| Clean Up |
| Clean up day: The easiest and fastest way to save money is see what
everyone already has hidden away in their desk. Have a clean out your desk day.
You will be amazed at what you’ll find. How many people have two staplers, extra
pens, old toners or hanging folders they don’t use? You’ll probably have enough
supplies to restock your supply cabinet! |
Compatible Brands |
| Be open to using compatible brands. By using quality compatible
cartridges such as The Sharper Image you can save up to 50%
over name brands like HP, Lexmark, Brother and others. You can find The Sharper Image and similar technology brands at Advantage. Ask
about house brands, like Universal
Office Products, Sparco, or Value Plus Office Products that are very cost
effective products and offer great savings over name brand
items.
|
| Office Furniture House Brands |
| How to Save on Office Furniture: By
using alternate brands like Alera Office Furniture, Lorell Furniture and similar
brands you can save money on File Cabinets, Chairs and Desk. These brands you
typically won’t find in your local big box store. They are mainly distributed by
the Independent Office Products dealers at very competitive prices. In many
cases you can buy brands like Alera for less than what you may find at a used
furniture store. When looking for office furniture look for ANSI/BIFMA certified
furniture. Check the warranty when buying new. Some big box stores carry similar
looking brands but the products are made cheaper and may only offer a 1 year
warranty. That’s fine if it’s for you home, but not for an office. Look for a
minimum 5-year warranty. Inspect the warranty tag if it says recommended usage is 4
hours a day, it's not made for a commercial office, it's made for a home office.
|
| Repairs First, Then Replace |
| Repair don’t replace. Most furniture
products carry a very good warranty and a customer-oriented dealer will be glad
to help you resolve your issue. When chair arm pads crack or get torn, try
calling us and asking for replacement pads. When
the Pneumatic lift on the chair doesn’t work ask about getting it fixed. Most of
these items, if it’s a quality chair can be fixed for a minimum charge, compared
to purchasing a new chair. You will need the serial number off the chair, desk
ect. If you did not originally purchase the product from us, please consider us on your next purchase. |
| Control ordering |
| Place orders on the same day each week or month. By letting your
employees know you only place orders on a particular day you will save time by
not placing multiple orders and you will have fewer invoices to reconcile. You will
find you have less interruptions during the week. You can also increase your
order size, which in many cases will reduce your overall
price.
Back Orders- Consider having your backorders
“delivered with next order”. There is no bigger waste of
money, gas or time as having to deliver a small $5.00 item that may have been
out of stock when you placed your large order. Most company’s order at least
weekly and can wait a few days for back order items, or don’t mind
re-ordering.
Charge back “rush” orders. Many offices have
someone who is just never prepared, they are the ones always needing things in a
rush. Try instating a internal rush charge. If you do this, many times the
co-employee will wait until order day. When people realize how expensive and time
consuming ordering one small order is, they usually wait or increase the order
to a cost efficient size. We all want to be more effecient and help reduce cost
and having multiple deliveries or driving to a store 3 times a week is such a
waste.
Ask about Best Price Pricing: Find out if your
office supply dealer offers a best price scenario. What this means is, even if
you have not received a sales flyer you will still receive the “sale or
best price” the company has. Many suppliers
can offer this “best price”service. In short, it just means you don't need to
have the flyer or coupon to get the special pricing. We offer this by default to all of our customers. |
| Don't go retail $$ |
| Never go to the retail store to buy: Have you ever noticed when you walk
into a retail store how you end up purchasing more than you intended. We all do
it. Make your list early pick up the phone and call, fax or order online. We deliver fast and possibly same day. Remember your taking
on a liability every time an employee is picking up supplies in their own vehicle Ask
your insurance agent about "hired and non owned vehicle insurance" or click the
link below.
http://www.philleo.com/all-insurance-videos/what-is-hired-and-non-owned-vehicle-insurance.html |
| Don’t fall for the rebate schemes. |
| Many times we see company’s saying
their corporate office gets a rebate of up to 5% on everything they purchase. In
most cases these rebates are not what people think. Rebates maybe limited to
certain items, for example pens and folders, but no rebate for paper products.
You’d be better off using a charge card that gives you 2% back and purchase from
a supplier. Not to mention you could have your dealer consult with you
on what you’re currently paying and help recommend ways to save much more than
5% off the existing prices. Why not receive the savings immediately? Why would
you want someone else holding your money for up to 12 months? Are the
rebates really checked for accuracy? |
Incentives for savings |
 | Your employees know and see where the waste
within you company is. Start a incentive plan and reward employees for cost
reduction ideas. Remember to keep it simple. The goal is simply cost reduction.
Select a few of your most dedicated employees and group them together for
a teamwork approach.
http://www.ehow.com/list_6575164_benefits-employee-incentive-programs_.html |
Best Solutions |
| Look for a website that will recommend similar items and offer best
solutions: There are many websites run by independent dealers that will
notify you of similar items, which may be lower priced. For a good example
enter the HP cartridge # HEW-51626a or SAN30001 in this site search box www.advantageop.com
you will see similar items priced much lower, now this is a great tool! |
More products one source = less |
| To really save money, merge orders to a single supplier. The more products your able to buy from one source, the more you'll save. A company like our has over 35,000 office supply items and 100,000 janitorial, breakroom, I.T., and industrial products. Bundling your orders together can really save you money. Just ask one of our consultants for details. |
Consult and compare |
| Ask us about how you can save on your overall invoices. Provide invoices from another supplier and we can really help you save. We can build a custom price list for the products you use the most. One of our consultants would be more than happy to sit down and show you how to cut your costs. Just fill out the form below. |