1.   What is this Better Vendor Program?

Please understand that we are not a wholesaler, we simple have outstanding sources that have proven to provide competitive, quality and timely criminal data that will save you money.  We are so confident, we offer our service on a “pay for performance” basis—you pay us a portion of your savings and only pay as you save, month by month.  We earn 50% of the savings achieved in the first 12 months and 25% in the second 12 months. Of course, once we give you a source it is yours to use forever.

2. What about Quality and Turnaround Time?

• Quality is the first amongst the equally important factors of quality, cost and turnaround.  Without an accurate search, speed and a low price mean nothing.  All our sources have been referenced checked and vetted and are being used with a great deal of satisfaction by our other clients.  We would never recommend a source unless quality was up to the highest standards.
• Turnaround time is also all-important.  We have great clout with the court researchers because of the combined volume we bring.  We prefer that you supply us initially and on an ongoing monthly basis, with TAT information on all your counties so we can be pro-active should there be slippage. 
• Also, if for any reason, you become unhappy with a source, let us know and we will get it fixed.

 3. What kind of turnaround time improvements can I expect?

This depends on your mix and volume but you should achieve an overall average turnaround time of less than one day.  This is a real competitive advantage.

4. What is your typical court researcher? 

Our first preference is a source that is as close to the data as possible.  This means we like to recommend those that do the work themselves by accessing the court records directly and at least daily.

5. What about databases?

Other than comprehensive and current official county or statewide sites, the answer is, no.

6. What about web sites?

Hello!, it’s the 21^st Century.  County web sites usually are the best, most productive way to get the job done.  If you are not willing to do your research on a website, you are missing out on the best quality and the fastest turnaround time.  Of course if you don’t want to do this, then tell us up front and we will exclude these from our recommendations.  We know which web sites are easy to use, what data they contain and don’t contain, what they cost, how to retrieve the most data, etc.

7. What about the so-called national databases?

We do not recommend a national database for county or statewide criminal searches.  Of course we will work to get you the best quality and price if you are reselling a national database search.

8. Do you use wholesalers?

Yes, when appropriate.  Appropriate is when you are doing less than a couple of searches a month in that county.  While we may have a direct court researcher in that county, do you really want to get an invoice for $6.00 a month from 100+ court researchers in these very low-volume counties?  We think this is not cost effective for you or for them, so we will negotiate with reputable wholesalers to do this work.  The other instance is when they have so much volume in a court they have their own employees on site, yielding very good price and service.

9. If you recommend a source and we don’t want to use them, are we still obligated?

If you have a good reason to not use one of our recommendations then there is no obligation.  Simply let us know when you sign up and we will exclude that source from our consideration.

10. What if I adopt one of your sources and they later fail a search or their TAT becomes unacceptable?

This is a big part of our service.  We want you to call us should you have problems of any kind.  Again, because of the combined volume we bring to the court researcher, we have clout to get the problem fixed. Of course, should they remain unacceptable, we will replace that source for you.

11. How much money can I save?

That depends on lots of factors.  What we have found is that based on the mix and volume for our existing customers the average data acquisition cost is about $1.70.  Actual client savings range from 23% to almost 50% and from $75,000 per year to over $1,000,000 per year.

12. How much administrative cost will I have?

• If you already have graduated from using wholesalers, there is no additional cost.
• If you have never managed your own network, implementing a comprehensive program to “go direct” will incur some additional internal costs. 
• On the other hand, you reduce your costs through other savings:
  • Improved turnaround time results in significantly fewer “where is my order” calls from your customers.
  • Improved data quality.
  • Less dependency on your current concentration of suppliers.
• Remember, you will save much more than you will ever spend in labor and this is an investment in your future growth and ability to compete on price.

 13. How do the recommendations come to us?

We have a web-based tool to communicate our recommendations to you.  Dubbed “SILC” it is very helpful.  It will rank your savings potentials so you can concentrate your efforts on the biggest payoff areas.  You will know the potential savings and how much of that potential you have taken advantage of.  The web system also gives you the management tools to track your vetting and adoption activity.

14. How will I communicate with the court researcher? 99% of our court people will be happy to pick up their work off your website and almost all of those will enter hit detail on your website (if that is the method you use).  Some are XML .

 15. What information do I need to supply to you?

As a minimum, we need a list by state/county/product showing an annual quantity and your cost.

16. I really don’t like sharing my data with anyone; can you just sell me your sources?

• As a consulting company, all information is kept strictly confidential.  We have been in business since 2000 and the Better Vendor Program since 2003 and we don’t break confidentiality.
• We can only negotiate the best price for you if we know your volume.
• If we don’t know what you are currently paying, we cannot measure your savings and we would not be able to give you a lower cost source if you are already paying less.

 17.  Do I have to give you the name of my current supplier?

This is not mandatory.  But, we can do a much better job for you if we know this.  For example, it would be a waste of time to negotiate a lower price for you and then find out that this is already your current supplier and they just gave away some lower pricing for business they already had.  Not fair to the supplier and we won’t do this.

18. We like our existing sources.  What about the quality of a new source?

• First, all our sources have been referenced checked with their current customers.  We don’t make recommendations strictly on price.  The quality must be there, as must the turnaround time, before we make a recommendation.
• Second, our other clients are using these same sources and with a great deal of satisfaction.
• Third, while not required, we would expect that you would apply your normal vetting process to any source we provide. Last, you can use our pricing to negotiate a better price with your existing source.

19. Does this program work only with criminal searches? 

 No, we can help with all your work that you outsource.

20. How can I take advantage of this Better Vendor Program?