What to Do When Everything Goes Wrong with Your Valet Services

Valet services are a great idea, right? There are very few people in the world who actually enjoy taking out the trash - and valet services are a perfect solution. 

But what happens when your valet services go wrong? What if your porter doesn’t show up? Or if he leaves garbage strewn all the way to the dumpster? What happens when this vital part of your waste management is in crisis?

It doesn’t happen a lot. We work with several really wonderful valet service providers.Their porters come on time and get the job done - and do it well. 

But when problems do arise, it’s a major pain. 

One of our clients just recently asked for help for this exact issue. 

Valet Waste Service: The Problem

First, they had issues with having quality services. Frankly, it was gross - they were leaving streaks down the hallways, which I think we can all agree is really less than ideal. 

Maintenance ended up having to hose down the hallways. This successfully cleaned up the mess, but it also damaged the lights on the floors below. They had to be replaced - and it wasn’t a cheap fix.  

Once we found out this happened, we reached out to the service provider and secured a $4,000 credit for their account. 

But the issues didn’t stop. 

The valet porter stopped showing up, and the new one either couldn’t figure out how to operate the compactor, or kept missing pick-up in entire buildings.

The Solution

After going through three porters in about as many months, we decided enough was enough. Residents were complaining and the employees on-site had resorted to picking up the garbage themselves! The valet “services” were anything but good service.

We found them a new valet service that we knew was dependable, and are in the process of ensuring a smooth transition. 

When things go wrong with your waste management, you need to have recourse. You need someone who knows the market and who will have your back when problems arise. 

Resolving valet services issues are just one way we serve our multi-family clients. You don’t have to troubleshoot valet waste problems on your own! You can have reliable, experienced help on your team. 

---

Do you have valet services at your locations? Have you run into any waste service issues in the past? Sound off in the comments below! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

What Are Valet Services ( + 2 Ways to Save on Them!)

Trash valet service is when trash and recycling get picked up outside your door.

These services are typically performed at multi-family residences, or apartment buildings. Residents simply put their trash outside their door and the valet service employee picks it up. Then, they either deposit it at your on-site trash receptacle, or they take it to the dump themselves.

This service can be very attractive to potential residents since so few people enjoy taking out the trash. It’s something that can make your apartment complex stand out to potential leasers.

But like trash services, valet trash services can be overpriced. How would you know? Below, we’ll show you three ways you can save on your services.

1. Check out other vendors.

The easiest way to see if you’re overpaying is to ask other area vendors what they charge for similar services. If other area vendors charge way more or way less than what you’re currently paying, you’ll get a good baseline for how fair your prices really are.

Keep in mind, though, that rates are not the only thing you should compare. Some vendors may have certain clauses in their contract that would impact their overall pricing. Be on the lookout for auto-renewal clauses and language prohibiting price hikes. If vendor A includes rate caps in their contract, and vendor B doesn’t, vendor B will likely cost you more in the long run.

It’s also wise to ask vendors for references. Asking pointed questions of these references can help you understand what potential shortcomings may be. (See the video below for an example of why getting references is such a good idea!)

Rates should not be the only thing you compare! The cheapest service provider may have a terrible track record. You can also google their business and see how their clients rate them.

2. Scour your contract

It’s critical to your bottom line that your contract does not include:

• auto-renewal terms

• the possibility of additional fees and price hikes 

• zero provision for bad service

Auto-renewal terms will ensure your current contract renews. Not all contracts have the provisions you actually need to make sure you don’t overspend. You don’t want to be stuck with a bad contract!

You don’t want surprise additional fees on your invoices. And you certainly don’t want price hikes. You must have language on your contract that limits the possibility of this happening to you.

Valet services are an excellent amenity, but they’re not perfect. You need to make sure that you contract specifies that you have recourse in the event that service is not performed well, or inconsistently.

We audit our client’s valet services precisely for these reasons. It’s easy to have a bad contract and not know it. It’s easy to employ the most expensive service in town and have no idea.

Take some time to review your services to make sure they’re actually working for you.

---

Do you have valet services at your locations? Have you run into any waste service issues in the past? Sound off in the comments below! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Retirement Group Saves 22% Annually on Waste Disposal Expenses

Imagine being able to save your company $25,000. Actually, scratch that. Imagine being able to save your company a total of $100,000 over four years. You’d feel pretty good about that, right?

Rhonda Cummons, the controller of Presbyterian Homes, did exactly that. She wanted to solve her waste problems and save, so she reached out to us. As a result, she is saving 22% annually on her waste expenses.

Rhonda had three keys to success:

1. She agreed to a detailed audit

WCI audits are exhaustive - we leave no rock unturned. In the end, Presbyterian knew not only where they were overspending, but what actions they could take to quickly remedy it.

2. She approved our recommendations

Our thorough audit process revealed that Presbyterian Homes was overspending was by being over-serviced. We showed Rhonda how much she could save by cutting back on pick-up frequency, then we negotiated the change with the hauler. 70% of our clients’ sites are being serviced too frequently, so this is not an uncommon finding for us.

3. She approved contract changes.

Like most other companies out there, Presbyterian was paying ancillary fees - and they didn’t have to. After walking Rhonda through the contract process, we eliminated every additional fee on their contract. Going forward, our contract oversight will ensure that fair rates are maintained and that service issues are quickly resolved.

Maybe you’re like Presbyterian Homes. 

Maybe you feel you should look into your waste spend, but you just don’t have the time. 

Maybe you’re tired of ineffective haulers who you can never reach in an emergency. 

Maybe you don’t know where to begin to review your real waste needs.

Get expertise on your side. Schedule a free consult today and see how easy it is for you to save.

How to Partner with Us

Our partnership with clients really is that: a true partnership. It’s important to us that you make the very best decisions you can about your waste disposal, so we are happy to explain why we do what we do - and show how this can positively affect your bottom line. 

Partnering with us is a sure way to maximize your waste savings potential and find waste solutions.

You deserve to have peace of mind about your waste spend. And we can help you get there. 

Partnering with us is a five step process:

1. Set up a phone call to learn about our service and see if it’s a good fit

2. Sign our service agreement

3. Share invoice copies

4. Review the Waste Savings Summary

5. Share in savings 

I’ll be honest - we love finding our clients savings.

But our ultimate goal is making sure your needs are addressed at every stage of this process. We welcome - and enjoy - addressing the questions you may have at any point during this process. 

Why not sign up for a call today?

The First Step to Finding Savings: The Discovery Call

A Discovery Call is the first step towards finding savings. It’s a quick, free consult where a WCI rep will ask you questions about your current waste management system. 

Some of these questions typically include:

• How much do you spend on waste? (We are able to bring the most value to the table for companies who spend more than $10,000 each month) 

• How many locations are in your portfolio?

• How many waste streams do you currently have?

• What problems are you currently experiencing with your waste disposal?

• What are your growth plans over the next 1-3 years?

The purpose of these questions is to gauge how much value we can offer you. We aren’t always the best fit for every company. For instance, if you have only one location with one dumpster, we’re not going to be able to help you very much! But for most companies, our unique offering is a true opportunity.

Anita Huffman, the Corporate Finance Director at TWE Smart Nonwoven Solutions, wrote us earlier this month:

You uncovered more than $12,000 in monthly savings opportunities. Your exhaustive process and your teams dedication to our success has permanently changed our approach to waste management.

Anita took the first step toward her $12,000 savings with our Discovery Call. The questions we asked on that call made it clear that there were likely overlooked savings opportunities - and the rest is history!

Who Should Sign Up For a Discovery Call?

You should sign up for a discovery call if the following is true for you:

• You spend more than $10,000 in waste.

• You are a key decision maker for your company.

• You want to save on your waste spend. 

• You want to ensure your waste management is efficient.

• You are tired of paying too much for waste disposal

If you suspect or know that you have waste issues, you need to know exactly what they are so that they be addressed. 

You need a waste ally who will bring their market expertise and high rate of success to your portfolio. You need to someone who can find waste disposal problems, solve them, and prevent them from happening again. 

In short, you should sign up for a discovery call if you want a waste ally. 

Schedule a Discovery Call by clicking here.

Scheduling a discovery call is as easy as clicking the link above. By the end of this short call, you’ll know what your next steps are to save on your waste spend. 

Second Step to Savings: Zoom Meeting

If you and the WCI rep determine that you could benefit from an audit, you’ll schedule a Zoom video conference meeting. 

At this meeting, you’ll view a presentation that is tailored to your industry and company specifics. 

This presentation will show you:

• How exactly our remote audit works

• How much time our audit takes

• How much time your staff will need to contribute (spoiler: very little!)

Zoom Meeting: Our successful audit process

We try to distill the successes that we’ve had over the years into this short presentation. For instance, in the past eighteen years, we’ve helped hundreds of companies in every industry find waste expense savings. Our success rate is upwards of 90% - so we’re confident in our ability to find savings for you. 

