Office Products

Chartwell offers two core services to reduce office supply costs for our clients and ensure vendors charge the correct price:

Our Bill Review Service

Our Price Negotiation Program

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Is Chartwell affiliated with any office supply vendor?

No. Chartwell works only for the benefit of our clients and does not receive any compensation, directly or indirectly, from any office supply vendor.

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Why should we outsource?

Chartwell has the expertise to save your company money on office supplies.

Additionally, office products are not typically reviewed in detail on a consistent basis by company personnel. Chartwell can improve your bottom-line by saving you the labor costs necessary to effectively monitor your office supplies. Since we specialize in office products, you can focus your resources on other important costs incurred by your company.

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What is the expected amount of the cost reduction?

With our Price Negotiation Program, you can expect to save between 10 and 15 percent of the dollars spent on your office products on an annual basis.

Clients utilizing our Bill Review Services find that we typically identify and recover overcharges of 3 to 5 percent on contracted items and 7 to 12 percent on non-contracted items.

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How do clients pay for your services?

Chartwell believes in the principle that professional compensation should be based upon the results achieved, not the effort expended. We stand by this belief because we have specialists with an impressive record of results. For this reason, we base our fees on a contingent method whenever possible.

Our contingent fee arrangement provides clients with the reassurance that they will be billed only if we are able to obtain results for them.

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Does Chartwell ever work on a flat fee basis?

From time to time, clients do not want to enter into contingent fee arrangements. We are able to accommodate you by using alternative methods. Our fees can be based upon a sliding contingency scale, a fixed fee arrangement, an hourly fee, a per-line-item review charge, or an hourly/contingent fee combination.

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What types of business do you serve?

Chartwell has served a wide variety of industries including: Financial Services, Insurance, Pharmaceutical, Legal, Manufacturing, Distribution, Education, Publishing, Hotel & Casino, Government, Health Care, Retail and Not-for-Profit.

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Why Chartwell Office Products Services?

Chartwell has a proven track record of savings. We utilize our experience within the office products industry to save you money. All this is achieved with minimum client involvement and at no risk since our fee is contingent upon actual savings.

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What does ‘Office Products’ include?

Chartwell’s office products services provide cost savings on many types of products including general office supplies, paper, toner, furniture and electronics.

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Can a customer exclude certain vendors from the service?

Yes. So long as your annual office products spend being analyzed meets our minimum requirements.

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How long does the service take?

For the Price Negotiation Program, the negotiation and implementation process typically covers a 2- to 3-month period, with minimal client time commitment. Our monitoring process typically spans a 2-year period.

Reviewing your past vendor bills is a process that begins and ends in a 2-month period. Most of our time is used to obtain the necessary information from the office products vendor(s).

Chartwell typically reviews future office products bills for a 1- or 2-year period on a monthly basis, depending on the needs of the client.

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What are the deliverables that Chartwell provides?

Price Negotiation Program

Lower overall cost of purchasing office supplies.

On a monthly basis after implementing a new pricing agreement with your office products vendor, Chartwell will monitor the prices you are charged. We will provide you with an Office Products Savings Report documenting the savings on each item purchased.

A refund or credit from the office supply vendor for overcharges on purchases made during the post-implementation period.

On a monthly basis, Chartwell will prepare a Credit Due Report and work with your vendor to ensure that you receive a refund or credit for any overcharges that may have occurred.

Additional Benefits

Bill Review Service

A Price Discrepancy Report documenting any overcharges that occurred.

A refund or credit from the office supply vendor for overpayments on purchases made during the Review period.

Additional Benefits

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Who has the responsibility for requesting and tracking refunds?

Chartwell will take full responsibility for identifying overpayments and requesting related refunds or credits on behalf of the client.

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Does Chartwell get involved with requests for proposal?

Yes. In fact, we will manage the entire process, keeping you informed at all critical points. We analyze all proposals and provide you with all of the necessary information to make a decision. You are the decision-maker throughout the entire process.

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Does Chartwell sell office supplies?

No. Chartwell currently does not sell or intend to sell office supplies in any capacity.

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How can Chartwell save me money if I’m already in a buying group?

If no other cost reduction measures are taken with respect to office products, buying groups do offer savings opportunities for businesses. However, our experience has proven that there are always significant savings opportunities above and beyond the effectiveness of buying groups.

Contracted items negotiated by buying groups are not compatible with many businesses and, therefore, those businesses cannot take advantage of the negotiated pricing. Chartwell’s approach is to negotiate the best pricing for office products you need and want to buy.

Unlike Chartwell, buying groups do not monitor the prices actually charged against the negotiated prices by the office supply vendor.

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Can you provide references?

Yes. Our references are available to all potential clients that are seriously considering our services. We encourage you to contact our clients.

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What is the required resource allocation from the client side?

Very little. We were engaged to do the job right and free up your personnel. All we need is a contact person to provide us with copies of the relevant information, such as contracts and usage. Once we receive this information, we do the rest including working with the vendors to recover your overcharges.

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I purchase office supplies using an e-procurement platform. What can Chartwell do for me?

Plenty. E-procurement platforms create savings by automating business processes and workflow associated with acquiring and managing office product purchases. They typically do not provide their customer with the best pricing and they do not review vendor invoices you pay.

Chartwell negotiates the best pricing for your office supplies and monitors your bills to ensure that the negotiated prices are what you are being charged. The result is real savings.

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Should I have a written agreement with my vendor and what should it contain?

Absolutely. A written agreement which clearly defines the price you pay for each and every item you purchase will eliminate confusion if billing errors occur.

Written pricing agreements should allow you to easily calculate the price of each item. It should be based on a price readily available to both parties such as a discount from manufacturer’s list price or catalog price. It is also important to require an electronic price list and invoices to allow for quick review. In addition, you should require a specific day when changes can occur, by how much, and notification of the changes in advance.

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Should I avoid cost-plus arrangements?

Possibly. With a high-transaction, low-dollar product, such as office supplies, billing mistakes are made. The downside to cost-plus arrangements is that you cannot check if you are paying the correct price. Other arrangements, such as a discount from manufacturer’s list price or catalog price, can be made with your vendor that provide the same prices as your cost-plus arrangement and allows you to check if you are paying the correct price.

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