems. And if two or more suppliers in the same space maintain a consistently high "buyer rating," buyers can determine the supplier for a particular product by awarding the contract on a predetermined basis, or in a specific order.

Any supplier failing to maintain the high rating can be either penalized by being skipped over for a contract or being completely removed from the system for a certain time period. Along with the obvious cost benefits, this system includes all the value adds such as superior quality, reliable delivery and competitive pricing.

The timelessness of Nash's theory requires that the underlying system stand the test of time. In the B2B world, both longevity and adaptability of the technology are important. In terms of longevity, the technology should not have to be changed often. From the adaptability perspective, a company needs to interact with different systems. An XML-based solution would be ideal.

When done right the first time, this B2B solution can be implemented in about 90 days or less with just a couple of people -- and B2B's promise of enhancing specialized buying is just around the corner.

Source : houston.bizjournals.com

Business to business, or B2B, e-commerce swept through the business world with huge potential. But the ride continues to be bumpy. In today's economy, many companies are re-evaluating and re-strategizing the scope and scale of their B2B business models.

Online exchanges and reverse auction sites, which were considered to be the keys to success, failed to deliver. Yet there are solutions, especially from the perspective of specialized buying, that can make B2B really pay off.

Buying cheapest doesn't work well

First, the big problems. In reverse auctions, the lowest price wins. These are unfavorable for suppliers that have to whittle away profit margins to win bids. In fact, suppliers are better off not competing on an cost-only basis that eliminates the "value add" they bring to the entire supply chain process.

With no real way to differentiate their products, these exchanges did a huge disservice to the suppliers. Buyers, who looked like the overall winners, were quick to discover that buying from the cheapest supplier actually added more problems. Since the most important part of the supply process is the actual delivery of the product, failure to deliver results in mismanaged expectations and missed deadlines.

But the theory by Nobel laureate John Nash -- made famous in "A Beautiful Mind" -- lets companies interact with each other to maximize both individual payoffs and overall outcome. The problem, though, is that competing suppliers try to undercut each other on price, which weakens suppliers in general since each wants to reach their own best outcome.

Although economists dismiss this sort of behavior as "irrational," it is more the norm than the exception. Suppliers cannot work together on a long-term basis because it is hard to predict what a competing supplier is planning to do. The short-term payoff from a competing supplier's ability to find and "cut a better deal" is enough of a reason. That makes it virtually imperative that they team up with a buyer, and vice versa.

Source : houston.bizjournals.com

Oracle Supply Chain Exchange, Oracle Transportation Exchange and Oracle Product Development Exchange are Oracle's first move into the supply chain functionality for the marketplace.

According to Jeremy Burton, senior VP of worldwide marketing the functionality will propel Oracle beyond the ability to provide software to post catalogues and carry out spot buys and auctions, which has been a large part of its core b2b platform Oracle Exchange Marketplace and E-business Suite solutions until now.

Supply Chain Exchange will enable companies to publish their internal supply chain plans onto the marketplace, for their suppliers to view, make changes and respond to. According to Burton, this may help encourage suppliers to take advantage of marketplaces, because with visibility they will be able to access information about the supply chain and make better decisions on how to control their inventory. He said: “Until now the real value proposition [for suppliers] was to join a marketplace so that [buyers] could get 10% off what they can pay [suppliers]. The problem is that suppliers don't know how much they can afford to sell.”

Product Development Exchange provides information management, document management and project collaboration techniques to manage the development of products to provide more visibility of the process to senior management. Transportation Exchange allows companies to analyse and plan their logistics and transport processes within the marketplace, to allow the efficient delivery of goods. All products can be integrated.

Since the launch of Oracle Exchange, it has attracted big names like KLM in the Aeroxchange, Sainsbury's in the GlobalNetXchange and Barclays B2B.com. However, it has held off integrating supply chain functionality unlike other exchanges based on i2, with its inherent supply chain management capabilities or Ariba, with lower level collaborative functions brought in by acquisition.

Oracle also unveiled its Exchange Partner Initiative (OEPI), which will provide value-added services such as financial management, integration and business services to marketplaces using preferred partners.

The initiative, which currently has 30 members will enable services such as escrow, security and trust services, catalog management, integration technology, end-customer support, systems integration, business incubation and business planning.

Members include ABN AMRO, Mercator, Requisite Technology, TIBCO Software, Vignette, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Autonomy.

