Your primary role as an Associate Dealer is to sell. Based on experience with our Program, this is a combination of promotion to increase awareness and a simple direct sales effort. The method of promotion depends on your business situation. Associate Dealers with storefronts may use mostly counter-top materials and in-store PC’s to promote their office products to walk-in traffic. Associate Dealers with large sales forces may hand out marketing materials during sales calls, or use PowerPoint presentations for larger customers. We help our Associate Dealers find the right approach to quickly build their businesses.

Beyond initial promotion, an Associate Dealer should monitor their customer account activity regularly. You will receive a listing of customers and their activity, monthly with your commission check. The Associate Dealer can request a sales report from Customer Service at any time.

Following up with customers regularly and asking them to try your office products service online is a key component to a successful sales effort. Marketing materials are helpful, but it’s your relationship that ultimately closes the sale. It often takes a few repetitions to get people to change their behavior. Then follow up on conversations, and thank customers for placing orders online.  We suggest that you download our Specials Flyer to hand out to potential customers or to use as invoice stuffers. Below are more details about The Program and options:

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Compensation Plans:
We are offering a true partnership with our Associate Dealers.  The Premium Plan offers 40% of the *Gross Profit as compensation while the Basic Plan offers a 5% commission based on the Total Monthly Net Sales. We provide an easier way to make more money and add value at the same time. Our Program is among the highest monetary benefits in the industry. There is a one-time setup fee to join. The Premium Plan is $595 and the Basic Plan is $295.

Gross Margin: What remains from sales after a company pays out the Cost of Goods Sold (CGS). To obtain gross profit margin, divide gross profit by sales. Gross profit margin is expressed as a percentage.

* Gross Profit: Calculated as sales minus all costs directly related to those sales. These costs might include product cost (CGS), delivery, labor, marketing and other expenses.

Premium Plan Example: If a company receives $20,000 in sales and its cost of goods sold were $12,000, the gross profit margin would be equal to $20,000 minus $12,000 which equals $8,000, divided by $20,000, or 40%. Basically, 40% gross margin means that for every dollar generated in sales, the company has $0.40 cents left over to cover basic operating costs and profit.

Gross profit would be determined after delivery costs (10%) and operating costs (4%). So your take home pay would be approximatly (30% minus 10% minus 4%) or 16% divided by 2 since we are splitting the profit. So your take home would be 8% roughly. This is just and example and could be higher depending on teh customers price plan.

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Annual Renewal Fee:
Our Program helps keep our Associate Dealers operational costs at a minimum. We offset these operational costs with an annual renewal fee. The fee includes the following items:

Note: The renewal fee will go into effect on February 1, 2009 and will only apply to those dealer accounts with minimal sales activity.

Expense	Description	Value
Hosting	Web Store URL Hosting	$10
Technology	Technology Enhancements	$25
Data Maintenance	Quarterly New Products Load & Pricing Updates	$100
Catalogs	Deliver 5 "Big Boy" Marketing Catalogs	$50
Customer Service	Experienced CSR Phone Support, Bidding & Quotes	$75
Accounting Services	Customer Invoicing & Collections, Commissions Payment Processing.	$75
Other Services	Order Fulfillment, Delivery, Returns, Order Approval (fraud detection)	$25
	Total Annual Value:	$360

We charge a nominal fee for these services.

Annual Renewal Fee Policy & Process:
The renewal is valid for one year and starts one year from the day of your registration.  30 days before the fee is due, the Associate Dealer will receive a reminder email of the impending renewal. Renewal fees are subject to change. Associate Dealers with a registered site can determine the month their renewal is due simply by entering their website address at:  Check Domain Expiration.

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A.  Branded Web Store with Dynamic Features:
We provide you with a state-of-the-art branded online web store operating 24/7.  Some of the web store dynamic features include an HP Supplies Link that is integrated into Hewlett-Packards supplies and accessories. Other web store features include:

• Machine Matching - to help locate similar parts & accessories
• Personal Items -a favorites list
• Contract Items - includes those items on contract pricing
• Save Order - so your customers can place order at a later time
• Browse Items & Search - easy to locate the items your customers need
• View Order - see everything before checkout
• Online Catalog Request - automatically sent to CSR
• Online Shortage & Return Forms - automatically sent to CSR

 For those Associates who have included promotional items, the web store contains over 100,000 product sku's, including all the popular Universal & national brands. Major product categories include:  office products, janitorial supplies, school supplies, medical & legal supplies. Other categories featured are:

• Art, Drafting & School Supplies 
• Binders & Business Cases
• Calendars & Planners
• Cleaning & Breakroom
• Computers, Printers & Accessories
• Custom Products
• Desk Accessories
• Filing & Storage
• General Office Supplies
• Healthcare Supplies
• Mailroom & Shipping
• Office Furniture
• Office Machines & Electronics
• Paper & Pads
• Presentation & Audiovisual
• Warehouse Furnishings
• Writing Instruments

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B.  Multiple Template Designs & Color Choices:
The web store colors will match your logo and we can add personalized information about your business to the address section. There is also a space in the far right corner where we place weekly product "specials" for your customers. A few of our Associate Dealers also add their certification status such as “HUB Zone”, “Minority Business Enterprise”, “Woman Owned” or “Veteran Owned”.  

