Medical Waste Invoices: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Investing time in monitoring your invoices can yield savings - a lot of savings.
In this article, you’ll learn how to see the hidden problems on your medical waste invoices. This can be daunting, but you can use this information to your advantage: these problems actually point to savings opportunities!
Medical Waste Invoice Line Items
Your medical waste invoices should be itemized so you can see exactly what you’re paying for. Invoices that list one lump sum obscure your rates.
Take a look at the invoice below - it has the fuel, energy, and disposal fees listed. It also includes a late fee.
Take a look at the invoice below - it has the fuel, energy, and disposal fees listed. It also includes a late fee.
One of the first things we review for our new clients is their medical waste invoice history. Itemized invoices make it easy to see when your rates increase and which fees increase. Maybe your fuel fees stay static, but the energy charge goes through the roof. Or maybe your late fees suddenly start increasing.
If you don’t have an itemized invoice, you won’t know what fees have changed and which remain the same. This becomes critical for our clients because the medical disposal service contracts we negotiate always contain language that eliminates or caps these fees at a certain rate. If we can’t see the fees, we don’t know if the hauler is charging according to the specifications in the contract.
We make sure that our clients’ invoices are transparent and that their contracts protect their interests - and their bottom line! Are you a good candidate for a waste audit - and invoice monitoring?
How Invoices Help Us Hold Waste Vendors Accountable
Invoices can give us a baseline for price expectations and point to contract gaps.
Base service rates: Your invoices will show your rate for your services - but it won’t show how much those rates have increased in the past six months. To find that, we look at your contract and your invoices history. The rate specified in your contract shows what you should pay each month for your services. But what’s not in your contract actually tells us more than what is. If you don’t have language prohibiting price spikes, we know you’re almost always going to get them. If you don’t have terms capping rate increases over the term of your contract, your base rates are going to rise. We quickly remedy these gaps in coverage for our clients when they sign up for a waste audit!
Most vendors will increase rates at least once a year, which means that over the term of your contract your rates can increases more than 100%! Is your contract protecting you from these?
Billing discrepancies: We review every one of our clients waste invoices for every location in their portfolio. So if the disposal fee jumps a few hundred dollars, we’ll see it and get the necessary billing credits on your behalf. We find invoice errors occur 10% of the time - are you and your staff catching them?
When you sign up for a free medical audit, you’re putting our industry expertise to work for you. We find where you’re being overcharged, and we find the solutions that are right for you, your locations, and your industry.
Medical waste invoices can show where you’re overspending
Invoices can give us a baseline for price expectations and point to contract gaps.
Benchline red bag disposal pricing: These fees give us an idea of what you should pay each month for each of these categories. If the disposal fee jumps a few hundred dollars, you’ll know that’s abnormal - if we’re paying attention to the monthly invoices.
And if you’re familiar with your invoices, you’ll know when errors happen. (We estimate that invoice errors occur 10% of the time - and can sometimes be incredibly costly.)
Waste contract gaps: If you notice that you’re consistently getting price hikes, or that your fuel charges suspiciously increase every few months, you need to take a good look at your contract.
Another way to prevent price hikes? Make sure your contract is airtight; make sure it does not allow disposal companies to increase their hikes over a certain percentage.
This is part of the reason offer monthly invoice monitoring. Medical disposal companies are notorious for randomly jacking up their disposal fees - just like waste disposal companies!
Do these vendors charge for their services? Absolutely. They provide a vital service, and there are a lot of valid services that are legitimately billable. But that doesn’t mean you should be overcharged.
Safety and savings are not mutually exclusive when it comes to medical waste disposal.
What do your invoices show you?
Take some time to go over the last six months of your invoices and ask these questions:
Are my disposal fees steady? Or is there a rate increase?
Are there charges I can’t explain?
Do my prices reflect market costs?
Familiarizing yourself with your invoices can tremendously impact your bottom line.
Short on time? You’re probably a great candidate for a professional medical waste audit.
Our professional, exhaustive audits will find every savings opportunity available to you - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive!
What questions do you have about medical waste disposal management? Sound off in the comments below!
Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save
How much could you save if you did these three things? Hundreds? Thousands?