Product Development Exchange and Supply Chain Exchange are available immediately, Transportation Exchange will be available in the Spring. Oracle claims to have existing customers that have signed up but no testbed platforms.

ACCOUNTANTS in Worcestershire are being asked to ditch their pinstriped stereotype to get more businesses using new technology.

The National B2B Centre, the e-business centre for excellence for the West Midlands, believes that accountancy firms hold the key to getting more firms to adopt e-business practices that could earn more than £2bn for the regional economy.

The centre is hosting a seminar in Birmingham on Tuesday, July 15 with online accountant groups AccountingWEB and PracticeWeb to help accountants to assist small companies on how to do business in the internet age.

The training seminar will equip accountants with new skills such as how to build effective websites and will explain the mysteries of search engine optimisation to help accountants build sites that attract traffic and new business.

The web experts will also explain how accountants can protect themselves from online intruders and to ensure they comply with all the red tape associated with e-business.

The web skills workshop for accountants is the first step in the National B2B Centre’s strategy to convene a special interest group for accountants in the region that will help them to pass their e-business expertise on to their clients.

Martin King-Turner, managing director of the National B2B Centre, said: “Accountants probably hold more sway with their clients than any other sector.

“So if we can develop their skills in this field and ensure they know all of the benefits involved with using e-business – whether it’s using an online system to share data or driving more traffic to the website using search engine optimisation – they can then provide leadership to their clients.”

The event is taking place at the Burlington hotel in central Birmingham for more information contact Rachel Sparks at AccountingWEB on 0117 915 3344.

Canon India Pvt. Ltd recently announced its first ever B2B brand showroom in India—the Canon “Business Solutions Lounge”. Here, customers can understand the use and application of various Canon Business Imaging products. The lounge is a fresh concept aiming to provide a comprehensive display of Canon’s range of business offerings in a non selling environment to enterprise customers and professionals. The lounge was inaugurated by Kensaku Konishi, President & CEO, Canon India and Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India.

This is Canon’s first fully owned international class interactive and informative B2B outlet in the country. The state-of-the-art lounge provides the appropriate ambiance and a platform for new products as well as new technologies and solutions to be showcased and experienced.

Bharadwaj, said, “We at Canon believe that there is a need for a platform for us to showcase our products’ superiority and unique technologies while allowing customers to experience the complete range of business imaging solutions [offered by us]. By visiting the lounge, a customer can not only obtain first hand information on the latest products to be able to make an informed choice of purchase, but is also not under any commitment to purchase.” More than 15 products are displayed in the showroom.

The Canon Business Solutions Lounge will exhibit a range of copiers, laser multi-functional devices, faxes, document scanners, color networked copiers, large format graphic machines, digital color press and document print management and scan solutions under one roof. The total investment made in this lounge is 2 Crores and Canon has similar budget set aside for upcoming lounges.

Bharadwaj said, “We are going to launch similar B2B showrooms in Mumbai and Bangalore within the next three months. We have empowered our sales people to bring customers at any time convenient to them and even in late evening hours from Monday to Saturday. We don’t expect walk-ins. Rather we want to give demos by appointment.”

3G iPhone, with push email and other advanced features, is good fit for business, and demand will reflect that, says O2 business sales director

O2 said it was expecting huge demand for the 3G iPhone in the corporate and SME sector following its launch into select members of the B2B dealer channel on July 11.

Sixteen members of O2's B2B Centre of Excellence can sell the device, with six more to follow at a later date. Its consumer sales channels remain the same (O2, Carphone Warehouse and Apple stores only).

O2 business sales director Ben Dowd said the network was now ready to make the device available to selected B2B dealers because features such as GPS and push email make it suitable for corporate and SME users.

Said Dowd: "These dealers are the partners who we have long standing relationships with and have consistently delivered for O2.

"It wasn't an option to extend the device to them when we launched it in the first instance.

"There were obviously challenges for business users with the consumer focussed device, it didn't have push email, and it now has VoIP capabilities, corporate security features and application software that can be opened to developers. Corporates can upload their own software.

"The original price was high for many customers to pay and we have recognised that. Now we have broken down some of the barriers that were there before, it opens up the iPhone to a huge market.

"The new pricing for the iPhone is absolutely in the mix with BlackBerry and other PDA type devices."

The 3G iPhone will be sold on existing O2 business tariffs, with an £8.51 unlimited data bolt on. The 8GB device will cost £84.26 on a small business regular user tariff but will be free on higher tariffs.