We try to make it easy for you to partner with us. One of the ways we do that is by guaranteeing that the process will be to be cash-flow positive. 

This means two things.

First, it’s pretty rare when we don’t find savings, but when we do, you don’t owe us anything. You don’t pay us unless you see a reduction on your waste spend. 

Secondly, this means that when you do pay us, you do so only out of the savings that we’ve found for you. You don’t have to add another line item to your budget. We’re paid strictly out of the surplus capital you have as the result of our waste audit. 

Zoom Meeting: WCI Service Agreement

After your WCI rep has explained our process, he or she will show you a copy of our service agreement. 

It’s a simple document; only two pages long. In a nutshell, it specifies that you agree to share in the quantifiable savings we implement at a rate of 50% for service period of  of 36-60 months (depending on the scope of the engagement). 

We never expect that you’ll sign on the spot or pressure you in any way. Your WCI rep will typically follow up within a week of our meeting and see where you and other decision makers are at. 

Your rep will answer any outstanding questions you may have, and once you sign the service agreement, we move forward with data collection.  

Step Three: Pass on the audit documents

After we have the signed agreement in hand, we assign your portfolio to one of our project managers. 

They’ll schedule a Kick Off Meeting via phone and you and your teams key players will meet them and discuss what the next few weeks will look like for you and your company. 

We Need Copies of Your Waste Hauler Agreements and Invoice + A List of Locations

They’ll ask that you or one of your team members pass on the following documents:

• A copy of every location’s current service agreements

• The log-on information for your hauler’s portals or a copy of the most recent invoice

• A list of locations 

• A signed LOA (we provide the draft)

We find that most teams can assemble this information in one or two hours. 

After we have the information we need, we start our audit process. We may follow up with you or your staff to verify location and hauler information, but we make it a point to make as few demands on your team’s time as possible. 

Our audits typically take 30-90 days, after which we compile our findings and present it to you. 

Step Four: Review the Waste Savings Summary

We review the report with you, then how what we plan to do to maximize your savings. 

Our recommendations often include:

• Equipment changes

• Contract renegotiation

• Hauler changes

• Service frequency adjustments 

We’ll show you what you’re currently spending, and how much you can save. We are able to help most companies save 20-40% on their waste spend. 

Then we discuss which changes ought to take place at which of your locations or properties. 

We discuss any possible obstacles or hindrances to these changes taking effect, then make a plan to move forward - keeping your team up to date throughout the process. 

On this topic, Jackie Morelli, the Director of Operations at Evolve, told us just last week:

Great company and responsive team! They were able to audit our portfolio and provide savings for many of our communities . . . Great partnership, and I highly recommend their services.

We keep you in the know from start to finish, no matter how many locations you have.

Step Five: Share in the Savings

After we make the changes to your current waste management system, we check your new invoices. 

Many times it takes haulers a few billing cycles to catch up with whatever equipment or service changes have been made. So we look over your invoices with a fine toothed comb to make sure that they are correct. 

Once your invoices are reviewed, we send you a monthly bill for 50% of the total quantifiable savings. 

The other 50% is yours to keep. 

Bonus: Ongoing Billing Review and Service Help

Post-audit, we continue to monitor billing for errors (link to 20,000 billing error)- which we find happen about 10% of the time. 

We also keep records of when your current hauler contracts are set to expire and contact them at the appropriate time to renegotiate better rates. 

But perhaps our clients most appreciate our ability to take on service issues. We know that trying to resolve issues like missed pick-ups can take up an inordinate amount of your staff’s time. We take these on so you don’t have to. 

Stop sitting on savings. Schedule a Discovery Call today. 

90% of companies are overspending on waste. Stop being one of them.

Take your first step towards savings by scheduling a free, informal consult today.

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!

Four Reasons You Need a Waste Ally

Raise your hand if you want to spend time thinking about garbage!

Spoiler alert - no one wants more of their time to go towards managing waste or recycling. No one wants to spend hours poring over invoices. And no one wants to spend weeks unsuccessfully trying to resolve an issue with their hauler.

This is exactly why we’ve tailored our services to ensure you have an ally. When things go wrong - and they can - we have your back. We make the calls, we check the documents - and we make sure the issue gets resolved.

Psst! Check out why solving trash problems can be a waste of your time!

You need a waste ally because:

• Your time is valuable

• What you don’t know shouldn’t be held against you

• Waste mistakes are expensive

• You need market expertise

At the end of this article, you’ll know how to protect all of your resources - and prevent costly oversight.

Your time (and your staff’s) is valuable

Resolving waste and recycling disposal issues are time consuming. Why? For the same reason that it takes so long to resolve any vendor issue: haulers have less incentive to remedy a situation cooperate if you’re already paying them.

And on top of that, they don’t tend to be extremely well organized. The customer service rep we first speak with often has to get in touch with the driver or account manager to resolve this issue. This communication gap is just that - a gap. It means more time has to be spent to find out how to resolve this issue, but it also means that there’s an opportunity for the issue to fall through the cracks. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told by a rep that they would call me back only (you guessed it) to never be called back.

For waste service or billing issues that I resolve, I often find that at least four communications touches have to happen before the issue is resolved. Touches mean that I reached out to the appropriate person at least four times via email or a phone call.This amounts to at least 15 minutes for each waste issue. I actually find that it takes me closer to 45 total minutes to fully resolve the issue. (I currently have a waste issue sitting in my inbox that has taken 55 emails to address - and it’s still not 100% resolved!)

You can’t afford to spend this amount of time on a waste or billing issue - and neither can your staff.

This is part of the reason why Vic Nussbaum of Southern Foods is so thankful he no longer has to manage his waste disposal issues: “Your thoroughness allowed me to spend time ‘managing’ the operations here at Southern Foods, instead of ‘managing’ our waste bills.”

Your time is your greatest asset - and we’re passionate about making sure yours is protected.

What you don’t know shouldn’t be held against you

Let me put this delicately - haulers do not always have your best interest in mind. In fact, they rarely do.

How do we know this? Among the thousands of clients we’ve helped, we’ve found that 90% of them were overpay on their waste. And so many of our clients aren’t passe about their waste! Many of them, like Tad for instance, are proactive about spending and monitoring their invoices. But they still are overpaying on their waste management.

Why? Because ultimately, they just didn’t know what they didn’t know. And what they didn’t know was being used against them. Their haulers write contracts in their own favor - and they had no idea. Their contracts were auto renewing, or they didn’t limit price spikes. They were paying outrageous fees, or were using the most expensive hauler in town.

Haulers have normalized these practices - but that doesn’t mean that you have to accept them.

Learn how to evaluate your waste services - and fix them.

These practices all but guarantee that you’re overpaying for waste and recycling disposal services.

You deserve to have an industry expert find the gaps in your waste and recycling management. You need an independent party to look for, find, and resolve the gaps in your current waste removal process. When it comes down to it, you can’t afford not to!

Waste mistakes are expensive

Ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s expensive.

Not knowing what a good contact looks like can cost you thousands over the period of your term or contract length.

Not knowing that waste fees are actually optional can cost quite a bit too.

And not knowing market rates for waste and recycling disposal can be exorbitant.

We had a client recently who was overpaying by $60,000 a year because they were using a pricey hauler. They thought that what they were being charged was normal. It seemed normal because they didn’t know what other area haulers were charging - or if that hauler was charging other clients the same rates.

To make matter worse in this instance, the client is a non-profit entity and the hauler actually sponsored some of their programs. The client wrongly assumed that the hauler was providing them with good pricing because they were “partners”.

When haulers contract with you, they plan on charging you increased rates over a certain period of time. Profit margins for the haulers almost always increase every year. We’re talking 99% of the time.

Get our free guide to stop overpaying and reign in your spending today!

This isn’t to say that the whole lot of them are bad, or that they’re all intentionally out to get you. On the whole, rate increases aren’t actually a bad idea. Gas prices tend to go up, dump rates increase, and any perceptive business will likely take this into account.

The problem is, these rates typically go above and beyond standard cost of service increases. We’ve seen haulers increase their rates up to two times per year - with 15% increases each time. If you’re paying $100 at the beginning of a five term, you could be paying up to $440 by the end. That’s a 340% increase!

And most companies aren’t just paying $100 for waste each month. They have by multiple pieces of waste equipment at multiple locations. (This is exactly why we always tell our clients that the more locations you have, the greater the savings typically are!)

Let’s use a real world example. Suppose you have eight locations and two dumpsters each with $100 pick-ups at each location. Initially, you’ll start out paying $1600 for all the waste expenses at all locations. But At the end of that five year term, you’ll have seen a 400% increase. Your new rate? Over $6470.00 each month!

That’s money that could have gone toward any number of costs: bonuses, apartment improvements, upgrades at your properties. But it can’t - because you didn’t know you were overpaying.