The waste disposal at multi-family properties can be mind-numbingly complicated. There are so many locations - and often just as many haulers.
So we’ve compiled the top three ways that multifamily properties can save.
This is no simple list. These are actionable steps that we’ve taken at hundreds of properties nationwide. These three things have saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we know they work - and that they’ll work for you.
Here are the top three ways you can save are:
Get an airtight waste contract
Review your valet services
Do a utility audit
I can’t overstate how critical all three of these are to your bottom line. We typically save 20-40% on waste disposal expenses - when you add in utility audits, those savings can double.
We don’t want you to leave any savings opportunities on the table! Let’s take a deep dive into each of these ways to save.
Get an airtight waste contract
When it comes to your waste expenses, an airtight waste contract is the very best way to prevent overspending - and waste issues!
A good waste contract will:
Prevent price spikes
Have great service provisions
Prevent fee charges
Is easy to cancel
Has appropriate service levels
When you contract has these provisions, you’ll have recourse. When you find a price spike, you can successfully fight it - and get a credit. When your hauler starts charging ancillary fees, you can likewise get a credit. And if the quality of their service levels start dipping, you can keep them in line. (A bad contract can be such an expensive mistake!)
Your contract represents an enormous savings opportunity. Don’t overlook yours.
Review your valet waste services
Valet services are an often overlooked way to save. When we complete a waste audit for multi-family clients, we always look at the valet services.
Valet services is a fancy term for door-to-door trash pick-up. Valet service will pick up garbage bags outside the residents door and dispose of it for them. It’s a fantastic benefit to offer residents because, let’s face it, no one loves taking the trash out. But valet services are often overpriced!
Let me give you an example.
We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties. The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!
Make sure you’re not being overcharged for your valet waste services. They can be a huge profit center for valet companies - but you don’t have to fall victim to them.
Examine your contract, and get a feel for market rates. Reach out to other area multi-family residences and ask what they pay for valet services. This will give you a really good idea about whether your services are overcharging you.
(Or, reach out to us for a completely free waste audit! They make savings simple - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive.)
Complete a Utility Audit
As successful as most utility audits are, it’s surprising how few companies know about them!
Consider the odds of winning the lottery - typically, there’s a one in a million chance. But if you know that your odds were better, wouldn’t you go buy one? What if your odds were 80% or higher?
This is exactly the opportunity a utility audit offers you. We find savings on utilities 80% of the time - and if we don’t find anything, you’re not charged a dime. I like to tell people that our audits minimize your resources and maximize your savings potential.
How exactly? Our audits work: we typically find savings through tax exemptions, rate adjustments, and eliminating unused meters.
A utility audit is the best way to know that you’re taking advantage of every savings opportunity available to you.
Stop overspending today!
We typically find that multifamily property managers have problems they don’t even know about. These problems typically cost thousands of dollars every year. And most of them are completely avoidable.
Make sure your waste contract is airtight. Ensure it eliminates or regulated price spikes!
Make sure you’re getting fair pricing for valet services. This is a huge savings bucket that companies typically ignore.
Make sure your utilities are under control! So many companies nationwide overspend. And they don’t have to.
Our risk free waste and utilities audits are tailored to your industry and your time constraints.
Why not reach out today? We’d love to show you your unseen savings opportunities - and how you can start taking advantage of them!
Have you ever heard of a waste or utility audit? What other questions do you have about them? Let me know in the comments below!
Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save
How much could you save if you did these three things? Hundreds? Thousands?
The waste disposal at multi-family properties can be mind-numbingly complicated. There are so many locations - and often just as many haulers.
So we’ve compiled the top three ways that multifamily properties can save.
This is no simple list. These are actionable steps that we’ve taken at hundreds of properties nationwide. These three things have saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we know they work - and that they’ll work for you.
Here are the top three ways you can save are:
Get an airtight waste contract
Review your valet services
Do a utility audit
I can’t overstate how critical all three of these are to your bottom line. We typically save 20-40% on waste disposal expenses - when you add in utility audits, those savings can double.
We don’t want you to leave any savings opportunities on the table! Let’s take a deep dive into each of these ways to save.
