Take Control! Take Advantage of Your Benefits!

When people call CBA wondering why they should be a member, one of the very first things we typically tell them is they have access to an incredible amount of savings through CBA’s Service Providers. These savings can greatly impact a company’s bottom line. Even if a store can save 10% of its expenses across the board, that difference might be all that’s need to get back on track in today’s economy.

So today we’d like to share with you how one retailer is using of her member benefits. We really do hope you’ll take advantage of your benefits, as they will save you time and money. If you have questions about CBA’s benefits or ideas for future benefits, contact Lauren.

A few years back, I challenged myself to quantify the actual savings that Siriani’s Fed Ex program was providing to our store in contrast to my CBA member dues, because I had observed other stores dropping their membership on the basis that it was not "cost efficient." Since then, I have tracked our savings under the Fed Ex program. In 2007, we saved in excess of $717 in freight savings under the Fed Ex program. Even after I "filtered" out the $120 of savings attributable to charge backs and billing corrections that I'd negotiated with Fed Ex Customer Service that resulted in a net savings of $596 in one year alone.  Put that in contrast to the $350 our CBA membership annual dues and it's a "no brainer" to stay a member.

And of course, there are other benefits of membership - reduced convention registration costs, the CBA Retailer Resource magazine, and much more.  I previously co-owned a Christian bookstore in Colorado, where the Workmen's Comp Insurance program through CBA provided even more in savings to that store.  In Wyoming, where I'm located now, even though our State does not allow us to contract Work Comp insurance through any carrier other than the State carrier, the savings of membership still outweighs the cost.

With shipping costs being so prohibitive now - every store owner must seriously take a look at what our vendors are actually charging us when they bill the shipping on the invoice. Almost always, their "shipping cost," even if they tell us it is "actual," will include box charges and handling fees. We eliminate all that when we require that vendors ship Fed Ex Ground Collect on our account - which means our actual savings are far greater than the amounts I quote above.

The people at Siriani & Associates (which you work with to set up your Fed Ex account via CBA) are both competent and pleasant to work with; and they will work with your vendor, as well, on any shipping problem that might arise.

Lastly, for the most part, I've had good customer service from the Fed Ex people themselves when shipments are done wrong.  For example, if a shipment comes in "collect" on your account when a particular order from a vendor had qualified for free freight, you should not even pay that bill - call Fed Ex - have the incorrect charges reversed, explain why, and they will take care of it for you. This is particularly helpful if you have a vendor who doesn't return calls or you've gotten nowhere with their Customer Service to resolve a shipping problem. It is those types of situations I encountered last year that account for the other $120 of savings with our Fed Ex account. I think of it this way - when it is on my Fed Ex bill, they treat me as their customer and I am in the "driver's seat," whereas too often, when it's on our vendor's bill - it can be many calls and notes documenting the error and who promised what resolution before it is finally taken care of. A charge back, on the other hand, is as simple as one call to Fed Ex; they reverse those erroneous charges back to the vendor; you pay only what is correctly owed, and the matter is done with.

By the way - I inquired, because our store is struggling and I have to cut costs wherever possible; and I found out - this Fed Ex Freight Savings Program is available ONLY to CBA members. So it's worth it.

Trisha Taylor
Cornerstone Christian Supply
Cheyenne, WY

Comments

[gracie muldoon]

just does my heart good - to see a christian retail site on the web!

cool!