What you don’t know is hurting your bottom line. Why let that happen? Book a free, informal consult with our CEO, Tyler Brunson, and learn how our expertise can help you save big.

You need market expertise

Sometimes, you need expertise to help you understand what is going on. If you want to buy a house in the south of France (as we all do), you’d likely need a realtor who spoke both French and English, right? You’d want someone who knew the housing market - and someone who spoke both languages.

In a lot of ways, we’re like that realtor. We know the waste industry, and we speak its language. We know where to look for savings, and we have a 95% success rate of finding them.

We know how to make airtight contracts, how to prevent price spikes, and how to reduce fees. These are things we do for our clients every day, in almost every industry - and it’s what we can do for you, too.

---

What questions can we answer for you about being a waste ally? Let me know in the comments below!

What Our Clients Say About Our Services

Some of your top questions for Waste Consultants may be: 

• Do your services really work? 

• What’s it like to partner with you? 

• Do you always find savings?

Many of our clients have asked these questions, and I’m going to share the answers with you today. 

This post will show you what our clients appreciate about us - and why they keep renewing their service agreements. 

Our Clients Love Savings on Waste Expenses

The number one thing our clients love about what we do? Saving on waste disposal expenses. Evan clients who have been vigilant about their waste expenses find savings with us. We’re experts in the waste industry, which means we know exactly how to find the waste savings you’re sitting on.

How we find savings 

90% of companies are overspending on waste. Chances are, you’re one of them. 

We’ve saved our clients millions on their waste and recycling expenses. The waste industry is set up to charge you higher and higher prices, and to lock you into unfair contracts. We’re able to find 20-40% in savings for most clients because our audits find tailored solutions.  

We tailor our professional waste audits to your industry, your needs, and your geographic locations.  

Additionally, our process is thorough. Our exhaustive audit shows exactly where there are gaps in your current waste management process. We find and implement solutions for these gaps, and our solutions result in savings. 

We most frequently fix hauler contract terms, eliminate or regulate price hikes, and ensure your equipment and service levels are functioning at optimum efficiency. These changes often result in significant savings for you.

Our audits are risk-free and cash-flow positive. Learn more today by scheduling a time to talk with us.

What our clients think about waste savings 

Our thorough audits work - we find savings 90% of the time.

Take Anita Huffman, for instance. Her manufacturing company, TWE Nonwovens, was in need of waste solutions. 

After our audit, we found substantial savings and she was thrilled. She told us:

 “During your audit, you uncovered more than $12,000 in monthly savings opportunities. Your exhaustive process and your team’s dedication to our success has permanently changed our approach to waste management.”

Tad Dolbier of Tar Heel Capital was similarly impressed.  As the president of 75 Wendy’s restaurants, Tar Heel wanted to reign in their waste and recycling expenses.   

Tad had already tried to reign in spending, but he was still sitting on savings. He just didn’t have the market knowledge he needed to find all the opportunities, so he put our expertise to use. 

In the first month of invoice post-implementation, he saw gross savings of $6,800 a month. He wrote us: “When you came back to me with $6800 each month in savings, as well as significant refunds from over billing, I was truly impressed and grateful!”

We don’t just find savings in manufacturing and the food industries. We’ve also had huge success with multi-family housing. 

Scott Alderman of Landura Management (multi-family management), got in touch and wanted us to evaluate his waste spend. There were a lot of variables: 4,500 units in 9 states. They had different waste vendors and lots of bad contracts. The logistics were complicated. 

But even though these variables were a challenge, our approach remained the same. We looked for savings opportunities, and we found them. 

After we enacted our cost-cutting solutions, Scott reported: “The recommendations you implemented resulted in these expenses being reduce by 25%.” His gross savings? $116,000 each year. That adds up fast!  

Our savings are exceptional, and so is our service

But clients don’t only love the savings, they love our service. 

We don’t want you to just save hundreds of thousands of dollars. We want your savings experience to be easy. We want working with us to be a breeze. 

And fortunately, we find that many of our clients have this experience. 

Our clients appreciate being treated well

Patrick Theismann of Beacon Management, an affordable housing management company, wrote,

I am happy to report that we are realizing some nice cost reductions as a result of your recommendations, but I’m equally as pleased with the level of customer services that you have provided to Beacon. It’s nice to know that I can pick up the phone or shoot you a quick email with any waste and recycling service issues that may come up and get a very quick response.

Patrick appreciated the savings, but he also deeply appreciated how well he was treated.

He liked that we were quick to respond to any additional waste concerns. Anytime had had any issue with his hauler, he didn’t have to go figure out what to do. Instead, we fought for his company’s best interests - and we still do.  

Tom Driscoll of PS Business Parks noticed and appreciated the same thing: 

Your team communicated with us every step of the way, met every deadline and put in the necessary time to help answer questions. I’m confident that your solutions-oriented process will benefit our waste management for years to come.

We go beyond savings. We make sure any hauler or billing concerns are completely taken care of without you or your staff having to lift a finger. 

Our Clients Often Renew Our Partnership 

We save money and time, so our clients often renew their contract with us.

This is what one of our clients had to say when asked why they were renewing:

• Convenience for staff having one entity dealing with all our locations/haulers with service issues or service changes

• Hauler contract renewal negotiations – we have several contracts coming for renewal in early 2021

• Good knowing that the waste invoices will be reviewed, looking for errors or add on charges (we do not have the staffing to do that)

• During 2019 with the recycling industry being in flux, it was nice having Waste Consultants explain various options in order to minimize cost increases. 

We make it easy to save on waste. Then we offer on-going waste invoice and contract monitoring. And we are your first defense against service issues.

So when service issues arise, we take care of the haulers. We ask for credits when necessary. And we monitor your invoice to make sure your waste vendor is billing you per contract specifications. We take all this on so that you and your staff can rest easy - and focus on higher priorities. 

You can’t afford to not have a waste ally.  

Your time is worth protecting. Your bottom line is worth protecting. 

Give us a call today and secure a waste ally. 

We Have a Waste Contract: Can You Still Help?

Most of our clients have waste hauler contracts already in place. Yet, we’re still able to find them 20-40% in gross savings. 

And we can do the same for you. 

We can help you because:

1. We know how to renegotiate current hauler contracts

2. We have market knowledge 

3. We have equipment knowledge 

Having a current waste hauler contract is not an obstacle for us; it’s an opportunity. Let’s explore why.

We know how to renegotiate current hauler contracts

We know how and when to renegotiate hauler contracts. 

First, we know when it’s a good idea and when it’s not. During our exhaustive audit, we evaluate whether you will save more money by getting a new contract with a new hauler. But if we find you’ll save more by staying with your current hauler, we may renegotiate your contract. 

During the renegotiation process, we evaluate your contract and decide what ought to change.

During the evaluation process, we make a list of every “hole” we find in your contract. We may find:

• Exorbitant hauler rates

• Multiple ancillary fees

• Auto-renewal terms

• Inaccurate service levels

• No provisions for poor service. 

Every one of our contracts include language that manages and prevents each of these concerns. 

Then we consider how far you are into your contract and how many locations you have. 

If you only have a few months left on your contract and ten locations, the hauler is usually receptive to the suggestion of renegotiating the contract. 

A hauler is more likely to negotiate when:

• Their pricing is much higher than a competitor’s

• The agreement is with an old legal entity 

• If your contract has automatically renewed several times

We evaluate your situation, your contracts, and your history with the vendor to ensure the very best decision is made. 

One important note: we’ve had clients come to us who are 100% fed up with their hauler and want a new one - even if it will mean paying a bit more for waste disposal services. 

In these situations, we do our very best to find a hauler with a better service record. 

Our contract expertise ensures you have fair pricing and terms - every time. 

We have market knowledge

We have 18 years of experience renegotiating waste contracts, so we don’t leave savings opportunities on the table.

We know that persistence with haulers pay off. We know what will motivate them to come to the table. We know how to evaluate your unique situation and get you the very best contract you can have. 

We know how the waste industry works, and so we know how the haulers think and how to speak their language. And we know how not to avoid common contract pitfalls. 

Why does all this matter? Because it makes our clients contract’s fool-proof. They have fair pricing, reasonable rates, and all price hikes are regulated. Their ancillary fees are eliminated or reduced. And as a result, they gain substantial savings. 

Put our expertise to use and find the savings you’re sitting on. 

We have waste equipment and service level knowledge 

At the end of our exhaustive audit, we know what should be on your site - and what isn’t. We know if you’re getting adequate levels of service, or too much service. 

We know where you problem spots are. And we know how to fix them.

For instance, many companies we work with tend to be over-serviced. Say one particular multifamily complex may be getting picked up three times a week, but only need service once a week. We know whether making that switch is prudent (it often is). And we know how to make the transition happen smoothly. 

Or, you may need a compactor on site, which will result in fewer pick-ups. It can help you save thousands of dollars over time, and many of our clients have found it worth the initial investment. 