Get an airtight waste contract
When it comes to your waste expenses, an airtight waste contract is the very best way to prevent overspending - and waste issues!
A good waste contract will:
Prevent price spikes
Have great service provisions
Prevent fee charges
Is easy to cancel
Has appropriate service levels
When you contract has these provisions, you’ll have recourse. When you find a price spike, you can successfully fight it - and get a credit. When your hauler starts charging ancillary fees, you can likewise get a credit. And if the quality of their service levels start dipping, you can keep them in line. (A bad contract can be such an expensive mistake!)
Your contract represents an enormous savings opportunity. Don’t overlook yours.
Review your valet waste services
Valet services are an often overlooked way to save. When we complete a waste audit for multi-family clients, we always look at the valet services.
Valet services is a fancy term for door-to-door trash pick-up. Valet service will pick up garbage bags outside the residents door and dispose of it for them. It’s a fantastic benefit to offer residents because, let’s face it, no one loves taking the trash out. But valet services are often overpriced!
Let me give you an example.
We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties. The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!
Make sure you’re not being overcharged for your valet waste services. They can be a huge profit center for valet companies - but you don’t have to fall victim to them.
Examine your contract, and get a feel for market rates. Reach out to other area multi-family residences and ask what they pay for valet services. This will give you a really good idea about whether your services are overcharging you.
(Or, reach out to us for a completely free waste audit! They make savings simple - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive.)
Complete a Utility Audit
As successful as most utility audits are, it’s surprising how few companies know about them!
Consider the odds of winning the lottery - typically, there’s a one in a million chance. But if you know that your odds were better, wouldn’t you go buy one? What if your odds were 80% or higher?
This is exactly the opportunity a utility audit offers you. We find savings on utilities 80% of the time - and if we don’t find anything, you’re not charged a dime. I like to tell people that our audits minimize your resources and maximize your savings potential.
How exactly? Our audits work: we typically find savings through tax exemptions, rate adjustments, and eliminating unused meters.
A utility audit is the best way to know that you’re taking advantage of every savings opportunity available to you.
Stop overspending today!
We typically find that multifamily property managers have problems they don’t even know about. These problems typically cost thousands of dollars every year. And most of them are completely avoidable.
Make sure your waste contract is airtight. Ensure it eliminates or regulated price spikes!
Make sure you’re getting fair pricing for valet services. This is a huge savings bucket that companies typically ignore.
Make sure your utilities are under control! So many companies nationwide overspend. And they don’t have to.
Our risk free waste and utilities audits are tailored to your industry and your time constraints.
Why not reach out today? We’d love to show you your unseen savings opportunities - and how you can start taking advantage of them!
Have you ever heard of a waste or utility audit? What other questions do you have about them? Let me know in the comments below!
What We Do and How We Do It
In all of our processes, we value transparency, experience, going the extra mile, and fiduciary responsibility.
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!
Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save
How much could you save if you did these three things? Hundreds? Thousands?
The waste disposal at multi-family properties can be mind-numbingly complicated. There are so many locations - and often just as many haulers.
So we’ve compiled the top three ways that multifamily properties can save.
This is no simple list. These are actionable steps that we’ve taken at hundreds of properties nationwide. These three things have saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we know they work - and that they’ll work for you.
Here are the top three ways you can save are:
Get an airtight waste contract
Review your valet services
Do a utility audit
I can’t overstate how critical all three of these are to your bottom line. We typically save 20-40% on waste disposal expenses - when you add in utility audits, those savings can double.
We don’t want you to leave any savings opportunities on the table! Let’s take a deep dive into each of these ways to save.
Get an airtight waste contract
When it comes to your waste expenses, an airtight waste contract is the very best way to prevent overspending - and waste issues!
A good waste contract will:
Prevent price spikes
Have great service provisions
Prevent fee charges
Is easy to cancel
Has appropriate service levels
When you contract has these provisions, you’ll have recourse. When you find a price spike, you can successfully fight it - and get a credit. When your hauler starts charging ancillary fees, you can likewise get a credit. And if the quality of their service levels start dipping, you can keep them in line. (A bad contract can be such an expensive mistake!)
