Playbook
CONFIDENTIAL
Table of Contents
Our Mission Statement…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3 What’s The Playbook?..................................................................................................................................4 Corporate Vision Statement Our Partners.................................................................................................................................................. 5 Our People .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Our Goals ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 Our Values..................................................................................................................................................... 7 FAQ's WHY THE CHANGE? .................................................................................................................................. 8 WHAT ABOUT MY ACCOUNT? .................................................................................................................. 9 GENERAL ................................................................................................................................................. 11
OUR MISSION
“To be your best source in distribution
while making a difference in the lives of
our employees and partners.”
WHAT’S THE PLAYBOOK? Since the acquisition of Arlington Industries in 2004, Carolina Wholesale Group has been managing two large imaging supply and hardware distributors. Since this time we have been supporting resellers from two companies and consistently placing ourselves in competition with none other than ourselves through sales and marketing endeavors. Throughout this period of time we have seen many benefits of this merger with the expansion of sales revenues, warehouses, product lines, and combination of internal resources which have strengthened our wholesale brands. Additionally, many of our departments have combined between companies and have been working together in harmony for most of the past decade. We have continued to maintain the Arlington and Carolina Wholesale brands as we understand the strength and value of their identities within our customer community. In 2016, CWG acquired Digitek Computer Products and thus added a third distribution company to the mix. Over the past two years we have migrated many of the internal functions of Digitek into the same business software, e‐commerce platforms, and business practices that Arlington and Carolina Wholesale had uniformly adopted and we now find ourselves at a point in which we could continue as three brands or merge into one super‐distributor. In early 2018 it was decided that we would merge the three distributors of Arlington, Carolina Wholesale, and Digitek into the new brand ARLINGTON. This change will allow us to focus our growth around the single brand of ARLINGTON. It is vitally important that the reseller community understands that this is the combination of three companies into one brand and not two businesses going away and leaving one. Our marketing will be focused on sharing that message with our customers but it’s very important that we all understand this philosophy as we engage those outside our business on these topics. Together, the three brands of Arlington, Carolina Wholesale, and Digitek will combine to offer our resale partners the super‐distribution power of ARLINGTON. The ARLINGTON PLAYBOOK was designed to provide all of us a company guideline on our mission, vision, and corporate understanding of some of the questions we might expect from our employees and valued resellers. It’s very important that we share the message of strength, growth, and expansion with the new rebranded ARLINGTON as we move forward and we hope the ARLINGTON PLAYBOOK will assist you in this successful transition.
CORPORATE VISION
“Create an experience driven by excellence. Commitment to honesty and integrity with purpose promotes trust. Holding ourselves to a higher standard results in successful partnerships .”
Our Partners Providing our business partners with the most exceptional customer experience in office products and supplies distribution. We view our customers and vendors as partners in growth and our relationships built on the foundation of integrity and faith. Our work is never done; it’s continually audited for ways to improve our processes. We strive to be the most trusted, reliable, and best source for products as well as your logistics and solutions partner for life. The word “your” has been crucial to our growth since our company’s inception decades ago. We have been “Your Best Source”, “Your Partner for Imaging Products”, and “Your Business Growth Partner” through our previous three distribution brands for a combined 100 years of wholesale business. The principle of creating the ideal customer experience is what we strive to accomplish with our business partners every day. We are strictly a business‐to‐business partner that will not infringe on your end‐ customer business . We partner with industry‐leading vendors that are committed to quality and excellence we expect in the products we ourselves personally use. Our People Within our company, we have a talented, creative, inspired team of employees committed to supporting the American small business and as a result provide for our families. Our experienced Team is encouraged to share, learn, and grow with our company and see their ideas and efforts grow our business. We are proud of our long‐tenured staff within our organization which provides our partners with experience un‐matched in wholesale distribution. Training is continual and essential to maintaining our level of commitment to our expertise in our field. As a result, our staff is continually educated on the latest in product innovations, marketing methods, and rapidly changing technologies. We are committed to being a long‐term employer and career destination for our Team members.
