What We Do and How We Do It
People care less about what you do than how you do it.
Say you have a vendor who does decent work, but is an absolute pain to work with. They’ve been really disrespectful to your staff, and you can never get a hold of them when things go wrong. How long would you put up with them?
No company exists in a vacuum. There will always be other providers who can supply a product or service.
But we really believe that the way we do our jobs is unique. We’ve tailored everything we do to our clients needs. We evaluate the documents appropriate to their industry and we look at your market’s waste providers. But the way we do what we do is tailored to you, too.
This article will show you how we intend to partner with you - and how you can expect us to treat you and your staff as long as we’re in business together.
Let’s talk about:
Transparency
Experience
Going the Extra Mile
Taking Fiduciary responsibility
At the end of this article, you’ll know exactly what to expect when we partner with you.
First, I want to give you a little background about what we do, so you can have a better context for how we do what we do.
What our waste and utility services are
Let’s take a minute to talk about exactly what we do. We help you find savings in your waste, recycling, and utility expenses.
Why, you may ask, do they need to be managed? Why should people care about them?
Simply put: without professional oversight on your management processes, chances are that you’ll overspend (Nine times out of ten, to be precise). Haulers bank on your ignorance - you don’t know what they’re charging other area clients. You don’t know that you can include clauses on your contract to limit price spikes and stop auto-renewals. And because you, like most management professionals, don’t know market rates and contract practices (and a host of other industry norms) you’ll overpay.
And even if you’re like Tad Dolbier and have done a lot to minimize overspending and put cost-reduction measures in place, you’re still likely overspending. Why?
Because you aren’t a waste industry professional. And you don’t have to be.
You shouldn’t have to know waste and utility industry practices to make sure that you get fair rates and a good contract. Who has that kind of time?
This is exactly why thousands of locations across multiple industries have chosen to partner with us. They want us to find savings (which we do 90% of the time), but in doing so they’re actually employing one of the golden rules of management: delegation. We use our expertise to lock in excellent pricing, and you benefit from the savings.
Remember Tad? After all that work he went through to implement cost cutting, he wasn’t so sure we would come up with any substantial reductions. But after we made some changes to his waste management vendors, he wrote us:
When you first approached me about managing our solid waste costs, I was skeptical. When you came back to me with $6,800 per month in savings, I was truly impressed and grateful!
Having expertise on your side can have a huge impact on your bottom line. It’s worth it to have someone else review your waste management process. It’s like buying a lottery ticket, knowing there’s a 90% chance that you’ll win. Who wouldn’t like those odds?
Even better - this process is guaranteed to be cash-flow positive. You only pay us when the savings show up on your invoices. We take on all the risk - if we don’t find savings at your sites, you don’t owe us anything. We take the hit.
We do everything we can to address any obstacles or concerns you may have when it comes to our ability to exhaustively examine your waste management processes and vendor agreements and invoices.
How we find substantial waste and utility savings
Some of you may be thinking, “Okay, I see why it’s a good idea to have an independent, thorough review. But how exactly do you all do that?
After our clients sign our official agreement, one of our Project Managers takes over your account. Tony and Allen are the real deal: they’ve been working in the waste industry for almost forty years between them. That’s a lot of trash. And it’s a lot of know-how.
You - and any other decision makers for your portfolios - will meet one of them after you sign up for our services.
Tony and Allen have seen it all. They know all about under-performing waste vendors. They can find the holes in your contract because they’ve seen the very worst of the worst. And they know how to adapt our proven process to fit your industry, your locations, and your needs.
Want to know if you’re a good candidate for industrial or commercial recycling? They’ll tell you. And they’ll get vendors and equipment in place on your behalf. Not sure why your waste disposal or waste removal fees are suddenly so high? They can tell you.
But - more importantly - they’ll be able to see all the holes you can’t. On almost every account they manage, they have found creative savings solutions. If you’re in the hotel industry, they’ll look at seasonal occupancy rates. If you have recycling set up in place, they may check to see if your cardboard is being broken down properly (if it’s not - you’ll need more frequent pickups. Translation: you’ll likely pay more than you need to).
Tony and Allen will leave no stone unturned. (You should see the excel spreadsheet they use to calculate your costs and real needs. It’s a doozy, let me tell you). They excel at finding savings. Between them, they’ve found hundreds of thousands of dollars for companies across the US.