Your contract represents an enormous savings opportunity. Don’t overlook yours.
Review your valet waste services
Valet services are an often overlooked way to save. When we complete a waste audit for multi-family clients, we always look at the valet services.
Valet services is a fancy term for door-to-door trash pick-up. Valet service will pick up garbage bags outside the residents door and dispose of it for them. It’s a fantastic benefit to offer residents because, let’s face it, no one loves taking the trash out. But valet services are often overpriced!
Let me give you an example.
We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties. The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!
Make sure you’re not being overcharged for your valet waste services. They can be a huge profit center for valet companies - but you don’t have to fall victim to them.
Examine your contract, and get a feel for market rates. Reach out to other area multi-family residences and ask what they pay for valet services. This will give you a really good idea about whether your services are overcharging you.
(Or, reach out to us for a completely free waste audit! They make savings simple - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive.)
Complete a Utility Audit
As successful as most utility audits are, it’s surprising how few companies know about them!
Consider the odds of winning the lottery - typically, there’s a one in a million chance. But if you know that your odds were better, wouldn’t you go buy one? What if your odds were 80% or higher?
This is exactly the opportunity a utility audit offers you. We find savings on utilities 80% of the time - and if we don’t find anything, you’re not charged a dime. I like to tell people that our audits minimize your resources and maximize your savings potential.
How exactly? Our audits work: we typically find savings through tax exemptions, rate adjustments, and eliminating unused meters.
A utility audit is the best way to know that you’re taking advantage of every savings opportunity available to you.
Stop overspending today!
We typically find that multifamily property managers have problems they don’t even know about. These problems typically cost thousands of dollars every year. And most of them are completely avoidable.
Make sure your waste contract is airtight. Ensure it eliminates or regulated price spikes!
Make sure you’re getting fair pricing for valet services. This is a huge savings bucket that companies typically ignore.
Make sure your utilities are under control! So many companies nationwide overspend. And they don’t have to.
Our risk free waste and utilities audits are tailored to your industry and your time constraints.
Why not reach out today? We’d love to show you your unseen savings opportunities - and how you can start taking advantage of them!
Have you ever heard of a waste or utility audit? What other questions do you have about them? Let me know in the comments below!
What We Do and How We Do It
In all of our processes, we value transparency, experience, going the extra mile, and fiduciary responsibility.
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!
The Five Biggest Ways We Find You Savings
If you knew there was an 80% chance of reducing your expenses, would you go for it?
This article is part of a series on our savings process. You can read more about our audit process here!
If you knew there was an 80% chance of reducing your expenses, would you go for it?
When it comes to our waste, utility, and telecom audits, the odds are in your favor! Over our 17 year history, we’ve seen that that 80% of companies nationwide can save on their utility and telecom - and 90% of companies can save on waste.
Dozens of companies like yours have already gone through our audit program - and saved thousands in the process.
One of the most frequent questions we get asked is “Where exactly do you find savings? What aspects of my portfolio show overlooked savings?”
Most savings we find generally fall into five buckets.
We usually find savings by:
Finding and implementing your ideal service levels
Changing on-site equipment
Finding credits
Reviewing meter usage
Reviewing on-going invoices
We’ve found substantial savings in just one of these buckets - and in all of them combined. It all depends on the specifics of your company. Let’s take a detailed look at each of these buckets.
Finding and implementing your ideal service levels
When we conduct our waste and utility audits, we often find that companies are not receiving their ideal service levels.
Psst! Download our free guide to savings!
We’re actually in the middle of an audit with one of our clients right now where we’re evaluating this very thing. This particular client has over a dozen hotels in the Midwest, and we’re going to determine if we should negotiate contracts with seasonal clauses.
Since hotels are typically booked more often during holidays and summer, their waste needs will likely fluctuate. They’ll benefit from service levels that reflect this fluctuation. So we’re crunching numbers and reviewing invoice history to figure out how much usage fluctuates over an eight month period. We’re comparing the number of overages to the occupancy rates to see if there’s a correlation.
Sound like a lot of effort? It is! But this level of scrutiny is what makes our audits so effective.