Read more on web store features.

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C.  Web Store Hosting & Data Management:
We will create the website name of your choice. We are listed with the registry as your technical support. (Or you may maintain the domain under your own internet service provider "ISP".) We include this service as part of the renewal. 

Every quarter we load in new products into the web store from various vendors and maintain all of your customer & order information. We also provide monthly platform product enhancements.

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D.  Customized Business Logo - Premium Plan Option:
We will assist you in creating the graphics for a business logo if you do not already have one. We use a temporary generic logo in the interim.

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E.  Template Management Assistance & Training:
We provide the training each Associate Dealer needs to be knowledgeable on our Program and how the office products industry works. Once you have a clear understanding of our Program and its business advantages, it will become much easier to be successful in this Industry. We also handle all the template design, color, address update requests. Once you enroll we will provide the following training services:

• Online Training:  An in-depth training session conducted with your “coach” over the phone. Questions are answered at the end of the training session.

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F.  Electronic Fulfillment to Over 100,000 Products:
By joining our Program you are automatically incorporated into multiple office products wholesalers located nationwide. This is a huge advantage because our system automatically defaults to the lowest vendor price and passes these savings to you and your customers. Your online web store catalog offer over 100,000 brand name products. This is 10 times the number of products offered by your local Big Box Store.  Our Program is similar to joining a buyer group in that you are benefiting from the sales from our current Associate Dealers and enjoying product prices you could not receive if you went to any of these wholesalers directly. 

Our system is mainly electronic ordering (edi) so once a customer places an order it is sent directly to the wholesaler for fulfillment. Once the order has been boxed and labeled, UPS will arrive daily at the wholesalers for pickup and delivery. Below are some Program delivery guidelines.

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G.  Nationwide Distribution Centers:
We strive to provide you with the very best in delivery and Customer Service. If product availability affects your delivery schedule, we will notify you as soon as we are aware of any issues.  We are electronically integrated to over 80 warehouse distribution centers so your customer will receive their order next day for most areas. Below is a map of our primary vendor's locations.

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H.  Associate Dealer Reference Catalogs & Fulfillment:
You will receive full-line reference catalogs containing over 35,000 office supply, janitorial and break room products. Our catalogs are made from high quality glossy materials and contain detailed product descriptions, product stocking unit (sku), retail prices (MSRP) and pictures. We distribute reference catalogs annually as part of the renewal fee.  Your initial catalogs are included as part of the enrollment cost, but after that, catalogs will be $3.95 each to the Associate Dealer. Your customers can request a free catalog on-line at any time.

Bulk Catalog Orders options are available as a complementary service while supplies are in stock. Many of our successful Associate Dealers order in quantities of 100 or more "Full-Line" catalogs when the new editions are available (Typically in January & July). We supply bulk orders in lots of 100. These bulk orders can be shipped to a warehouse location nearest to you for pickup or we can help schedule special delivery if there is not a warehouse located nearby. We also supply the “Big Boy” catalog in a slimmer version of our full-line catalog and contains approximately 6,000 of the most popular items.

Customers receive a free online catalog at the web store address upon request. We limit this to one catalog per year of each type per customer account.  All catalogs are FREE; although a fee might be accessed to cover the cost of delivery after they reach their annual limit.

If a customer would like additional catalogs of any type they can call the Associate Dealer or Customer Service to order additional catalogs at $3.95 each.

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 I.  Customer Service Support:
Your customers have toll-free access to our Customer Service Specialists. Our Specialists have expertise in the office products industry and are experienced in providing support to multiple Associate Dealers. Specialists answer the phone “customer support” and get the appropriate Associate Dealer’s name from the customer. The team gets very strong marks from customers for helpfulness, courtesy and responsiveness. We believe in "personalized" customer service.

 We believe customer service is one of the most important components of your competitive advantage. Our team is professional, experienced, responsive and available. We can take orders over the phone, help with product selection, and track orders. Below are some of the services our Specialists provide for your customers:

• Price Quotes
• Phone Registration
• Place Orders by Phone, Fax or Email
• Check & Verify Order Delivery & Bids
• Check Stock Availability
• Schedule Returns
• Handle Scheduled Delivery for Large Orders (furniture)
• Place Offline Orders (for products in reference catalog, but are not found in online website)

Our Customer Service’s Hours of Operation are from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm Central Standard Time.

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J.  Go To Market Pricing:
We provide competitive "go to market pricing" for our Associate Dealers. We use the traditional "snowman" pricing model along with regional pricing strategies to compete with the local Big Box stores. Our prices are typically less than the Big Box stores online unless they are running a special or selling off inventory. The "Big Box" stores want to keep their prices higher online to keep small businesses driving to the their local stores for supplies. Our system has back office price plan features that allow us to modify product pricing to keep up with the market. We can setup price plans by customer account for one item or multiple items so that when they login the system will display their price.

