Is MetalJunction a marketplace?
MetalJunction is not a "Marketplace". We are Selling Service Providers. We provide more than mere consultancy or a software solution. Our services are available to large businesses that are looking to bring about process efficiencies to their sales process and enhanced domain expertise than are available in-house. We can be considered as an extension of the sales arm of any business.

What is an Auction event?
An Auction event is one where the client (auction originator) wants to sell products at the best price possible. Bidders are interested buyers who are pre-qualified and when the auction begins, they bid what they will pay to buy a commodity. As the auction proceeds, the best price for the client is actually the highest price. At the end of the auction, the final price is the highest price at which the winning bidder will purchase the material from the seller provided that the highest price meets the seller's reserve price.

Why should you outsource Sales?
Sales outsourcing has proved that it delivers process efficiencies, economies of scale, category expertise and infrastructure that many firms lack. Recent advances in analytics technologies provide the visibility and control to enable enterprises to effectively manage these outsourced relationships.

However, outsourcing should not be viewed merely as a way to divest of assets or reduce headcount. Such a narrow view of outsourcing can indeed deliver short-term results. However, this tactical approach to outsourcing has proven to be at high risk of long term failure if the decision does not support future growth and direction of business.

An enterprise should outsource a selling activity if it cannot sufficiently perform the process internally or if the process does not support the company's competitive differentiation.

Why should you outsource?
On one level, selling outsourcing can be viewed as a classic build-versus-buy decision. To determine which selling activities, if any, should be outsourced, companies must conduct a thorough gap analysis of their competency along both product category and selling process. Once a company has an understanding of its performance in certain activities and categories, it must benchmark its performance against best-in-class performers. Only then can an enterprise truly understand which product categories and which selling processes should remain "core" and which should be outsourced.

Typically companies tend to focus their energies on their "core" areas which comprise about 80% of their product mix and it is the 20% that they do not stretch the organization. It is this 20% that the company should look to outsourcing and stretch revenues without taking on overheads by outsourcing the selling process to specialist Selling Service Providers.