Changing on-site equipment
When we do a waste audit, we frequently find that by changing the kind of on-site equipment, the company can realize substantial savings.
Consider this example:
A recent client was using a 20 yard roll-off container on their location. These containers are often used at construction site for debris. They were using this size container at two different locations at the same property, but after analyzing their cost and the waste stream we determined that neither of these containers were a good fit.
We knew 8 yard dumpsters would be cheaper - and we knew that they’re easier to work worth, take up less space and look much better! We recommended replacing both of them with 8 yard dumpster to be picked up once per week.
The result? This simple fix saved the client $997/month!
Finding utility and telecom credits
Just this past month, we partnered with a client who had signed what turned out to be a pretty decent waste service agreement. They had specified in their contract that they were not going to be charged for a fee called Regulatory Cost Recovery. But guess what? A few months after the contract took effect, their vendor charged them for it - and didn’t stop!
We found several hundred dollars in credits, addressed the issue with the vendor, and got the client their credits in the span of about three weeks.
We apply this level of thoroughness to every aspect of your portfolio - whether it’s waste, utility, or telecom audits. Your bottom line deserves nothing less.
Reviewing meter usage
Meters gauge your energy consumption and your power quality measurements. Their readings are gauged and the electric company reads them to know what you should be charged each month.
How often do you check your meters? As companies grow and jobs change hands, meters can be forgotten in the shuffle.
The more meters you have, the more likely it is that you’re being incorrectly charged for them. You may be charged for meters that are no longer in use. You may have too many meters on your site.
We’ve seen this time and time again - companies grow, and buildings change hands. It’s easy to forget things like meter usage in the tyranny of the urgent. There will always be more pressing things to think about.
But the beauty of what we do is that whatever savings we find compounds. It’s not just about the savings you get in the first month; but in the overall savings you benefit from over time.
Saving $100 every month on your utility bill may not sound like much, but in the first year you’ll save $1200. In the next four years, you’ll save almost $5000. So in the life of your property, you can easily save thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Audits are zero-risk investment that compound over time.
Reviewing on-going invoices
We know it's not enough to find savings for you - we make sure your savings are protected. First, we ensure that your invoices are in accordance with the stipulations in your service agreement. As in the example above, sometimes service providers agree to one thing, then charge for another! Your vendors need detailed oversight.
Second, we seek credits on your behalf. We’ve come to realize that support staff and administrators often are pressed for time. They don’t always have the time to spare; they don’t have several hours over the span of a week to work out issues with their hauler. So we make those calls for you; freeing up your time and your staff’s time - and ensuring that you get whatever credits you’re due.
Read more about how we fight for credits!
How long will you wait to start saving?
We’ve tailored our process for cost-conscious companies that want to find savings, but who are short on time.
Our risk-free audit process requires zero capital outlay, and is guaranteed to be cash-flow positive. In other words, we’ve made sure you have nothing to lose - and everything to gain!
Want to learn more about the effects of our audits? What questions do you have waste or utility audits? Want to know more about them? Let me know your thoughts below!
Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save
How much could you save if you did these three things? Hundreds? Thousands?
The waste disposal at multi-family properties can be mind-numbingly complicated. There are so many locations - and often just as many haulers.
So we’ve compiled the top three ways that multifamily properties can save.
This is no simple list. These are actionable steps that we’ve taken at hundreds of properties nationwide. These three things have saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we know they work - and that they’ll work for you.
Here are the top three ways you can save are:
Get an airtight waste contract
Review your valet services
Do a utility audit
I can’t overstate how critical all three of these are to your bottom line. We typically save 20-40% on waste disposal expenses - when you add in utility audits, those savings can double.
We don’t want you to leave any savings opportunities on the table! Let’s take a deep dive into each of these ways to save.
Get an airtight waste contract
When it comes to your waste expenses, an airtight waste contract is the very best way to prevent overspending - and waste issues!
A good waste contract will:
Prevent price spikes
Have great service provisions
Prevent fee charges
Is easy to cancel
Has appropriate service levels
When you contract has these provisions, you’ll have recourse. When you find a price spike, you can successfully fight it - and get a credit. When your hauler starts charging ancillary fees, you can likewise get a credit. And if the quality of their service levels start dipping, you can keep them in line. (A bad contract can be such an expensive mistake!)