We evaluate all your options based on your unique company, location, and industry. Then we present solutions. 

Put our expertise to work for you.

We can still help you, even if you already have a waste hauler contract. We know how and when to renegotiate. And we know how to find and maximize savings for you. 

Give us a call and learn our expertise can help you save.

5 Reasons a Waste Audit is a No-Brainer

Not everything in life should be hard. But choosing to have a WCI audit is easy. 

Why? Because a WCI audit:

1. Is Risk-free 

2. Protects your time

3. Is cash-flow positive

4. Is non-invasive

5. Consistently finds savings

Our audits make your life - and your staff’s lives - easier. We’re in the business of solving waste problems; not adding to your already full plate.  

Our Waste Disposal Audits are Risk Free

You incur zero risk by putting our expertise to use. 

The worst case scenario? We don’t find any savings. (This has happened 5% of the time over the 18 years we’ve been in business.

And if we don’t find savings, you don’t pay us. Essentially, you get a free audit and the assurance that you’re managing your waste efficiently. 

We don’t think you should pay for something that you don’t profit from. 

You only stand to gain from a WCI waste audit. 

Our Waste Audits Protect Your Time

We protect your time in our audit process, and in our post-audit process. 

Audit Process Time Commitment is Minimal 

We know time is your greatest asset. So here’s rundown of how much time you (or your staff) can expect to contribute to our partnership. 

1. 10 minute discovery call 

2. 20 minute zoom presentation to learn about our process

3. 1-2 hours compiling invoice and service agreement information

4. 1-2 hours over 3 months verifying data, or answering questions

5. 1 hour going over audit findings and savings report

In sum, you or your staff will most likely spend a mere 4 hours contributing information to the process. 

What you have to decide is whether those 4 hours are worth it when compared to your returns. Companies who put in those 4 hours have saved $114,000, and $126,000 annually on their waste spend. 

We know that there’s a 90% chance you’re overspending - the question is whether you want to commit those 4 hours to doing something about it. 

Post-Audit Process Time Commitment is Even Less 

Or, to put it another way, is it worth it to put in those 4 hours so that you and your staff don’t have to put in the hours fixing never-ending loops of waste issues? Because the other way we protect your time is by monitoring your bills and taking care of service issues. After our audit process is complete and the savings are hitting your bottom line, we protect your savings. 

Errors occur on your invoices 10% of the time. Are you catching them?

You can get the short end of the stick when it comes to service issues. Get a waste ally who knows the industry.

Your time is valuable. Be proactive about protecting it, and make sure get returns on any time you invest. 

Our audit process makes it easy for you to do both. 

Our Waste Audit is Cash-Flow Positive

Our services are guaranteed to be cash-flow positive.

This means two things:

1. Again, you only pay us when we find savings. If we don’t find any savings whatsoever on your account, you don’t pay us a dime. You will only pay us when we find and implement precise solutions for you. 

2. Our fees are strictly derived from your savings. If we save you $12,000 every month, we get $6,000 of that. If we save you $500 every month, we get $250 of that. You’re still saving - and you pay us to continue to protect your savings. 

This means that our services are not an added budgetary expense. You don’t have to get a few thousand dollars in overhead approved so that you can employ us to get your waste expenses under control. We’re paid out of the savings we find - which motivates us to find the most savings we can for you. 

Our Process Happens Offsite

We’ve tailored what we do to require minimum time and effort from you and your staff. So for the vast majority of our clients, we complete our audit process completely remotely. There are a few reasons this is possible. 

First, we use google maps and google earth to look at the location of dumpsters on your property. We don’t necessarily have to go on site to verify certain aspects of your waste disposal and recycling process. 

Second, your documentation usually gives a clear picture of your current waste needs. Your service agreement will tells us about your terms, pricing, and auto-renewal clauses. Your invoices will show us the hauler’s record of service levels, equipment, rates, and fees. 

We typically follow up with phone calls to each site’s manager to verify service levels and equipment on site. We’ll also ask questions about seasons variance and what waste and recycling needs really are at their particular site. We often find that site managers can give a level of detail that open up other avenues of savings. 

A remove exhaustive audit is possible with this solutions-oriented approach. 

Consistently finds savings

Over the 18 years we’ve been in business, we’ve found that most mid to high level companies are overspending on their waste. The exact number hovers above 90%.

So when we partner with you, we do so knowing that there’s a high rate of success. We know we’ll likely deliver substantial savings. 

Our clients are sometimes skeptical about whether we can deliver. But we do. 

Take Tad Dolbier of Tar Heel Capital. As the owner of 75 Wendy’s restaurants, Tar Heel wanted to reign in their waste and recycling expenses.   

Tad had already tried to reign in spending, but he was still sitting on savings. He just didn’t have the market knowledge he needed to find all the opportunities, so he put our expertise to use. 

In the first month of invoice post-implementation, he saw gross savings of $6,800 a month. He wrote us: “When you came back to me with $6800 each month in savings, as well as significant refunds from over billing, I was truly impressed and grateful!”

We don’t just find savings in manufacturing and the food industries. We’ve also had huge success with multi-family housing. 

Scott Alderman of Landura Management (a multi-family management company), got in touch and wanted us to evaluate his waste spend. There were a lot of variables: 4,500 units in 9 states. They had different waste vendors and lots of bad contracts. The logistics were complicated. 

But even though these variables were a challenge, our approach remained the same. We looked for savings opportunities, and we found them. 

After they were implemented, Scott was able to report back to us: “The recommendations you implemented resulted in these expenses being reduce by 25%.” His gross savings? $116,000 each year. That adds up fast!  

Our clients know our audits are thorough and our process works. 

Getting a Waste Audit is Easy

We’ve structured our waste audit process to be easy and risk free. 

 If we don’t find savings, you’ll pay nothing. 

When we do find savings, you’ll pay us out of those savings. 

And our process involves minimal interference with you and your team. 

Schedule a short, informal consult with a WCI Sales rep? It’s the next step toward risk-free savings.

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 deserve to have  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, and you should too. 

What We Don't Do

Setting expectations is a key to success in almost every area of life. 

This is why we’re upfront with our clients about what we do and don’t do. 

In this post, you’ll learn that we don’t :

• Obscure our rates

• Pay vendor bills on your behalf

• Estimate your waste needs

• Leave your savings unprotected

• Perform waste services 

Ultimately, we’ve found that we serve you best when we don’t do these things. 

Let’s look at why. 

We don’t obscure our rates

We make sure you know exactly what you’re paying before and after you’ve procured our services. 

You’re charged at a rate of 50% of the savings we find

This is our pricing, plain and simple. Our process is guaranteed cash-flow positive, meaning you pay us strictly out of the savings we find for you. We only add to your cash flow - we don’t take away from it. 

Before we even begin, you know the rate at which you’ll be charged. The exact amount itself will differ based on the savings we find.  

If we find $12,000 in savings every month (as we did for an Atlanta-based commercial real estate management company this past February), you’ll owe us $$6,000 each month, and you’ll keep $6,000. Simple as that. 

Our invoices are transparent

Our invoices are easy to understand as well. We show you:

• what you were paying for prior to our services

• what you’re paying for our services

Then we split the difference, 50-50. You’ll get invoiced for half, and the other half you keep. 

We don’t pay vendor bills on your behalf

We don’t ever pay your waste hauler, utility, or telecom bills on your behalf. We’re not brokers -  we think you should see your bills and know what you’re paying for. 

What you don’t know is costing you 

Brokers and some consultants will often package waste hauler bills and their own fees in one tidy little bill.

But this bill is a summary.

It often doesn’t show exactly what services you’re being serviced for. This isn’t in and of itself a problem.

But it opens the door for deception - unintentional or otherwise. 

If you only see one large fee, you don’t know how much you’re actually paying your broker. You don’t know how much you’re paying for waste fees. You don’t have a baseline to know if your broker is price gouging you, or if your waste fees have suspiciously gone up.

Ignorance isn’t bliss; it’s expensive.

Getting one bill from a broker or other waste management representative may actually be costing you thousands of dollars. How can you be sure this isn’t happening to you?

Get a waste ally today! Sign up for a free consultation with us.

We don’t just “estimate” your waste needs

We don’t just give your waste needs our “best guess” and move on. 

Our waste audits take a minimum of two months. Why? Because you deserve to take advantage of every savings opportunity available to you. 

Not most of those savings opportunities. Not many of them. All of them. 

We don’t do perfunctory audits - we dig deep. We record all service information and perform history audits for every piece of equipment that is over 8yds long. We look for and record price fluctuation, increases, and fees. 

Then we analyze: 

• where you’re overspending

• what equipment is working and not working

• identifies gaps in your service

• Where there may be opportunities to introduce technology

• the best way you can stop overspending. 

Regardless of whether you have 1 location or 100 locations, we will look at every nuance to make sure no savings opportunities slip through the cracks. 