The audit process looks different for each company, but we follow the same six basic steps for every industry:
Assign WCI Personnel
Review Waste Expenses
Identify Cost Reduction Opportunities
Develop Recommendations
Implement Recommendations
Provide a monthly savings report
Guess how much of this you are responsible for? 0%. While the overall effort is collaborative, we do all the work on our end. Do we ask clarifying questions about documentation or equipment usage? Absolutely. But we’ve fine-tuned our process so that it takes as little of your time - and your staff’s time - as possible.
After we’ve assigned the WCI PM, the expense review of your waste or utility accounts begin.
Again, this will look a little different for each client, but the framework remains the same. For every account, we ask that you sign a Letter of Authorization so that we can ask waste and utility vendors to work with us on your behalf. We also ask for utility invoices and current service agreements - or the account log on information so that we can access them.
Then, the review starts. For waste reviews, we look at your invoice history, and we complete 12-month audits on any equipment that is larger than an 8 yard dumpsters. Right off the bat, our PMs will know if you’re overpaying for a dumpster based on its monthly rate, or if you need to decrease frequency of pick-ups at a certain location.
But other information is not nearly so straightforward. For anything larger than a 8 yard dumpster, we have to evaluate your tonnage, and your frequency of pickup. Do you really need to be serviced twice a week? Or can you get away with bi-weekly service? We’ll also ask you questions about your customer service experience. The hauler you have have great rates, but misses pick-up frequently. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio.
For utility audits, we look at meter usage and rate structures. Are you overlooking any meters? Is your current service level in line with your business status? Are you taking advantage of every tax exemption available to you?
For both waste and utility audits, we look for unexplained price hikes, and we look at usage trends. We also look at your service agreements. We’ll note expiration dates, and we’ll check to see if ancillary fees are limited or eradicated altogether. We’ll also look for language that prohibits auto-renewals, and limits price spikes to a certain percentage.
Then we find other pricing options. This is really where our expertise comes in handy. Do other reputable haulers have better rates? Are you in the right utility rate structure? If your contract has less than ideal terms, we evaluate whether it’s best to try to renegotiate the contract, or terminate it altogether.
Termination is pretty rare - we only recommend doing so if it is in your immediate best interest financially. Typically, our clients stay with their current haulers and we simply renegotiate their current contract.
We have great success at renegotiating contracts. Allen Banfield, one of our PMs had a client that had a contract with Waste Management. It had just renewed and had another 2+ years remaining. But the pricing was really less than ideal. He told me: “I was able to negotiate a new 5 year agreement that provided WM with the longevity they desired and generated significant savings for the client without having to liquidate the WM agreement or wait for it to expire. It was a win-win.”
We make sure you don’t leave any savings opportunities on the table - which is why we have a success rate of over 90%. If you’re paying for waste or utilities, you’re probably overpaying. And you don’t need to.
We do an exhaustive audit and review the appropriate documentation for each and every location in your portfolio. Our process shows us the gaps - those places where you could be saving, but aren’t. So after we have evaluated all the documentation and crunched the numbers, we create a recommendations report for you. We show you the steps we’ll take to make an impact on your bottom line. Usually this happens via a teleconference.
We’ll show the amount you’ll save on a month to month basis, but we’ll also often show you how those savings compounds over time. Waste and utility expenses are recurring, so whatever you savings we implement adds up quickly. Hundreds saved each months translates to thousands - even hundreds of thousands - for the duration of your vendor contract.
After we present the report, you give us your feedback. On rare occasions, there are valid reasons for not implementing certain savings. Maybe a location is about to be sold, or perhaps construction makes immediate implementation impossible. We want to find the solutions that are right for you, so we make it a point to listen carefully.
But the majority of the time, our clients are thrilled and we move forward with the implementation. SInce so many of our clients have multiple sites and personnel who staff the sites, we anticipate and actively try to prevent communication gaps. We work closely with your and your team to implement our recommendations.
Where there are service changes, we coordinate with your staff to ensure a smooth transition. We manage contract cancellations and arbitrate any kick-back we get from the haulers. When there’s a really major problem, we’ll bring it to your attention. But for the most part, we are able to do what we do with minimal inconvenience to you and your staff.
Then we provide a monthly savings report. It looks like this:
The summary page looks like this.
This summary shows the total savings, and our share in the savings. It shows the savings at each and every location. And it shows your bill for that month. (We share in the savings at a rate of 50%. So we’re motivated to find all possible savings opportunities!)