Your contract represents an enormous savings opportunity. Don’t overlook yours.
Review your valet waste services
Valet services are an often overlooked way to save. When we complete a waste audit for multi-family clients, we always look at the valet services.
Valet services is a fancy term for door-to-door trash pick-up. Valet service will pick up garbage bags outside the residents door and dispose of it for them. It’s a fantastic benefit to offer residents because, let’s face it, no one loves taking the trash out. But valet services are often overpriced!
Let me give you an example.
We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties. The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!
Make sure you’re not being overcharged for your valet waste services. They can be a huge profit center for valet companies - but you don’t have to fall victim to them.
Examine your contract, and get a feel for market rates. Reach out to other area multi-family residences and ask what they pay for valet services. This will give you a really good idea about whether your services are overcharging you.
(Or, reach out to us for a completely free waste audit! They make savings simple - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive.)
Complete a Utility Audit
As successful as most utility audits are, it’s surprising how few companies know about them!
Consider the odds of winning the lottery - typically, there’s a one in a million chance. But if you know that your odds were better, wouldn’t you go buy one? What if your odds were 80% or higher?
This is exactly the opportunity a utility audit offers you. We find savings on utilities 80% of the time - and if we don’t find anything, you’re not charged a dime. I like to tell people that our audits minimize your resources and maximize your savings potential.
How exactly? Our audits work: we typically find savings through tax exemptions, rate adjustments, and eliminating unused meters.
A utility audit is the best way to know that you’re taking advantage of every savings opportunity available to you.
Stop overspending today!
We typically find that multifamily property managers have problems they don’t even know about. These problems typically cost thousands of dollars every year. And most of them are completely avoidable.
Make sure your waste contract is airtight. Ensure it eliminates or regulated price spikes!
Make sure you’re getting fair pricing for valet services. This is a huge savings bucket that companies typically ignore.
Make sure your utilities are under control! So many companies nationwide overspend. And they don’t have to.
Our risk free waste and utilities audits are tailored to your industry and your time constraints.
Why not reach out today? We’d love to show you your unseen savings opportunities - and how you can start taking advantage of them!
Have you ever heard of a waste or utility audit? What other questions do you have about them? Let me know in the comments below!
Medical Waste Invoices: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Investing time in monitoring your invoices can yield savings - a lot of savings.
In this section, you’ll learn how to see the hidden problems on your medical waste invoices. This can be daunting, but you can use this information to your advantage: these problems actually point to savings opportunities!
Medical Waste Invoice Line Items
Your medical waste invoices should be itemized so you can see exactly what you’re paying for. Invoices that list one lump sum obscure your rates.
Take a look at the invoice below - it has the fuel, energy, and disposal fees listed. It also includes a late fee.
Take a look at the invoice below - it has the fuel, energy, and disposal fees listed. It also includes a late fee.
One of the first things we review for our new clients is their medical waste invoice history. Itemized invoices make it easy to see when your rates increase and which fees increase. Maybe your fuel fees stay static, but the energy charge goes through the roof. Or maybe your late fees suddenly start increasing.
If you don’t have an itemized invoice, you won’t know what fees have changed and which remain the same. This becomes critical for our clients because the medical disposal service contracts we negotiate always contain language that eliminates or caps these fees at a certain rate. If we can’t see the fees, we don’t know if the hauler is charging according to the specifications in the contract.
We make sure that our clients’ invoices are transparent and that their contracts protect their interests - and their bottom line! Are you a good candidate for a waste audit - and invoice monitoring?
How Invoices Help Us Hold Waste Vendors Accountable
Invoices can give us a baseline for price expectations and point to contract gaps.
Base service rates: Your invoices will show your rate for your services - but it won’t show how much those rates have increased in the past six months. To find that, we look at your contract and your invoices history. The rate specified in your contract shows what you should pay each month for your services. But what’s not in your contract actually tells us more than what is. If you don’t have language prohibiting price spikes, we know you’re almost always going to get them. If you don’t have terms capping rate increases over the term of your contract, your base rates are going to rise. We quickly remedy these gaps in coverage for our clients when they sign up for a waste audit!