90% of companies are sitting on hidden savings. How much are you sitting on? 

We don’t leave your savings unprotected

After our initial audit is complete, we implement all recommended savings opportunities. We may make equipment switches or service changes, but we do these knowing that there will be a payoff. 

The savings we’re able to enact for you are often substantial - as much as 20-40% of your annual waste spend. 

It would be pointless to achieve these savings and then not protect them.

Accountability protects savings

Most haulers are out to make a buck. They know that most people don’t care about what they pay for waste. They know that most companies will pay whatever they charge for waste services.

In other words, haulers are rarely held accountable. As a result you’ll have price hikes several times a year, and you’ll pay ridiculous ancillary fees, and you’ll have very little recourse when things go wrong. 

This isn’t sustainable. 

So we provide the much-needed accountability haulers need to charge you fairly.   

We’re invested in protecting your savings

We protect your savings by monitoring your invoices going forward. Vendors make mistakes 10% of the time - and some of them aren’t small. 

As an independent third party, we painstakingly monitor your invoices to make sure that service is being provided as specified in your service agreement. 

And as an added bonus, we take on all the service issues you may have on site. You and your staff have enough to do, so you can leave service concerns to the experts. 

We don’t perform waste services 

We are waste solutions providers; we do not pick up the trash or service locations ourselves. 

We don’t own any dump trucks or waste equipment; you’ll never see us on your site lugging garbage around. 

We coordinate all these services on your behalf, but we don’t provide the services ourselves. 

You need waste solutions

Tired of spending too much time and money on waste issues? You need a waste ally.

Your time is valuable, and waste mistakes are expensive. Schedule a quick consult today to get the resources you need. 

3 More Ways You're Overspending On Waste Disposal

If you monitor your waste management closely, guess what? You’re likely still sitting on savings. 

And if you don’t monitor your waste management at all, guess what? You’re almost certainly sitting on savings. 

How do we know?

In the 18 years we’ve been in business, we’ve seen both scenarios countless times. 

Take Tad, for instance. He was in charge of 75 Wendy’s and had already tried to cut his waste spend - but we knew how to find $321,600 more. Scott from Landura Property Management also reached out to cut spend and we are saving him over $100,000 each year.

You’re overspending on your waste disposal management, and you don’t have to.

How?

1. You’re being serviced too frequently 

2. You don’t have rate limits

3. You don’t have monitoring in place.

We know that 90% of companies nationwide overspend on their waste disposal - odds are you’re one of them. So one or more of these issues is already happening on your site. 

Let’s take a close look at each of these. 

1. Too much service

We find that about 20% of our clients are being serviced too frequently. 

This means that your dumpster are being picked up when they’re not full. Any empty space in your dumpster is wasted space. 

If you’re paying $400 a month for two 8 yard dumpsters that are serviced 2x/week, you could be wasting $200 of that if you actually only need service 1x/week. Multiply this by several locations, and you can see how the savings accumulates. 

If you have several locations, there’s a good chance that your service levels are not accurate. 

We find that haulers are often very willing to change service rates - even if our clients have just signed new service agreements or are in the middle of a contract term. It’s one way we put our industry experience at your service!

2. No rate limits

If your contract doesn’t specifically prohibit rate limits, you’re going to get hikes. 

Most haulers will increase prices by 1-4 each year at a rate of up to 10%. Say you’ve employed a hauler for 4 years. At the beginning of the first year, you paid them $10,000 a month. At the end of the first you, you could be paying almost $5,000 more. 

You need rate limits to avoid being price gouged. 

Most haulers will charge what they can get away with. You can stop letting this happen. 

We make your contracts airtight. We know what language to include to prevent hikes. And we know how to fight rate increases when they do happen.

3. No bill review

Not monitoring your waste management is costing you. 

If you or your staff aren’t monitoring your waste disposal invoices, you’re not catching the errors that happen 10% of the time. And if you’re not catching the mistakes, you’re paying for them. 

One of our new client came on board with a contract stipulated no regulatory fees. Guess what they were being charged month after month? 

Hundreds of dollars in fees. 

They had no idea. And they weren’t doing anything wrong!

Your staff’s time is better spent tacking real priorities. With us as your waste ally, you have experts who: 

• fight on your behalf,

• know what problems to look for, 

• know how to find hidden savings

Your staff aren’t waste disposal specialists. And they shouldn’t have to be. We make your teams more efficient by doing what we do best: addressing service issues on your behalf. 

We find review your invoices, find credits, and update you and your staff accordingly. Because we believe that your time is valuable - and it should be treated as such. 

Get a waste audit and get peace of mind

You can have peace of mind about your service levels. You can be protected from rate limits. And you can have a waste industry expert on your side, reviewing your invoices and fighting on your behalf.  

Put our 18 years of experience to your service. You can’t afford not to.

How to Partner with Us

Our partnership with clients really is that: a true partnership. It’s important to us that you make the very best decisions you can about your waste disposal, so we are happy to explain why we do what we do - and show how this can positively affect your bottom line. 

Partnering with us is a sure way to maximize your waste savings potential and find waste solutions.

You deserve to have peace of mind about your waste spend. And we can help you get there. 

Partnering with us is a five step process:

1. Set up a phone call to learn about our service and see if it’s a good fit

2. Sign our service agreement

3. Share invoice copies

4. Review the Waste Savings Summary

5. Share in savings 

I’ll be honest - we love finding our clients savings.

But our ultimate goal is making sure your needs are addressed at every stage of this process. We welcome - and enjoy - addressing the questions you may have at any point during this process. 

Why not sign up for a call today?

The First Step to Finding Savings: The Discovery Call

A Discovery Call is the first step towards finding savings. It’s a quick, free consult where a WCI rep will ask you questions about your current waste management system. 

Some of these questions typically include:

• How much do you spend on waste? (We are able to bring the most value to the table for companies who spend more than $10,000 each month) 

• How many locations are in your portfolio?

• How many waste streams do you currently have?

• What problems are you currently experiencing with your waste disposal?

• What are your growth plans over the next 1-3 years?

The purpose of these questions is to gauge how much value we can offer you. We aren’t always the best fit for every company. For instance, if you have only one location with one dumpster, we’re not going to be able to help you very much! But for most companies, our unique offering is a true opportunity.

Anita Huffman, the Corporate Finance Director at TWE Smart Nonwoven Solutions, wrote us earlier this month:

You uncovered more than $12,000 in monthly savings opportunities. Your exhaustive process and your teams dedication to our success has permanently changed our approach to waste management.

Anita took the first step toward her $12,000 savings with our Discovery Call. The questions we asked on that call made it clear that there were likely overlooked savings opportunities - and the rest is history!

Who Should Sign Up For a Discovery Call?

You should sign up for a discovery call if the following is true for you:

• You spend more than $10,000 in waste.

• You are a key decision maker for your company.

• You want to save on your waste spend. 

• You want to ensure your waste management is efficient.

• You are tired of paying too much for waste disposal

If you suspect or know that you have waste issues, you need to know exactly what they are so that they be addressed. 

You need a waste ally who will bring their market expertise and high rate of success to your portfolio. You need to someone who can find waste disposal problems, solve them, and prevent them from happening again. 

In short, you should sign up for a discovery call if you want a waste ally. 

Schedule a Discovery Call by clicking here.

Scheduling a discovery call is as easy as clicking the link above. By the end of this short call, you’ll know what your next steps are to save on your waste spend. 

Second Step to Savings: Zoom Meeting

If you and the WCI rep determine that you could benefit from an audit, you’ll schedule a Zoom video conference meeting. 

At this meeting, you’ll view a presentation that is tailored to your industry and company specifics. 

This presentation will show you:

• How exactly our remote audit works

• How much time our audit takes

• How much time your staff will need to contribute (spoiler: very little!)

Zoom Meeting: Our successful audit process

We try to distill the successes that we’ve had over the years into this short presentation. For instance, in the past eighteen years, we’ve helped hundreds of companies in every industry find waste expense savings. Our success rate is upwards of 90% - so we’re confident in our ability to find savings for you. 

We try to make it easy for you to partner with us. One of the ways we do that is by guaranteeing that the process will be to be cash-flow positive. 

This means two things.

First, it’s pretty rare when we don’t find savings, but when we do, you don’t owe us anything. You don’t pay us unless you see a reduction on your waste spend. 

Secondly, this means that when you do pay us, you do so only out of the savings that we’ve found for you. You don’t have to add another line item to your budget. We’re paid strictly out of the surplus capital you have as the result of our waste audit. 

Zoom Meeting: WCI Service Agreement

After your WCI rep has explained our process, he or she will show you a copy of our service agreement. 

It’s a simple document; only two pages long. In a nutshell, it specifies that you agree to share in the quantifiable savings we implement at a rate of 50% for service period of  of 36-60 months (depending on the scope of the engagement). 