And going forward, we audit all of your invoices. We find errors 10% of the time, and those errors can be costly! So we make sure your waste and utility vendors are upholding their end of the bargain; that they’re charging you what they’ve agreed to in your contract.
We don’t just provide a much-needed service, we do everything we can to ease your mind about your waste and utiltiy management processes. As anyone who has worked with a disposal hauler knows, things go wrong.
Services can be missed. There may be a sudden uptick in unfounded contamination charges. Haulers are human, too. And sometimes they just make mistakes.
So when service issues arise, we’re your first line of defense. We stay on top of the situation until it’s resolved. We wait on hold forty-five minutes, and we make multiple calls to your site managers and your vendors. Then we make sure that whatever resolution is promised actually happens.
By now, you probably have a pretty good idea of our values. We don’t believe in leaving your waste disposal problems to chance. And we don’t believe in doing things halfway. We work hard to make sure every possible problem is prevented - and when issues do arise, we’re the ones that arrange for billing credits or complete resolution, depending on the case. In all of our processes, we value transparency, experience, going the extra mile, and fiduciary responsibility.
Transparency is vital to your waste and utility management
Transparency is important to us because no one likes to be tricked. There’s enough fishy business in the waste industry. We’re not going to add to it; we’re here to confront it. We’re upfront about our pricing - it will be no surprise to you what you’re charged on a month-to-month basis (which is critical for budget projections.)
Our invoices themselves are made to be transparent. You can see exactly what you’re being charged at each location, and how that differs from your original waste or utility spend.
And we’re up front when problems arise. We’re not going to hide issues from you or your staff to make ourselves look a little better. Instead, we bring them to your attention and provide solutions options.
Our experience is your best asset for your waste and utility processes
We’ve seen it all. We know what works, and what doesn’t. And we know what it will take to find all of the savings opportunities in your reach. We know how the haulers work, and we know how to negotiate contracts that are actually in your best interest - not the haulers’. We know where to look for utility savings and what tax exemptions you could take advantage of.
We know how to find the gaps or problems in your waste and utility accounts. And we know how to fix them.
Our market knowledge saves our clients hundreds of thousands of dollars because we see what others don’t and provide the solutions that others can’t.
Going the Extra Mile
By this point, you have a pretty good idea about how we do this. Our audits are exhaustive, and we don’t just find your savings, we protect them. We review your bills, and we hold your vendors accountable to the service levels they’ve agreed to provide.
When you do get overcharged, we ensure that the situation is rectified. It may mean thirty calls to get an issue fully resolved. It may mean email strings of 60+ messages. But we do everything we can to make sure that you are not taken advantage of - and that your savings are secure.
Another way we go above and beyond? To find you savings, sometimes our PM come up with creative waste solutions. Tony Perkins, for example, just recent worked with a client that needed an inhouse-compactor, and he figured out a way to make it work.
Taking Fiduciary responsibility
We apply the value of transparency to our financial interactions with you. We show you exactly what you’re being charged at each location, and how that price has dropped since you’ve started using our services. We make it as easy as possible to see how your waste or utility spend is being allocated. And if you ever have any questions about our invoices or your haulers’ invoices, we’re just a phone call or email away.
But because of how we write your utility and waste contracts, there’s another layer of fiduciary responsibility that is an added benefit to you. We make it a point to cap price increases and limit or completely eliminate ancillary fees. This means that budgeting for every location in your portfolio is simple. You can know exactly what to expect for your waste and utility expenses for the entire length of your contract term.
Our waste and utility services are critical for your peace of mind
We’ve tailored what we do - and how we do it - to ensure you have peace of mind. You deserve to know exactly what is and isn’t working in your waste disposal process. You deserve to know whether your utility accounts are operating at maximum efficiency. You deserve to have the relief of knowing that your savings are secure.
But most of all, you need a waste and utility ally. You need an objective third party to make sure what you’re paying is fair. You need someone who will fight on your behalf when needed and provide accountability measures for your vendors.
Companies across the nation are benefiting from our services. You can’t afford not to!
Explore your options. Schedule a short, informal consult with our CEO, Tyler Brunson? He’ll shoot you straight about how our services can benefit you - and show you how our services can protect your bottom line for years to come.
What questions do you have about what we do? Let me know in the comments below!