Our Goals
Excellence ‐ We establish clearly defined goals so we can measure, grow, and drive success. This provides our staff with a direct sense of purpose. We remain committed to our 99.9% error‐free shipping from our national network of distribution centers offering same‐day shipping on weekday orders. We offer blind drop‐shipping options allowing our warehouses to act as your virtual warehouse providing our resellers with valuable, capital‐saving opportunuty with a diverse variety of product categories available. Flexibility is key to our mix of imaging supplies. From top‐selling and hard‐to‐find OEM supplies to third‐party alternative supplies, we provide the ink and toner solution for almost any possible scenario. We are a trusted distribution partner for many of today’s top manufacturers of office equipment and we value our role as the representative of these brands with our customers. Collaboration – We work with each partner to determine their individual needs and expectations. Every reseller is assigned a personal Account Executive to learn and grow with your business. Our e‐ Storefront provides 24/7 access to all our products, pricing, inventory, and accounting details in addition to dozens of digital marketing resources that are available to assist our partners’ sales and marketing endeavors. We provide countless methods for transactions from traditional phone calls and faxes to customized data exchange. Meeting or exceeding expectations and finding the method that best meets our customers’ needs is always our primary goal. Solutions ‐ We are continuously improving our solutions to meet the ever‐changing advancements in technology and communication. We provide custom‐labeling solutions from our distribution centers that allow you to share your company branding on our alternative supplies. We offer a dedicated support hotline for our NXT Premium supplies in addition to our industry‐leading hardware technical support line. Our partnership extends into areas of sales and marketing with our Partner Pro Solutions training and digital marketing resources. When needed, we are committed to meeting your required digital data options and third‐party data solutions for transactions. Success – Our success hinges on our ability to make you successful. Meeting or exceeding expectations and finding the method that best meets our customers’ needs is always our primary goal. We are a business‐to‐business partner always seeking opportunities to help your business grow. Our distribution network is designed specifically to assist you in saving on freight, reliable shipping and rapid delivery of goods. Our e‐commerce solutions and product catalog are tailored to the needs of a purchasing agent. Our experienced Team members are here to help you navigate the smallest and largest of purchasing opportunities. We consider ourselves an extension of our reseller and vendor businesses and are committed to the experience, partnership, and integrity which results in victory.
Our Values
Respect – First and foremost our goal is to respect one another. First, within our homes, offices and communities and then expanding that respect for others to our reseller and vendor partners. Honesty – Whether we are dealing with our co‐workers or our resellers and vendors, we believe the key to building strong relationships that will stand the test of time is through honesty and integrity. Leadership – We are all encouraged to be leaders in our various roles at ARLINGTON. We will always encourage this behavior and expect all our employees to develop and grow in their leadership skills. Service – We are here to serve our reseller and vendor partners. We are here to serve one another in our offices. We are here to serve our families and local communities. By serving others our purpose extends beyond ourselves. Faith – We believe that we must be willing to take risks in order to grow. Our decisions are rooted and supported by the faith we have that together we can accomplish all things.
Playbook FAQ’s WHY THE CHANGE?
Q: Why did you make this change? Why Arlington? A: We have been managing the marketing, purchasing, and distribution efforts of Arlington Industries, Carolina Wholesale, and Digitek combined for the past two years. We feel that combining our efforts to one focused brand will allow us to provide more programs, solutions, and services without interference from our own competing brands. The name ARLINGTON was selected as we feel it maintains the most recognition of our three brands in the marketplace. Q: Are Carolina Wholesale and Digitek in trouble, been sold, or now out‐of‐business? A: No – None of the companies were sold. In fact, Carolina Wholesale Group has owned Arlington Industries since 2004 and purchased Digitek in 2016. The decision was made to merge the 3 brands to 1 name to provide all reseller partners a focused approach to our valued services and solutions. This change has been announced in 2018 and will go into effect January 1, 2019. Q: Was there a change in ownership? A: Larry Huneycutt has been the sole owner of the Carolina Wholesale Group (CWG) since 2000 after being owner of Carolina Wholesale Office Machines since the early 1980's. Larry has been the owner of Arlington Industries since CWG purchased them in 2004 and has been the owner of Digitek since his acquisition of them in 2016. Larry Huneycutt has been and will remain the sole owner of ARLINGTON.
Q: How will this change impact my business? A: You will begin to see new programs and enhanced products and promotional offerings as the new blended ARLINGTON.
Q: Will I be receiving the same quality of service I did before from CW or Digitek? A: Yes. In fact, the combination of our three distribution brand will allow our employees to focus programs to all resellers, provide more expansive vendor programs, and extend more valuable sales resources to our customers than ever before.
WHAT ABOUT MY ACCOUNT?
Q: Who is my Sales Representative / Contact with new Arlington? A: We understand our personal care and partnership with your Account Manager is one of the hallmark strengths of ARLINGTON. If you have an Account Manager of choice you should continue working with them unless otherwise notified by them or ARLINGTON. Q: I have multiple accounts with two or more of your distributors, which account number do I use now? A: If you've been doing business with two or more of our distribution brands previously, your Account Manager will provide you more details regarding which account number to use moving forward.