We never expect that you’ll sign on the spot or pressure you in any way. Your WCI rep will typically follow up within a week of our meeting and see where you and other decision makers are at. 

Your rep will answer any outstanding questions you may have, and once you sign the service agreement, we move forward with data collection.  

Step Three: Pass on the audit documents

After we have the signed agreement in hand, we assign your portfolio to one of our project managers. 

They’ll schedule a Kick Off Meeting via phone and you and your teams key players will meet them and discuss what the next few weeks will look like for you and your company. 

We Need Copies of Your Waste Hauler Agreements and Invoice + A List of Locations

They’ll ask that you or one of your team members pass on the following documents:

• A copy of every location’s current service agreements

• The log-on information for your hauler’s portals or a copy of the most recent invoice

• A list of locations 

• A signed LOA (we provide the draft)

We find that most teams can assemble this information in one or two hours. 

After we have the information we need, we start our audit process. We may follow up with you or your staff to verify location and hauler information, but we make it a point to make as few demands on your team’s time as possible. 

Our audits typically take 30-90 days, after which we compile our findings and present it to you. 

Step Four: Review the Waste Savings Summary

We review the report with you, then how what we plan to do to maximize your savings. 

Our recommendations often include:

• Equipment changes

• Contract renegotiation

• Hauler changes

• Service frequency adjustments 

We’ll show you what you’re currently spending, and how much you can save. We are able to help most companies save 20-40% on their waste spend. 

Then we discuss which changes ought to take place at which of your locations or properties. 

We discuss any possible obstacles or hindrances to these changes taking effect, then make a plan to move forward - keeping your team up to date throughout the process. 

On this topic, Jackie Morelli, the Director of Operations at Evolve, told us just last week:

Great company and responsive team! They were able to audit our portfolio and provide savings for many of our communities . . . Great partnership, and I highly recommend their services.

We keep you in the know from start to finish, no matter how many locations you have.

Step Five: Share in the Savings

After we make the changes to your current waste management system, we check your new invoices. 

Many times it takes haulers a few billing cycles to catch up with whatever equipment or service changes have been made. So we look over your invoices with a fine toothed comb to make sure that they are correct. 

Once your invoices are reviewed, we send you a monthly bill for 50% of the total quantifiable savings. 

The other 50% is yours to keep. 

Bonus: Ongoing Billing Review and Service Help

Post-audit, we continue to monitor billing for errors (link to 20,000 billing error)- which we find happen about 10% of the time. 

We also keep records of when your current hauler contracts are set to expire and contact them at the appropriate time to renegotiate better rates. 

But perhaps our clients most appreciate our ability to take on service issues. We know that trying to resolve issues like missed pick-ups can take up an inordinate amount of your staff’s time. We take these on so you don’t have to. 

Stop sitting on savings. Schedule a Discovery Call today. 

90% of companies are overspending on waste. Stop being one of them.

Take your first step towards savings by scheduling a free, informal consult today.

How We Calculate Your Waste Savings

You know what most people hate talking about? Money. It makes people really uncomfortable.

But I’ve found that when we’re honest about our pricing, the opposite happens. Our clients like knowing what they’re being charged and why.

So today, I’m going to take some time explaining our pricing. It’s something I’m often asked about.

But how do we calculate what you’re charged? 

It’s a three part process:

1. We establish your waste spend baseline

2. We develop and apply recommendations

3. We compare your baseline to your new spend 

This article will show you what you can expect to be charged when  you come on board with us. 

We establish your waste spend baseline

We identify what you are spending now by categorizing the past volumes, type of equipment, and service levels along with the rates for equipment, collection, and disposal along with recycling rates. That is what we refer to as a benchmark. 

This audit process is comprehensive - no stone is left unturned. To analyze this information, we look at the following sources for every location in your portfolio:

• Past waste and recycling invoices, 

• Every current service agreements,

• Information obtained via site survey (if necessary),

• Information obtained from location managers  

This information takes time to accumulate, verify, and document - but we bear the brunt of the burden. (Our process is tailored to minimize inconvenience to you and your staff. Most teams only need an hour or two to send us the initial documents we need!) After that, we may follow up via email or phone calls to your site managers to verify certain sections of information. 

Once we have all of the required documentation, we can move into the next phase: analysis. 

We develop and apply recommendations

After our 30-step audit process, we develop recommendations. We look for alternate services, disposal and recycling options. We find better rates, and better service schedules for you. 

We compare your usage rates and any overage charges, we look at your tonnage each month, and then we look at market rates. Comparing rates and fees helps us see if you:

• Have the ideal service levels

• Have the ideal equipment in place

• Have the ideal contract. 

Where there are issues, we bring expertise-driven solutions to the table. We know what fair prices and good contracts are - and we’ll stop at nothing to make sure you get both. 

Once we have enacted the cost-reducing recommendations, we compare your baseline spend with your new spend. 

(Fun fact: we don’t charge you until our recommendations affect your bottom line. We don’t believe you should pay for something you’re not benefiting from.)

Then, we apply those recommendations to your past data to calculate what you would have paid for services if you had been using our alternative program.  This is how we determine which recommendations make financial and operational sense.

After we implement the recommendations that you approve, and for each month going forward, we provide you with three calculations based on your actual monthly volume:

1.  We use the current months actual volume to calculate precisely what you would have spent using prior equipment, collection, disposal and recycling rates and services. 

2.  We break down precisely what you spent with our new program. 

3. Our last step is to simply subtract those two calculations and the difference is obviously what was saved for that specific month. 

Before we get paid on our first savings invoice, we can go over the details of our calculations to make sure you understand them.

Once we’ve verified your account for accuracy, we send you an invoice each month. 

The breakdown for what you owe is very clear; each invoice lists what you were paying for waste services prior to our partnership. Then it lists what you are now paying. We will charge you 50% of the difference. (Read more about our pricing here!)

We Care About What You Are Charged for Waste Expenses

We’re honest about why we charge what we charge. You deserve nothing less. 

In an industry that is often rife with shady dealings, we seek to put you back in the driver’s seat. Information is power, and what you don’t know is hurting you. 

Stop being taken advantage of. Set up an appointment today to take the first step towards leveraging waste savings. 

Guide to Waste Consultants {Updated for 2020}

Why exactly is there such a thing as a waste consultant? What is it they really do? Do I need one? 

These are just a few of the questions we get pretty regularly. Today, I’ll answer all of them.

Simply put, most companies have a waste management problem. Those who spend more than $10,000 a month on waste disposal services are being price-gouged and have unfair waste contracts. 

Waste Consultants exist to help companies find savings by resolving their waste problems. We find and implement solutions that saved Lisa Russell $5000 a month and Scott Alderman is saving $116,000.

At the end of the article, you’ll know exactly what we do, and how we can help you. Let’s look at:

• The problem

• How we find savings

• How you can benefit

Upwards of 90% of companies across industries are overpaying on their waste spend. Why be one of them?

The Problem with Your Waste Management Process

If you spend more than $10,000 in waste and recycling disposal fees, you’re likely over paying. Why? Because you don’t know what you don’t know.

You don’t know what your hauler is charging other clients. You don’t know that you can include clauses on your contract to limit price spikes and stop auto-renewals. You don’t know market rates and contract practices - and you don’t realize you could have recourse when service issues arise.

If your haulers were transparent about their pricing and honest about their services, we wouldn’t be in business. And to be fair, some truly are! But they’re the exception to the rule. 

In the seventeen years we’ve been in business, we’ve seen that most companies are overspending by:

• Having ancillary waste or vendor charges on their invoices

• Having a waste hauler contract that auto-renews

• Having a hauler contract that allows price hikes

• Having incorrect disposal or recycling service levels

• Having expensive service rates

• Not having a waste ally

Read more about your waste issues here.

Your waste hauler contract is the epicenter of most waste issues. If it allows for ancillary fees, you’re going to get charged for them. If it allows for auto-renewal, you’ll be locked into a bad contract for the next 5 years without being able to review efficiency. If it allows price spikes, you’ll receive up to 4 each year.

Most haulers are not out to save you money. So they’re going to leave you open to waste disposal price spikes. They’re not going to periodically review your service efficiency levels. And they’re not going to have a problem charging you 20% more than the company across the street.

This is exactly why you need a waste ally. You need someone who knows how to find your waste issues and implement solutions that actually make an impact on your bottom line. 

We know you’re overspending, and we know how to fix it - permanently.  With our expertise on their side, the vast majority of hundreds of companies we’ve helped save 20-40% on their annual waste spend.

How We Find Savings on Waste and Recycling Spend

We follow the same six basic steps for every company:

• Assign WCI Personnel

• Review Waste Expenses

• Identify Cost Reduction Opportunities

• Develop Recommendations

• Implement Recommendations

• Provide a monthly savings report

Every account has their own dedicated project manager. Our PMs have over 30 years in the trash business between them, and they are expert waste and recycling auditors.  

