April Rushford holds the titles business specialist, accounts payable, and purchasing specialist for North Chicago School District 187. She is the person responsible for making sure all the schools in the district get the office supplies and other essentials they need – within the district’s budget.
This is a big job that comes with challenges. It was one of those challenges that first bonded April and Quill Account Manager Danielle Martinez.
Bulk paper buying and best pricing
April had been ordering paper by the pallet for several years to ensure the lowest pricing. She would store them and ship them out to schools as they needed them. However, she realized the paper was becoming damaged in the process of shipping it from their facilities.
April turned to Danielle and Danielle quickly found a solution. She switched April’s orders to cartons, which allows April to order the exact amount of paper each school needs as they need it, directly from Quill. No more storage concerns or damaged paper.
April was so pleased. It’s one of the many things she told us she appreciates about Danielle and Quill.
From customer to advocate
April also told us she prefers Quill over big-box, online retailers and gave us a few reasons why, including a smoother ordering and invoicing process and the ability to pay later rather than upfront.
“Everybody says they like Amazon because it’s Next Day. Well, Quill is Next Day,” April told us. “Additionally, Amazon isn’t always the cheapest – even though, for some reason, people tend to think it is.”
Another reason School District 187 likes to order from Quill is because they are a partner of OMNIA, a cooperative that helps procurement professionals in education, public sector, and nonprofits lower their costs and streamline their purchasing.
Coincidentally, the day we spoke with her, a Quill order had arrived at her desk in less than 24 hours.
“I promise I didn’t plan that,” she said with a chuckle.
To say the least, she loves working with Quill.
“Having a vendor like Quill makes me advocate for other schools to use them,” April told us.
Because of her positive experiences, she encouraged her colleague Edgar Vargas to connect with Quill for a special furniture order.
Cabinets delivered with remarkable customer service
Edgar Vargas works within the curriculum department of School District 187. The district recently adopted a new K-12 curriculum and they needed a way to store copies of the curriculum in each classroom.
A Quill furniture specialist helped Edgar find the right solution for his needs. The order included 26 cabinets in total, consisting of four different types. Ultimately, it was delivered to three different schools to classrooms on different floors.
“The attention that I received was phenomenal. Then when the cabinets came, they had to go to different floors, but they completely understood and there was no complaining,” Edgar said. “What I really like about Quill is the level of customer service. It’s always super easy to work with Quill, not only because we can send purchase orders and get quotes, but they have also integrated really well with our Tyler’s procurement ordering system.”
Edgar and April’s experiences are just a glimpse into the positive relationship between School District 187 and Quill – and why they continue a relationship that’s been going strong for four decades. Here’s to many more.