We've had 3 meetings with investors and key marketing people in Florida over the past five months in an effort to dramatically increase the number of Tradia ® Franchise Operations in the USA and Canada.  We're almost complete in our negotiations and feel certain that Tradia ® will be the largest Barter Exchange Franchise in North America.  There's always room at the top and we expect to be there in 2 short years.

In mid-April of this year, we video taped a key portion of our Franchise / Trade Director training that will play a huge role in our Franchise & staff training efforts.  Franchisee's will use our training system to teach their growing staff members how to do the Tradia ® business.  You can be in all places at all times when you use the technology available to us today.  On-line training as well as weekly web-conference training will add to our vast training system and make it possible that every single Tradia ® representative will speak from the same platform based on a systematic and readily available training format.  If you buy a Tradia ® Franchise, you expect to get more results and our training does deliver that at every level.

We have the name, the marketing materials, the training system, a trained corporate staff, a targeted business plan with 6 levels of profitability and a dynamic business opportunity aimed at small business, all ready for this expansion.  We're ready for the wave of growth and we're excited.  Tradia ® is a cash-less alternative to banks, credit cards and debt.  People can literally trade what they have to get what they want using the Tradia ® Barter Exchange & Database.

 After a lot of preparation and testing, Tradia ® is ready to set the pace and take the lead in the Barter industry.

George Wells, a veteran barter exchange owner has decided to ride off into the sunset.  At the young age of 78, George has sold his Tradia ® Franchise to newcomer; Ron Paul and his wife Katie.  Ron has a ton of sales and customer service experience and we're excited to see this transition.  It's always a little scary when we go through a change like this but it usually brings new energy and growth with the change-over.

We're always looking for a true entreprenuer and we are certain to have found it in Ron.  Tradia ® in Boise will be hard to beat with the addition of the Pauls as franchise owner / operators.

Ron & Katie Paul will be trained as a Tradia ® Franchise in the month of May 2008.  We'll see them in Portland and then schedule the first of 2 in-field trainings.  Tradia ® has recently increased the amount of training offered to a new Tradia Franchise.  The more a franchisee knows about Tradia ®, the faster and stronger they grow as a business.  This is a very positive step in the growth of Tradia ® in Idaho.

Want to know how to make a customer loyal and how to get the most out of your relationship with your customers?  It's simple.  Ask questions your competitor doesn’t ask!  Whether it’s during an in-person sales presentation, over the phone or at a networking event, identify the types of questions every other salesperson just like you is asking their prospects.  Examples might include textbook, unoriginal questions like, “How much are you currently spending on…?” or “How happy are you with you present suppliers?”

Knowing what questions your prospects are used to and tired of being asked is a powerful sales weapon.  Because now all YOU have to do is NOT ask those questions!

So, create 2 lists:  “Top Ten Most Common Questions Asked by a Salesperson in My Field", and “Kick Butt Sales Questions My Competitors Aren’t Asking.”  Think of the best, most creative and most original sales questions you’ve ever used or heard.  Questions that made customers smile.  Questions that caused customers to stop in their tracks.  Questions that enabled customers to share their needs and wants.

13 Kick Butt Sales Questions Your Competitors Aren’t Asking
1. How are you making it difficult for your customers to…?
2. How are you making it easy for your customers to…?
3. How many customers are you losing by…?
4. What are the benefits you’d like to see as a result of…?
5. What are the bottlenecks in…?
6. What are the three biggest mistakes being made by…?
7. What do you think makes the difference between…?
8. What excuses are preventing you from…?
9. What one word do you want customers to use when describing…?
10. When someone comes to your website, what's the ONE thing…?
11. When someone walks into your store, how do you want them…?
12. When was the first occasion you noticed…?
13. When was the last time you actually…?

Questions ARE differentiators.  Make your own customized list based on your industry and needs, then start asking the hard questions.  These questions will set you apart from the competition and change the way your customers do business.  This will make them more successful and you will have a part of their success.

* If you need sales or business coaching/training, imagine using a barter/trade exchange for this service.  Trade your excess inventory for the training you and your staff need.  This way, you keep your hard-earned cash and get the product or service you need.  Business coaching is one of the many services you can get as a Tradia ® Member.  Why Pay Cash When You Can Tradia? ®

Tradia® is increasing the amount of hands-on training for all our Franchise and Regional Offices.  We are already good at training and feel the need to enhance the current training system to better service the existing Franchise Offices as well as their support staff.  The more time we spend with a franchisee, the better they become at building their Tradia® Franchise business.  This increase in the amount of training we offer is included in our Tradia® Franchise Agreement.

In the first week of April, 2008 Tradia® is shooting a full-length Video Training Series to dramatically change the amount of training available to all Tradia representatives.  The Tradia® DVD Training System will be useful to beginners as well as seasoned Barter Professionals.  It will feature 3 separate DVD's covering barter basics, history and business information, sales training & overcoming objections and building large trade volumes using many real examples.

With a home-based Franchise System, Tradia® keeps the expenses down while providing a huge opportunity to the personality that can handle working alone for the first few months while building a local membership.  This new Training System will literally teach every aspect of the barter business in a step-by-step format and at your own pace.  Along with this DVD Series, Tradia® also spends a large amount of time on a hand-held basis with each Tradia® Franchise, both at Tradia® Corporate in Portland Oregon and in the Franchise Territory.  The more you know, the more valuable your Tradia® Franchise becomes.

Following our training techniques and suggestions, your return on investment (ROI) is greatly increased.  Why would anyone buy a franchise and not take advantage of the training and systems available?  Bartering is a simple concept.  Building a business using barter as a business strategy and Trade Exchange is like any business opportunity.  It requires real effort and follow-through.  It's amazing to watch how much trade volume a person can do with the right coaching and support system.  Tradia® expects to lead the way with this new and improved Training System and we hope to see exponential growth in the number of Franchise inquiries we receive.