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K.  Contract Pricing Capabilities:
In some cases our Associate Dealers have contracts with schools or government agencies and need special pricing for a extended period of time. Our system allows us the flexibility of providing them with special contract pricing that will not expire as long as the contract is active in the system. All contract pricing must meet the Bidding Process Guidelines standards (see Section L below).  

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L.  Contract Bidding Support: Our Customer Service Team is experienced in contract bidding.  Below are some guidelines we have established. A well established relationship with the organization is a key element in contract bidding. 

Bidding Process Guidelines:
Larger companies and government agencies often go through formal bid processes for their office supplies and these bid opportunities can provide a significant opportunity for both of us if approached correctly. Most bids are significant in scope and therefore normally carry a high degree of competitiveness to them and therefore, each bid opportunity must be reviewed and assessed thoroughly before the bidding process can even begin. The initial process must begin on your end to determine if there is a realistic opportunity for you to participate in the bid process. We want to participate in any bidding process that presents a real opportunity; our main goal is to provide prompt, efficient customer service to you and your customers during the day. We will not deviate from that mission and therefore, we might not be able to respond to each and every bid opportunity depending on our normal time commitments and number of requests we receive. In the rare event that more than one Associate is pursuing the same bid request, we support the first Associate that contacted us.

To give you a general idea, schools, colleges, hospitals, government agencies, correctional facilities, state and local agencies, law offices, title companies, local banks and local insurance companies may have bid opportunities in your area. If you have or can establish a relationship with any of these entities, you will want to pursue them as a potential client.

Upon winning a bid our Customer Service Team will assist you in pre-registering the customers and pre-populate their "favorites" as an added service before they even start shopping. We can also handle Contract Pricing through our back-office tools. Contract bids typically last for one year before they expire.  

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M.  Price Quote Support: Our Customer Service Team is experienced in performing price quotes.  Below are some guidelines we have established when a customer contacts us.

Quoting Process:
We accept quotes by phone fax or email. We need at least 72 hours notice to perform pricing for a quote/bid. Quotes are typically one-time pricing that are typically valid for 30 days or less unless otherwise agreed upon. Our system allows for quotes to be generated and sent to an Associate Dealer and/or customer. Once the quote has been entered the customer will be sent an email with a quote name & details. Quotes are only valid for a specified date range determined by the Customer Service Specialist and is tracked by the system automatically. Upon expiration, the quote is no longer valid and will have to be re-evaluated.  A quote can be turned directly into an order once approved. A quote may have various statuses:

• Submitted – initial state of a quote
• Extended – if the expiration date is changed 
• Accepted – state if an order is created
• Rejected – state if the quote is rejected
• Expired – state if the quote expires without being accepted or rejected

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 N. Nationwide Next Day Delivery via UPS: We work with United Parcel Service, the premier parcel shipper in the country. Shipments to the vast majority of places in the US will be delivered the next day for orders placed before 2:30 pm local time.  In a few outlying areas shipment takes two days. Compared to the delivery service from other stores, we are faster and more reliable. Who can beat UPS?

The majority of our orders are handled by 1. Drop Ship next day (UPS) option.  We do handle delivery orders through our system as 2. Freight or 3. Will Call. These options are available depending on the customer’s account and the size of their order.

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O.  Payment Processing:
We handle all the payment processing and collections.

• Credit Card Processing:  We accept all major credit cards: Visa, Master Card, Amex and Discover. All credit card purchases online are handled through the Verisign ecommerce payment center. All credit card purchases online are processed under secure, encrypted web pages to prevent fraud.

• Payment Terms:  Terms are available as a service to businesses that want to be setup for monthly invoicing. Our payment terms are Net 20 days unless a different payment scheduled was granted. All we require is that the business or individual complete our Credit Terms Policy. Below are a few notes to pass on to your customers concerning payment terms.

•  If the business has not paid their balance due within Net 20 days (or the payment schedule granted), our  system will automatically allow them a 5 day grace period.   Anytime beyond the grace period the account may be subject to late fees and/or interest and/or turned off until payment is made.
• In the rare case that there is a non-payment by a business customer, we may involve a 3rd party collection agency or seek legal action.

• Accounting:  We handle all customer and business level accounting. We also handle any customer credits for coupons, specials or merchandise.
  
  
• Collections:  In the case of overdue payment, we will notify the business customer by phone, fax, mail and/or email to make them aware of the payment due.
  
  
• Compensation:  View Compensation

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P.  Customer Reference Catalog Order & Fulfillment:
When a reference catalog(s) order is placed, the catalog(s) fulfillment is treated separately by our system. As a result, the catalog(s) will arrive independent of the products order arrival. As a service we handle all the catalog order fulfillment and delivery. Bulk catalog orders are placed through Customer Service and need special delivery. There is a delivery charge applied for catalog order quantities over 5 annually.

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Q.  Starter Packet:
Once you sign-up we will send you our "welcome" starter packet upon request that will give you an introduction to our Program and guidelines.

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R.  Access to Referral & Refund Rewards Programs

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