Most vendors will increase rates at least once a year, which means that over the term of your contract your rates can increases more than 100%! Is your contract protecting you from these?
Billing discrepancies: We review every one of our clients waste invoices for every location in their portfolio. So if the disposal fee jumps a few hundred dollars, we’ll see it and get the necessary billing credits on your behalf. We find invoice errors occur 10% of the time - are you and your staff catching them?
When you sign up for a free medical audit, you’re putting our industry expertise to work for you. We find where you’re being overcharged, and we find the solutions that are right for you, your locations, and your industry.
Medical waste invoices can show where you’re overspending
Invoices can give us a baseline for price expectations and point to contract gaps.
Benchline red bag disposal pricing: These fees give us an idea of what you should pay each month for each of these categories. If the disposal fee jumps a few hundred dollars, you’ll know that’s abnormal - if we’re paying attention to the monthly invoices.
And if you’re familiar with your invoices, you’ll know when errors happen. (We estimate that invoice errors occur 10% of the time - and can sometimes be incredibly costly.)
Waste contract gaps: If you notice that you’re consistently getting price hikes, or that your fuel charges suspiciously increase every few months, you need to take a good look at your contract.
Another way to prevent price hikes? Make sure your contract is airtight; make sure it does not allow disposal companies to increase their hikes over a certain percentage.
This is part of the reason offer monthly invoice monitoring. Medical disposal companies are notorious for randomly jacking up their disposal fees - just like waste disposal companies!
Do these vendors charge for their services? Absolutely. They provide a vital service, and there are a lot of valid services that are legitimately billable. But that doesn’t mean you should be overcharged.
Safety and savings are not mutually exclusive when it comes to medical waste disposal.
What do your invoices show you?
Take some time to go over the last six months of your invoices and ask these questions:
Are my disposal fees steady? Or is there a rate increase?
Are there charges I can’t explain?
Do my prices reflect market costs?
Familiarizing yourself with your invoices can tremendously impact your bottom line.
Short on time? You’re probably a great candidate for a professional medical waste audit.
Our professional, exhaustive audits will find every savings opportunity available to you - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive!
What questions do you have about medical waste disposal management? Sound off in the comments below!
What to do About Your Terrible Waste Services
Are your waste “services” really serving you?
Most of the folks we talk to would answer a big fat “no!” If you’re like them, your haulers can be impossible to deal with, and can leave you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.
A lot of people get to the point where they’d rather play in traffic than have to keep dealing with their waste haulers. But they don’t know what to do.
Are your waste “services” really serving you?
Most of the folks we talk to would answer a big fat “no!” If you’re like them, your haulers can be impossible to deal with, and can leave you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.
A lot of people dread dealing with their waste haulers. But they don’t know what to do.
You aren’t powerless when it comes to your waste services. This post will show you how to evaluate whether you’re overspending on your waste services. Then we’ll look at the two best options to fix your waste hauler contract - one of them is likely right for you!
How to Evaluate Your Waste Services
You can’t fix problems you don’t know about. So evaluating your waste management process by doing a basic audit will pinpoint problem areas. You’ll see the holes in your contract and current service levels. (It will also give you leg up when it comes to evaluating your equipment efficiency!)
Another really good way to evaluate your disposal process is to take a close look at your hauler contract. 95% of companies are overspending on waste - and much of that overspending stems from awful contracts. You can also look over your invoice history and see where there are suspicious price hikes.
All of these suggestions will give you a much clearer picture about the real status of your waste disposal process.
Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!
How to Fix Your Waste Services
The two main ways to fix your contract are:
Renegotiate with your current hauler provider
Get a new contract
The option you choose depends on contract stipulations, your waste spend, and your satisfaction with your service provider.
After we run the numbers for some of our clients, we find that it actually makes more financial sense for them to stick with their current waste hauler and renegotiate their contract. But other clients have truly awful service - and that isn’t okay! So for others, we recommend they switch to a different hauler.