Q: How will my pricing be affected by this change? A: This change should not result in any adverse pricing changes to your account. Any unforeseen price changes would most likely be the result of vendor/industry price changes.
Q: I had multiple accounts, will this change increase my credit line? A: Customers who previously had multiple accounts will now carry an aggregate credit limit.
Q: Who do I contact regarding previous account issues related to my Carolina Wholesale and/or Digitek accounts? A: We have combined our accounting departments internally so you can work directly with the ARLINGTON accounting department regarding any open account issues from Arlington, Carolina Wholesale, or Digitek.
Q: How will this affect my billing, invoicing, remit address? A: Moving forward you will want to update your records to reflect the following remit address: Arlington Industries PO Box 601029 Charlotte, NC 28260
Q: How will this affect my billing? A: You will still receive invoices in the same manner as you did before but from ARLINGTON. If you use EBill Express for eCheck payments you will begin to access this information here: https://ww2.e‐billexpress.com/ebpp/arlington/ Q: Do I need a new username and password for eStorefront? A: If you registered on the storefront.cwholesale.com or storefront.digitek.com, your username, password, and account history will automatically be reassigned to storefront.arli.com January 1, 2019. If you are not yet registered for our eStorefront you can register online at storefront.arli.com today. Q: Are my Digitek Advantage account and points earned still active? A: If you were participating in the Digitek Advantage program, your account and points balance will be transitioned to the new ArliAdvantage program January 1, 2019. Your username and password should remain unchanged.
Q: What changes will I see on my credit card statement if I place credit card order? A: Sometime before January 1, 2019 Arlington Industries, Carolina Wholesale, and Digitek credit card transactions will begin to appear as charges by ARLINGTON.
Q: Are there any document changes I need to receive or submit from accounting? A: We will require a new Resale Certificate issued to ARLINGTON INDUSTRIES.
GENERAL
Q: Does this change affect the product offering? A: The product offering will continue to be enhanced by the vendor relationships established and fostered by Arlington Industries, Carolina Wholesale, and Digitek over the past five decades. We will always look to enhance our product offering to meet the needs of our customers.
Q: Does this change effect your distribution center locations? A: We are pleased to inform you that we are still offering same‐day shipping from all six of our national distribution centers from California, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia.
Q: Have the Terms & Conditions changed? A: Arlington Industries, Carolina Wholesale, and Digitek will have shared Terms & Conditions and they will be listed on their websites. Any changes to Terms & Conditions should be minor.
Q: How does this affect my handling fees or minimum order fees? A: Any fees our current customers have seen before will remain the same for your account as they were before as they will be ‘grand‐fathered’ and remain unchanged. Moving forward future accounts will see a handling fee of $2.95.
Q: Where do I order online? A: Our eStorefront e‐commerce solution is located at www.storefront.arli.com and should be accessible to previous users set‐up on previous Carolina Wholesale or Digitek eStorefronts.
Q: Are you still offering the same government sector opportunities? A: Yes. Please ask your representative about our Enterprise Opportunities for Government, Education, and other potential bids.
Q: What will happen if I send fax to Carolina Wholesale of Digitek numbers? A: All fax communications to previous Carolina Wholesale or Digitek fax numbers will be forwarded to ARLINGTON centralized digital fax system and handled by ARLINGTON staff.
Q: Can I still call the old Carolina Wholesale of Digitek 800‐numbers to reach you? A: All calls to previously existing 800 and local phone numbers will be automatically re‐routed to ARLINGTON current phone system. Please update your contact records to reference our official number of 800‐887‐3040 and 847‐689‐2754 (847‐689‐ARLI.) Q: Will you still receive and email if it’s sent to an employee at cwholesale.com or digitek.com e‐mail address? A: All previous valid email addresses for old cwholesale.com and digitek.com domains will be forwarded to employees and departments new arli.com email addresses. Q: What will happen if I try to reach webpages at the old cwholesale.com or digitek.com websites? A: We will be forwarding all traffic to bookmarked or direct access to previously existing cwholesale.com and digitek.com webpages to the matching page at the new arli.com. Same process will occur for those attempting to access storefront.cwholesale.com or storefront.digitek.com as those users will be forwarded to active storefront.arli.com.
If you have experience any common, reoccurring reseller questions that are not included in this version of THE PLAYBOOK, please let us know by emailing marketing@arli.com . Thank you.
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