The 16GB version will be £135.32 on a small business regular user tariff, £51.06 on small business frequent user and medium business tariffs, and free on large business tariffs.

Corporate customers will receive bespoke tariffs, with trials already undertaken with companies including Logica, McDonalds and Citigroup.

"Feedback has been very positive in terms of interface, usability, and being able to deploy that sort of device in the corporate marketplace," said Dowd.

"It's consistent with Apple's approach in the States, trialling the device with Fortune 500 companies, and getting the feedback that is absolutely fit for purpose as a business device.

"According to O2 customer research, iPhone ARPU is 30 per cent higher than the average user, and 80 per cent of iPhone users are using 10 or more services connected to the device.

"Sixty per cent of iPhone users more than 25MB data a month, compared with less than one per cent of other contract users achieving that level of usage."

Said Dowd: "Usage of the iPhone is comparable to that of a laptop. We have found that customer satisfaction of the iPhone is much higher than with other devices."

The 3G iPhone is to launch on prepay at a later date but O2 is not revealing price details as of yet. It will also not sell refurbished versions of the old 2G device.


SOURCE : b2bnewsworld.info

Commonly referred to as Business to Business (B2B), commercial transactions between businesses take place daily. Since there is a need for businesses to reach other businesses, it is crucial that they have access to up-to-date information about them. Be it their supplier, purchaser or even competitor, businesses need information such as phone numbers, addresses and business descriptions.

However, since companies are constantly making organizational changes, their contact persons also change. Furthermore, there are many instances where businesses relocate or even shut down. As a result, not all businesses will be informed of the details of such changes, thus causing a breakdown in the communication chain, leading to information being lost or wasted.

Therefore, to eliminate the occurrence of such events and to speed up business efficiency, many have turned to using mailing lists - Business To Business Mailing Lists. They provide businesses with accurate and reliable details of relevant industry players, as they are being continuously updated. Companies providing such services constantly monitor and conduct research to ensure that information is of relevant use to their customers.

Ordinarily, Business to Business mailing lists contain contact information about individuals or companies which allow people or organizations to contact or send data to multiple recipients at any one time. B2B Mailing Lists contain information collected and complied from various places ranging from business annual reports to newspapers and the yellow pages. This mailing list enables businesses to choose relevant business contact details, information on sales volume and even SIC codes and descriptions about a company. The mailing list creates opportunities for businesses to conduct direct mail marketing, market analysis and promotion of the goods and services offered.

Business To Business Mailing Lists give businesses total control, whether or not a company wants to reach a big business, home business or a small business owner. It allows businesses to save time, without having to source for new contact information, and enables them to utilize a large database to reach thousands or even millions within one direct mail campaign. In addition, businesses have the ability to choose the best mailing list suitable for their product or service, making it an effective way for businesses to ensure that their targeted market is reached.

B2B Mailing Lists also cuts away middleman. It allows companies to get to their target groups directly, since they have the relevant contacts at hand. This further allows them to save time and money when they need to focus on other aspects of the business.

Many companies provide such mailing list services, offering mailing lists as well as knowledge on how one can go about choosing a suitable target audience or mailing list for a marketing campaign. They evaluate the success of each campaign, and provide advice to clients with which they are working with. Essentially, it enables them to increase their business network and grow their customer base. This will often result in the achievement of substantial growth rates.

Businesses simply have to contact a company that deals with mailing lists and they will be on their way to reaching thousands or millions of other businesses! It would definitely be difficult to deny the usefulness of such effective and efficient source of information.

Source : www.medicalbusinesss.com

B2B or Business-to-Business lead generation involves bringing compatible companies together to do business. Two companies are termed as compatible when the products/services of one are required by the other. This itself conveys the importance of business-to-business lead generation. B2B sales can play a significant role in a business organization's profit margins.

Take the example of a manufacturing business. Suppose you manufacture branded personal computers, then you will need the different parts that go into assembling a personal computer. Now obviously you would not be manufacturing each and every part yourself, so you need to buy those parts from a company that manufactures them. You would be successful in the long run if you establish long term relations with the manufacturers of the required parts. In that way you can also get the parts tailor made to suit your purposes and the supplier will have a steady business opportunity. Now look at the same situation from the point-of-view of the parts' manufacturer, supposing you are one, you will be greatly benefited if you establish long term relations with organizations that require the parts manufactured by you.

