HOW ARE BUSINESS DOLLARS A NEW FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT AND NOT MERELY AN ELECTRONIC DISCOUNT?
A common fear with promotional programs that involve coupons, frequent flyer miles or discounts of any kind is the potential disruption of a company’s already beleaguered cash flow. The difference between Business Dollars and simple discounts has been difficult for most people to grasp. This has mostly to do with seeing things through our habitual lens or paradigm. If we are used to thinking merely in terms of one currency, then any time that a merchant accepts less of that currency, it appears to be a discount. A useful analogy in grappling with this distinction is the emergence of paper currency, at a time when precious metals and tradable goods and services served as money. Even though early paper currency was a little suspect in value, and perhaps not as desirable as goods or gold, it was never-theless not a discount against the price of an item calculated in gold coins. It was the first halting exploration into what would become one of the most powerful financial instruments in hi
