United Franchise Group orders new office technology on an almost continual basis. As a leading global franchising system, they own 10 brands with over 1,800 locations worldwide and rising.

Dan Bonner is their Director of Facilities and Vendor Managed Services. A critical part of his job is expanding the franchises they manage, opening new locations across the country for companies like Signarama and Ventura X, and restaurants like Great Greek and Craze Graze. 

Each new location needs computers, printers, monitors, and other office tech to get up and running. It’s a lot to manage.

Dan needs to identify the best technology for each franchise, get the best price, and coordinate delivery, which is one of his biggest challenges.

Frustrations with Big Suppliers

For years United Franchise Group relied on big suppliers like Staples and Amazon for their technology needs. But their experience with each proved to be frustrating. That’s when Dan reached out to an old partner—Quill.

“Dan called and said, ‘Hey, we’ve been doing this for the last few years, and it’s been a nightmare,'” says James Voss, the Quill technology specialist who now manages all their tech needs. “He remembered working with us from way back when and wanted to know if they could bring everything back to Quill.”

Much of Dan’s frustrations with Staples and Amazon stemmed from the poor support his business received. Setting up a new franchise with the proper tech products requires a high level of coordination and communication with a supplier.

When neither occurred, it caused problems in the operations.

“There would be times when an item they ordered was out of stock,” James explains about the issues United Franchise faced. “And the other suppliers would send them the closest alternative without telling them. For a franchise operation trying to keep their stores uniform, sending them something randomly without communication was really upsetting.”

A Higher Level of Service and Support

With Quill, Dan can count on high-touch support as they set up their new franchises with the necessary technology.

“During their busy periods, we get emails every day,” says James of his frequent contact with United Franchise Group. “We put a lot of time into getting things timed up correctly. Especially when delivering products like TVs. If there’s an $800 television set set shipped to a store and no one is there to get it because we shipped it too early, it can be a problem.”

In addition to poor service, the savings United Franchise Group expected from a big supplier never materialized, as James relays.

“They weren’t seeing huge savings on return or anything like that. It was like, ‘We did this thinking that there would be savings from a bigger company with more access to things,” James says. “And it turned into a Wild West kind of situation for them. So, they said to themselves, “‘Well, that didn’t work. Where else can we go?'”

Where else was Quill, where United Franchise Group found the support and prices that they need to keep their businesses growing into the future.

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