Business-to-business lead generation is increasingly being recognized for its importance and steadily growing influence. It can be done in many ways, the traditional ones being telemarketing and direct mailing which have a limited use, the popular ones being advertisements in trade publications and trade show presentations. In fact, trade shows exist mainly for the purpose of helping various businesses find compatible partners. A professionally executed presentation which informs as well as entertains would go a long way in generating vital leads which could result in profitable business opportunities. Apart from the presentation, the organization of the trade show also carries a lot of importance. A badly attended trade show or one that has the wrong people would be a complete waste of time and resources.

Trade publications which are read mostly by the industry people are a highly cost effective way of business lead generation. Advertisements in such publications reach the targeted audience. This makes trade publications a much better alternative to radio and newspapers.

The internet with its ever expanding reach and influence offers a goldmine of opportunities for B2B lead generation. Online lead generation uses various internet based techniques like direct marketing, search marketing and online banners among others. Online lead generation is growing very fast. Currently valued at $1.3 billion it is expected that in the year 2008 it will cross $2 billion.

Source : business-sales-gw.blogspot.com

Tadi siang, saya baru saja mempresentasikan konsep pemberian rewards bagi corporate customer pada salah satu klien saya. Seperti memelihara angsa bertelur emas, Corporate customer memang sangat lazim diberi perhatian lebih! Itu semata-mata karena si angsa ini menjadi pundi-pundi sumber pendapatan bagi perusahaan. Corporate customer adalah mitra bisnis yang tidak boleh disia-siakan, kalau likuiditas dan profitabilitas ingin tetap ok.

Keinginan berbagi keuntungan dengan mitra bisnis pada saat ini sudah menjadi bagian yang lazim dalam strategi. Profit harus diatur steng-steng lah (itu istilah jaman saya dulu), biar smua happy. Pada saat posisi tawar perusahaan melemah karena adanya tekanan persaingan. Dan konsumen sudah menemukan jalan yang mudah untuk berganti mitra (inget iklan a mild skrup & mur) . Maka ikatan yang terbentuk dalam transaksi pembeli-penjual harus dipertahankan jangan sampai putus dan mengganggu sumber pendapatan dan keuntungan perusahaan. Tujuan inilah sebenarnya yang digagas oleh konsep relationship marketing. Pemasaran yang mengedepankan pertalian dengan semua mitra bisnis, baik di hulu, di samping, maupun di hilir. Konsep ini mengacu pada pandangan, bahwa jika bisnis ingin berjalan secara berkelanjutan (sustainable), maka keuntungan yang ada dalam value delivery network (jejaring supplier-perusahaan-channel-customer dan complementor) harus terdistribusi secara balance atau proporsional. Model inilah yang akan membuat everybody happy. Kalau anda pernah baca kitab marketing Kotler edisi terakhir, disitu memang disebutkan bahwa pentingnya mengextent paradigm marketing menjadi holoistic marketing. Salah satu elemen dalam holistic marketing adalah relationship marketing. Sedangkan elemen lainnya adalah internal marketing, integrated marketing, dan social responsible marketing. Prinsipnya adalah semua stakeholder perusahaan harus digarap dengan marketing. Suatu prinsip yang mengedepankan pemenuhan kebutuhan semua pihak akan tercapai satisfaction.

Semangat pertemanan dan kemitraan ini sebenarnya yang ingin diusung dalam implementasi relationship marketing. Jika banyak teman, banyak silaturahmi, dan banyak sedekah maka kita akan panjang umur, itu kata pa ustadz. Jika banyak teman, maka akan jauh dari kesusahan. Tapi kalau semua teman kita orang susah, ya saya ga tau juga! Loe bakal bangkrut kale, kena porot temen. Rupanya prinsip pertemanan inilah yang sekarang diadopsi dalam rangka memperpanjang umur perusahaan. Jika perusahaan berusaha membangun posisi yang win-win, maka perusahaan akan relatif aman seandainya ada terjangan tsunami bisnis yang akan menenggelamkan perusahaan. Dalam kondisi banyak teman, biasanya teriakan SOS (tulung, tulung! Kata si cepot) akan segera direspon cepat oleh si penolong. Layaknya si sexy Erika Eleniak dalam Baywatch, mitra perusahaan yang sangat paham akan makna pertemanan, akan segera membantu korban yang sedang pingsan! Dan tentu saja disertai dengan pemberian nafas buatan oleh Erika, agar kehidupan kembali muncul.