You - and any other decision makers for your portfolios - will meet one of them after you sign up for our services. 

You’ll send them copies of your waste and recycling agreements and invoices, or pass on your portal log-on info so that we can access it. 

Then the audit begins. Every aspect of your waste and recycling streams are reviewed by your PM. Our audits are so detailed they generally take 60-90 days to complete. 

But at the end of that time, your project manager will present their waste and recycling solutions, and the potential impact the changes will have on your bottom line.  

They’ll show you exactly where you can save at each location, and what they’ll do to implement solutions. 

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. 

Read more about our audit process here. 

How You Benefit from Our Services

Our clients benefit by having savings solutions quickly implemented, documented, and protected.

Where there are service changes, we ensure a smooth transition. We manage contract cancellations and arbitrate any push-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. 

Your invoices will typically reflect the savings we implement on your behalf (and with your prior approval) in about 30-60 days. When that happens, we send you an invoice for 50% (LINK) of the quantifiable savings. 

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. 

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.

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!

Guide to Waste Consultants {2020 Updated Version}

Why exactly is there such a thing as a waste consultant? Are they really necessary? Why is this not something I’ve ever heard of before?

These are just a few of the questions we get pretty regularly. Today, I’ll answer all of them.

Simply put, most companies have a waste management problem. Those who spend more than $10,000 a month on waste disposal services are being price-gouged and have unfair waste contracts.

We exist to help companies find savings by resolving their waste problems. We find and implement solutions that saved Lisa Russell $5000 a month and Scott Alderman is saving $116,000.

At the end of the article, you’ll know exactly what we do, and how we can help you. Let’s look at:

• The problem

• How we find savings

• How you can benefit

Upwards of 90% of companies across industries are overpaying on their waste spend. Why be one of them?

The Problem with Your Waste Management Process

If you spend more than $!0,000 in waste and recycling disposal fees, you’re likely over paying. Why? Because you don’t know what you don’t know.

You don’t know what your hauler is charging other clients. You don’t know that you can include clauses on your contract to limit price spikes and stop auto-renewals. You don’t know market rates and contract practices - and you don’t realize you could have recourse when service issues arise.

In the seventeen years we’ve been in business, we’ve seen that most companies are overspending by:

• Having ancillary waste or vendor charges on their invoices

• Having a waste hauler contract that auto-renews

• Having a hauler contract that allows price hikes

• Having incorrect disposal or recycling service levels

• Having expensive service rates

• Not having a waste ally

Read more about your waste issues here.

Your waste hauler contract is the epicenter of most waste issues. If it allows for ancillary fees, you’re going to get charged for them. If it allows for auto-renewal, you’ll be locked into a bad contract for the next five years without being able to review efficiency. If it allows price spikes, you’ll receive up to four each year.

Most haulers are not out to save you money. So they’re going to leave you open to price spikes. They’re not going to periodically review your service efficiency levels. And they’re not going to have a problem charging you 20% more than the company across the street.

This is exactly why you need a waste ally. You need someone who knows how to find your waste issues and implement solutions that actually make an impact on your bottom line. We know you’re overspending, and we know how to fix it - permanently. With our expertise on their side, the vast majority of hundreds of companies we’ve helped save 20-40% on their annual waste spend.

How We Find Savings on Waste and Recycling Spend

We follow the same six basic steps for every company:

• Assign WCI Personnel

• Review Waste Expenses

• Identify Cost Reduction Opportunities

• Develop Recommendations

• Implement Recommendations

• Provide a monthly savings report

After our clients sign our official agreement, one of our Project Managers takes over your account. Tony and Allen have been working in the waste industry for almost forty years between them. That’s a lot of trash - and it’s a lot of expertise! 

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 should get a compactor? They’ll tell you. And they’ll ensure you’re getting service at market rates by requesting and vetting waste bids. Any equipment or vendor replacement is done under our supervision to ensure smooth transition.

After we have all the documents in place, we get to work. While the overall effort is collaborative, we do all the work on our end. Our process is designed to happen behind the scenes while maximizing your savings.

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 is bi-weekly service ideal? We’ll also ask you questions about your customer service experience. The hauler you have may have great rates, but suppose he’s only servicing one of your locations once a week instead of twice a week. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio. 

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. 

How You Benefit from Our Services

Our clients benefit by having savings solutions quickly implemented, documented, and protected.

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 provide a report that shows the amount you’ll save on a month to month basis, but we’ll also 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. 

This report also 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!) 

Where there are service changes, we 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. 

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. 

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.

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!

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!

Why Our Team Loves Slashing Your Waste Costs

I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you: the waste industry can be really shady. 

We know because we see it all the time. Even if you’ve worked really hard to keep waste costs down (like Tad!) you’re probably still overspending - and not by a little.

Most contracts are written in the hauler’s best interest. So your contract will automatically renew. And you’ll get price hikes up to four times a year. And you’ll pay a bunch of made up fees. You won’t have recourse for poor service, and it’ll be about impossible to get out of your contract. And if you’re being over-serviced, your hauler is probably going to be the very last one to tell you. 

Are all haulers like this? No - thank goodness! We work with haulers who get the job done. But you know what else? We also make sure that our waste disposal contracts are airtight. Because that sets everything else up for success.

Read more about waste contracts here. 

Our clients never, ever, overpay on their waste management. Part of this is because we are thorough.  Our waste disposal and management audits yield results. They’re exhaustive and strategic - but they would be none of those things if it weren’t for the people who were in charge of them. 

The bigger reason our processes work is because the people who do them are professional industry experts. They know where to look for savings, and they know how to write truly stellar contracts. 

The waste industry is sneaky. But our Senior Project Managers, Tony and Allen, have seen it all. So when they’ve got your back, you’re protected. 

But who are Tony and Allen? How did they get their expertise? How do they do what they do? How do they consistently find savings at such high rates? And what are they really like?

Let’s take some time to know our senior project managers, Tony Perkins and Allen Banfield.

Tony Perkins: Waste Industry Expert and Senior Project Manager

Hi, all! I’ve been with WCI a little over two years, and I live in Missouri with my wife and two daughters. I enjoy what I do for so many reasons.

I like being able to dig in and see what business processes can be changed to affect costs. I like finding the savings and analyzing what businesses are doing and how I can improve upon it.

Breaking down your waste management process, reviewing invoices, and going over contracts with a fine-tooth comb - it gives clarity. I really enjoy our methods of finding savings.   

Our audit process is unique because it’s so thorough. And it’s rewarding, too. Seeing how big of an impact - the end result is what I like best. Negotiating favorable terms {for our clients} is also one of my favorite things. I like making sure that companies are not being taken advantage of.

The thing that makes me really good about what I do is persistence. Without it, finding savings would be near impossible. I am persistent in the audit process. and also with the haulers who can be less than forthcoming about their rates and processes.  

Persistence helps me find creative waste solutions. We recently had a client that had some hotels in California. They had super high rates for dumping trash I researched and came up with an indoor compaction, which helps reduce their overall costs. 

And when I’m not finding savings, I’m spending time with my daughters. This is really important to me! I love going to their sports games. I also play fantasy football (Editor’s note: this is true. He’s amazing at it!).

Allen Banfield: Waste Industry Expert and Senior Project Manager

Hi, everyone. I’ve been with WCI five years. I appreciate our exhaustive waste audit process. I strive to produce results for our clients and our audit process is the foundation for recognizing and achieving those results. Without our audit, savings wouldn’t be possible. 

I have thirty years of experience in the waste industry. I use my experience to try and recognize ways to recommend cost saving improvements. Not just negotiating better pricing, but identifying alternatives to what has historically been the way collections have been made to reduce costs.

{Editor’s note: Allen is incredibly detail oriented and understands every facet of the waste industry. Not sure how a compactor really works? Want to know about dumpster lock bar configurations? Allen is your man.}

Recently, for example, we 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. 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. 

Our PMs Find Thousands of Dollars in Savings Every Year

Our PMs are really the backbone of what we do. Without their expertise, savings opportunities would go unseen, and you would continue to overpay on your waste expenses. But that doesn’t happen because they’re experienced, and they’re reliable. How much could they help you?

Let me know what questions you have in the comments below. Curious why we have such a high success rate (it hovers around 90%)? Not sure what our audit entails? Let me know what’s on your mind!

Four Reasons You Need a Waste Ally

Raise your hand if you want to spend time thinking about garbage!

Spoiler alert - no one wants more of their time to go towards managing waste or recycling. No one wants to spend hours poring over invoices. And no one wants to spend weeks unsuccessfully trying to resolve an issue with their hauler.

This is exactly why we’ve tailored our services to ensure you have an ally. When things go wrong - and they can - we have your back. We make the calls, we check the documents - and we make sure the issue gets resolved.

Psst! Check out why solving trash problems can be a waste of your time!

