Foreign Exchange (Forex) Trading is basically the buying and selling of money or currencies worldwide and is considered as the oldest financial market in the world. Most countries are involved in the Forex trading and both big businessmen and some private entrepreneurs are also attracted to this market because of its huge volume of business. It is recognized as the largest and biggest financial market with turnover close to US$4 trillion a day. This is over 7 times larger than all the stock exchange markets in the world combined and this is often called by many as the giant investment vehicle.
The Forex trading has becoming more popular to a sizable number of investors nowadays due to its simplicity of operation and its ease of joining the business. The advent of internet technology is what made Forex trading grow considerably popular as well as accessible with various types of investors. About a decade ago, currency trading was only limited to large banks and financial firms because they were the only ones to have access to the tools and methods required to transact forex trading. However recently, due to efficient online platforms, technology has advanced to the point of being available to any and every individual trader who wishes to trade or invest in Forex trading.
Hence, today many private persons are participating and are earning substantial amount of money through the Forex trading. It has been considered as one of the very lucrative investment tools nowadays because of its simplicity of operation. The mechanics is very simple; one party buys the currencies at an ongoing price in the market and getting its profit by selling it at an opportune time when the price becomes higher. Another factor that draws small investors to the forex trading markets are the generous benefits that they derived such as 24 hours open market, high leverage, commission-free trading and easy accessibility through various means of communications.
In any business ventures there are generally accepted practices and techniques which are not known especially by the new comers in the mba Forex trading market. Thus, it is recommended that investors who should like to join the trade should look and seek the advice of a forex broker to help them analyze and evaluate various forex trading systems data. The technical analysis is a key to success for a new forex trader. It is basically an assessment and a study of the historical prices of the market in order to forecast or even know with higher degree of accuracy in which direction the future prices will move. Another factor to be analyzed is the forex fundamental which is made up of strategic assessments in which a particular currency is traded on the basis of various criteria with the exception of the price action. These criteria include current economic conditions in the country that this currency represents and a great deal of other essential elements.
There has always been a constant debate as to which analysis is better, but it is important to know a little bit of both. It is important to get a birds-eye view of the currency markets and learn how news affects its prices. Hence, it is important to listen, understand and follow the daily forex news and market analysis of the professional currency analysts. Knowing and these factors and putting this into practice make the Foreign Exchange Trading a truly viable business for small businessmen.
This article is intended to help everyone gain a better understanding of National Accounts Programs, including the motivation for creating one and the steps toward a successful process. While it is not intended to definitively answer every question regarding national accounts, it serves as a set of guiding principles for those in the company who are responsible for the success of the program. It is written for salespeople, branch managers and national account representatives, not the company's executive management team. However, keep in mind that executive management needs to be committed to the program and would benefit by understanding the process and concepts.
Regain Power by Offering Competitive Advantage
National accounts, by definition, have significant size and buying power which provide leverage in demanding lower prices. In addition, because of their complexity and demographics, they are often more difficult and expensive to service. Consequently, most national accounts are the least profitable.
In response, you need to make a concentrated effort to effectively rebalance the shift of power by offering significant competitive advantages that make your products and services more critical to your national accounts. Without creating competitive advantage, you will be tied to the downward price spiral that eats margin and effectively negates any understanding by your customers that "price is not the same as cost." A structured national accounts program with definitive guidelines is the first step toward gaining competitive advantage.
There are four basic broad categories of added value that create competitive advantage:
1. Processes that streamline your customers' productivity, improve quality, take transaction costs out of the supply chain and provide measurable savings (unrelated to price).
2. Administrative and technical support that can reduce your customers' internal costs enough to affect bottom line operating costs.
3. Sales and marketing support that can increase your customers' top line.
4. Technology that is core to your customers' business results, yet is beyond their internal capabilities.
Your national accounts program should refocus your efforts on all of these issues.
Four Fundamentals
The ultimate success of a national accounts program depends on the hard work and team participation of all company employees involved in the process.
There are four basic fundamentals of success in any national accounts program:
1. Knowledge - Study the internal processes of your company and/or the internal workings of your national accounts program if you already have one in place.
2. Understanding - Research the business environment in which your company operates and the resulting defined objectives for a national accounts program.
3. Clarity - Identify the big picture of market and customer demand and direction. This should be a true understanding of what your corporation is trying to accomplish in total.
4. Commitment - Secure the commitment of your entire company.
Knowledge
It is essential to outline the objectives of your program, the process involved, and the direction to take in order to receive help and support when necessary. If you have no program in effect, it is critical to develop this process.
Second, activity measurement and open communication (both up and down the chain of command) are absolutely critical for success. Accountability is an absolute necessity and it must be clearly defined. Support from your company's information management system can provide the fundamental elements of success for the national accounts program. A weak information system could leave dangerous voids or even misrepresent the true picture of the national accounts program.
Understanding
Understanding brings the field view (external view) closer to corporate headquarters. An internal company survey may provide the necessary clarity as to how a national accounts program is perceived. Input from local account representatives and branch managers is very important. Your company needs to explore how things are being done and how an existing program is perceived. Most importantly, input from the field with recommendations is essential. If you currently have no program, the survey is even more critical to the initial development stage of a new program.
Understanding actual needs of the national account is also critical to the success of your program. To get a better understanding, ask the following questions:
o What do national account types really value?
o What motivates our suppliers to negotiate special terms for these accounts?
o Do these accounts view our company as partners?
o What do we know about their business?
o Are we truly the primary source of supply?
o Can we create a win-win situation?
Clarity
Everyone must have a clear understanding of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Recognizing the volatility of the environment is a valuable piece of the puzzle. Your company needs to catch up to the pace of change within the distribution industry to maintain competitive advantage. Remember, "Perceived value drives expectations" and "Performance value drives customer satisfaction."
Raise your customers' perceived value high enough and you create "competitive advantage" which is the first step towards rebalancing the shift of power inherent in any national accounts program.
While the knowledge aspect of the national accounts program is heavily weighted toward internal perspective, clarity needs to be weighted toward your external environment. You must be clearly aware of market dynamics, including technology and other external forces shaping your particular industry and driving behavior of the national accounts customers. You must evaluate events and trends using an anticipatory perspective in relationship to your competition. You need to ask yourself these questions:
o How is the industry different today regarding what is expected from a national accounts program?
o What will be considered by 2007?
o What are our competitors doing in serving national accounts?
o What technologies offer the most potential, both as products and tools?
o What actions are our competitors taking to gain advantage?
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