Kembali ke pokok judul di atas, lalu bagaimana caranya memberikan rewards kepada corporate customer? Seperti yang dipresentasikan pada konsep yang kami buat , kalau perusahaan anda berniat memberikannya, saya menyarankan ada 3 hal yang harus anda rumuskan secara seksama:

a. Rumusan kriteria untuk menseleksi corporate customer yang layak dan pantas memperoleh reward. Jika perusahaan melayani cukup banyak corporate customer maka kita berkepentingan untuk memilih mana yang berhak, mana yang tidak. Agenda tersembunyi dari point ini adalah, kita ingin memacu juga corporate customer yang tidak terpilih untuk menjadi yang terpilih. Welcome to our club!

b. Rumusan bentuk alternatif rewards yang cukup bermafaatan dan memorable untuk diterima customer. Bentuk rewards cukup penting, rewads tidak boleh hanya sekedar hadiah. Makna hadiah harus ada. Kebermanfaatan dan semangat penghargaan harus muncul disitu, baik secara fungsional maupun emosional.

c. Rumusan batasan anggaran yang masih reasonable diberikan. Rewards adalah seperti umpan dalam memancing. Kalau rewards berharga mahal, atau sedikit menggerogoti profitabilitas, itu ga apa-apa. Yang penting, pemberian rewards harus ada kalkulasinya dan dikaitkan dengan CLTV atau customer life time value.

Source : yudipram.wordpress.com

As is known, Global sourcing is only a business strategy to ensure smoother and cost effective enterprise transformation, accessing new markets using key geographic advantages such as cost differences, labor strengths and time zones. The obvious advantages China business has rests in its geographic location from key markets and major governmental thrust for infrastructural development driven import & export. As we stand today, import and export is driving the whole of China business and with it, the economy.

However, there are contradictory perceptions about import and export from China business rather than global sourcing and nevertheless it's a controversial issue. Despite this, global is being adapted as a strategic decision; with all its risk/benefit analysis in place. On their part, China and China business houses are surging ahead ironing out issues on the go.

One of the most common mistakes done while carrying out e-commerce is to deal with fake online websites in the name of international trade, import/export or global sourcing and such a mistake just needs common sense to avoid it. For example if an email comes to your account and claims to give you a free product in return for your bank details, just beware of it. Also you could check out the email address if it comes from a strange sort of address it is surely spam mail.

Business to business negotiation is the crucial get-ahead tool in a global sourcing scenario. Import and export expertise apart, business to business negotiations take thorough understanding of local etiquettes and legal structures assume center stage. This article takes a peep into the role of B2B on import & export negotiation besides exploring business to business negotiation basics. The postulations of the article provide the framework for newer perspectives for business to business negotiation, with a lean on import and export in the global sourcing backdrop. Any B2B global sourcing tangle can be solved through business to business negotiation.


Source : tootooblog.blogr.com

In a global sourcing B2B negotiation, monopolistic pressures are less likely to be exerted cautiously as many negotiation processes are planned for B2B environment particularly keeping in view, the long term relationships for global sourcing. Recognizing the behavioral pattern of people during the negotiations helps gain a competitive edge in a business to business scenario.Business to business negotiations permit certain margins for cost over-runs unlike when you are global sourcing for own consumption by way of letting you monetize the B2B goods as they are available at your port. But on the B2B negotiation table for import/export, the best strategy to adapt is letting the opposite party do the bulk of talking and wait for loose ends to pitch in. Besides, this keeps your lacunas in your preparedness with regards to import/export procedure of that country.Simple tips such as frequent change of passwords can act as a strong deterrent to anyone bent upon cracking passwords by use of brute force and hence the e-commerce activity carried out in this manner can be done freely without much tension of lost or stolen information and so forth. International trade often involves carrying out of import/export and global sourcing activities and this does involve frequent exchange of sensitive data via e-commerce technologies and this sensitive data could be in the form of personal particulars, credit information and so forth. This data should not fall into wrong hands.As is known, Global sourcing is only a business strategy to ensure smoother and cost effective enterprise transformation, accessing new markets using key geographic advantages such as cost differences, labor strengths and time zones. The obvious advantages China business has rests in its geographic location from key markets and major governmental thrust for infrastructural development driven import & export. As we stand today, import and export is driving the whole of China business and with it, the economy.


Source : tootooblog.blogr.com