You need a waste ally because:

• Your time is valuable

• What you don’t know shouldn’t be held against you

• Waste mistakes are expensive

• You need market expertise

At the end of this article, you’ll know how to protect all of your resources - and prevent costly oversight.

Your time (and your staff’s) is valuable

Resolving waste and recycling disposal issues are time consuming. Why? For the same reason that it takes so long to resolve any vendor issue: haulers have less incentive to remedy a situation cooperate if you’re already paying them.

And on top of that, they don’t tend to be extremely well organized. The customer service rep we first speak with often has to get in touch with the driver or account manager to resolve this issue. This communication gap is just that - a gap. It means more time has to be spent to find out how to resolve this issue, but it also means that there’s an opportunity for the issue to fall through the cracks. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told by a rep that they would call me back only (you guessed it) to never be called back.

For waste service or billing issues that I resolve, I often find that at least four communications touches have to happen before the issue is resolved. Touches mean that I reached out to the appropriate person at least four times via email or a phone call.This amounts to at least 15 minutes for each waste issue. I actually find that it takes me closer to 45 total minutes to fully resolve the issue. (I currently have a waste issue sitting in my inbox that has taken 55 emails to address - and it’s still not 100% resolved!)

You can’t afford to spend this amount of time on a waste or billing issue - and neither can your staff.

This is part of the reason why Vic Nussbaum of Southern Foods is so thankful he no longer has to manage his waste disposal issues: “Your thoroughness allowed me to spend time ‘managing’ the operations here at Southern Foods, instead of ‘managing’ our waste bills.”

Your time is your greatest asset - and we’re passionate about making sure yours is protected.

What you don’t know shouldn’t be held against you

Let me put this delicately - haulers do not always have your best interest in mind. In fact, they rarely do.

How do we know this? Among the thousands of clients we’ve helped, we’ve found that 90% of them were overpay on their waste. And so many of our clients aren’t passe about their waste! Many of them, like Tad for instance, are proactive about spending and monitoring their invoices. But they still are overpaying on their waste management.

Why? Because ultimately, they just didn’t know what they didn’t know. And what they didn’t know was being used against them. Their haulers write contracts in their own favor - and they had no idea. Their contracts were auto renewing, or they didn’t limit price spikes. They were paying outrageous fees, or were using the most expensive hauler in town.

Haulers have normalized these practices - but that doesn’t mean that you have to accept them.

Learn how to evaluate your waste services - and fix them.

These practices all but guarantee that you’re overpaying for waste and recycling disposal services.

You deserve to have an industry expert find the gaps in your waste and recycling management. You need an independent party to look for, find, and resolve the gaps in your current waste removal process. When it comes down to it, you can’t afford not to!

Waste mistakes are expensive

Ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s expensive.

Not knowing what a good contact looks like can cost you thousands over the period of your term or contract length.

Not knowing that waste fees are actually optional can cost quite a bit too.

And not knowing market rates for waste and recycling disposal can be exorbitant.

We had a client recently who was overpaying by $60,000 a year because they were using a pricey hauler. They thought that what they were being charged was normal. It seemed normal because they didn’t know what other area haulers were charging - or if that hauler was charging other clients the same rates.

To make matter worse in this instance, the client is a non-profit entity and the hauler actually sponsored some of their programs. The client wrongly assumed that the hauler was providing them with good pricing because they were “partners”.

When haulers contract with you, they plan on charging you increased rates over a certain period of time. Profit margins for the haulers almost always increase every year. We’re talking 99% of the time.

Get our free guide to stop overpaying and reign in your spending today!

This isn’t to say that the whole lot of them are bad, or that they’re all intentionally out to get you. On the whole, rate increases aren’t actually a bad idea. Gas prices tend to go up, dump rates increase, and any perceptive business will likely take this into account.

The problem is, these rates typically go above and beyond standard cost of service increases. We’ve seen haulers increase their rates up to two times per year - with 15% increases each time. If you’re paying $100 at the beginning of a five term, you could be paying up to $440 by the end. That’s a 340% increase!

And most companies aren’t just paying $100 for waste each month. They have by multiple pieces of waste equipment at multiple locations. (This is exactly why we always tell our clients that the more locations you have, the greater the savings typically are!)

Let’s use a real world example. Suppose you have eight locations and two dumpsters each with $100 pick-ups at each location. Initially, you’ll start out paying $1600 for all the waste expenses at all locations. But At the end of that five year term, you’ll have seen a 400% increase. Your new rate? Over $6470.00 each month!

That’s money that could have gone toward any number of costs: bonuses, apartment improvements, upgrades at your properties. But it can’t - because you didn’t know you were overpaying.

What you don’t know is hurting your bottom line. Why let that happen? Book a free, informal consult with our CEO, Tyler Brunson, and learn how our expertise can help you save big.

You need market expertise

Sometimes, you need expertise to help you understand what is going on. If you want to buy a house in the south of France (as we all do), you’d likely need a realtor who spoke both French and English, right? You’d want someone who knew the housing market - and someone who spoke both languages.

In a lot of ways, we’re like that realtor. We know the waste industry, and we speak its language. We know where to look for savings, and we have a 95% success rate of finding them.

We know how to make airtight contracts, how to prevent price spikes, and how to reduce fees. These are things we do for our clients every day, in almost every industry - and it’s what we can do for you, too.

---

What questions can we answer for you about being a waste ally? Let me know in the comments below!

Retirement Group Saves 22% Annually on Waste Disposal Expenses

Imagine being able to save your company $25,000. Actually, scratch that. Imagine being able to save your company a total of $100,000 over four years. You’d feel pretty good about that, right?

Rhonda Cummons, the controller of Presbyterian Homes, did exactly that. She wanted to solve her waste problems and save, so she reached out to us. As a result, she is saving 22% annually on her waste expenses.

Rhonda had three keys to success:

1. She agreed to a detailed audit

WCI audits are exhaustive - we leave no rock unturned. In the end, Presbyterian knew not only where they were overspending, but what actions they could take to quickly remedy it.

2. She approved our recommendations

Our thorough audit process revealed that Presbyterian Homes was overspending was by being over-serviced. We showed Rhonda how much she could save by cutting back on pick-up frequency, then we negotiated the change with the hauler. 70% of our clients’ sites are being serviced too frequently, so this is not an uncommon finding for us.

3. She approved contract changes.

Like most other companies out there, Presbyterian was paying ancillary fees - and they didn’t have to. After walking Rhonda through the contract process, we eliminated every additional fee on their contract. Going forward, our contract oversight will ensure that fair rates are maintained and that service issues are quickly resolved.

Maybe you’re like Presbyterian Homes. 

Maybe you feel you should look into your waste spend, but you just don’t have the time. 

Maybe you’re tired of ineffective haulers who you can never reach in an emergency. 

Maybe you don’t know where to begin to review your real waste needs.

Get expertise on your side. Schedule a free consult today and see how easy it is for you to save.

Food Distribution Group Slashes Waste Spend by 50%

Not too long ago, Southern Foods was overspending by $38,400 on their waste disposal services. 

They didn’t know could add to their bottom line by adding a recycling stream. They didn’t know they were being overserviced. And they didn’t know they were being overcharged!

But they did know that too much time was being spent on monitoring invoices. And they knew that something had to change.

When we came on board, the first thing we did was perform a waste generation survey, or an audit. We looked at their waste sources, their vendors, their contracts, and their invoices. We looked at service levels, at pick-up frequency, and at the dumpsters and roll-offs on site. 

Southern Foods was originally paying over $70,000 on waste. We were able to cut that down to $33,600 - a 53% reduction!

We found the gaps in their current waste management process and offered an implementation strategy for results-driven solutions. Our audit revealed that by diverting their recycling materials from their waste stream, they could recoup revenue. The audit also showed they were being serviced too much and were paying for more pick-ups than they needed.

We implemented cost-cutting measures and optimized their service levels, coordinating our efforts with site managers.

Vic Nussbaum was so relieved that his waste worries were gone, he wrote us: “Your thoroughness allowed me to spend time ‘managing’ the operations here at Southern Foods, instead of ‘managing’ our waste bills.”

Vic knew the value not only of protecting his bottom line, but protecting his time. He knew that his time was best allocated to real management. That didn’t include babysitting haulers or reviewing invoices. 

He knew that he could trust us because our process was exhaustive. We found incredible savings - and he knew we would do our part to protect those savings by reviewing and monitoring all of his waste invoices. 

We’ve helped companies in every industry find relief from their waste worries. Our work levels the playing field: you aren’t subject to price hikes, to contract auto-renewals, or to tacked-on fees.  Budgeting for waste expenses becomes easier because you’ll know exactly what you’ll be paying. And ultimately, you have the peace of mind knowing that your resources are allocated appropriately.

How much savings are you sitting on? Find out for free - all of our consults and audits are free. Schedule a no-obligation consultation to see if our services are a fit for you.