How to Renegotiate A Waste Hauler Contract
Renegotiating a contract can sound tricky - but it doesn’t have to be! The most important thing is to know what your waste hauler contract specifies. You are more likely to have a successful renegotiation if you know some knowledge a head of time!
Determine your current term and expiration date. These facts will help you evaluate when to renegotiate your contract. If your contract will expire in six months, there’s really no reason to go forward with a negotiation.
Determine if your contract auto-renews. If it does, you need to send out a notice of cancellation ASAP. If you know your contract is bad, you don’t have to stay in it! Let your hauler know that you don’t want your contract to auto-renew under its current terms.
Determine if your contract is month to month. If it is, you have more leverage and should get pricing from 1-2 other waste haulers if possible to determine the market pricing in your area.
Lastly, prepare yourself for some resistance. You likely aren’t going to get everything you want from your hauler if you are in the middle of your contractual term. Be prepared to stick to your guns, but also know when to compromise.
If you are under contract you can absolutely still negotiate, but you cannot get out of it without paying liquidated damages. Be prepared for the hauler to essentially tell you to “go play in traffic” if you are still under contract and inquire about a new term or better pricing.
If your contract favors a renegotiation and the timing is right, move forward with the renegotiation. Get other bids for hauler service, then present the facts to your hauler. Let him know where his service and pricing is lacking, and let him know that you have received bids that undercut his prices (if this is in fact true!). Ask that he decrease his prices to a more reasonable rate - the worst he can say is no.
If he does say no, make sure that it’s in your best interest to stay in your current contract. Does it make long-term financial sense for you to stay in this contract? If not, you consider getting a new one, as described below.
How to Get a New Waste Hauler Contract
If you remember nothing else about this post, remember this:
A good waste hauler contract:
Makes provisions for bad service
Reduces, regulates, or eliminates ancillary fees
Provides the right levels of service
Regulates or eliminates price hikes
Is easy to cancel
If you include these things in your hauler contract, your rates will be much more reasonable! And you’ll have recourse if your hauler consistently under-performs.
Prior to getting a new contract, make sure you have a good idea about exactly what you want to be in yours. Being specific about what is and is not allowed in your contract will eliminate waste headaches for you, your staff, and your own customers.
Once you know what you’re willing to agree to, begin the search for vendors. To find other area haulers, try googling “haulers near me.” Contact them and ask them to provide bids for servicing your locations. Alternatively, you can also ask other businesses or companies in your area for recommendations.
After you have found a service provider, you will need to let your current provider know that you are terminating your contract with them on a specific date. You may have to pay a termination fee (something you can find out more about on your contract), so be prepared for that in advance.
You Can Eliminate Your Waste Worries By Fixing Your Waste Contract
Your waste contract is the cornerstone of your waste management. It will affect your bottom line, your staff’s sanity, and your own customers or clients. Making sure your waste services work - and is working for you - is critical.
By ensuring your contract sets you up for success, you can have freedom from waste worries. You won’t have to worry about price spikes or what to do if a pick-up is missed; you’ll have eliminated those problems through your contract.
Find yourself low on time and resources? See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!
WCI's Audit Process
We’re serious about finding savings for our clients. So our waste audit process is exhaustive. They show every aspect of a client’s waste spend, and they show us how where to look for savings.
We know that the more thorough the audit, the more peace of mind you’ll have.
Let’s take a few minutes to talk about what our audit process looks like, why it’s unique, and why it’s reliable.
We’re serious about finding savings for our clients. So our waste audit process is exhaustive. They show every aspect of a client’s waste spend, and they show us how where to look for savings.
We know that the more thorough the audit, the more peace of mind you’ll have.
Let’s take a few minutes to talk about what our audit process looks like, why it’s unique, and why it’s reliable.
WCI’s Unique Waste Audit Process
A big reason our waste audit process works so well is that our project managers have over 30 years experience between them in the waste industry. They’ve seen it all, and so they know where to look for savings opportunities.
Our teams leave no stone unturned - and we know they work. We’re disappointed if we can’t find at least 20% of savings on your annual waste spend.
This is where we can really offer value to you, our clients. We take on all the hard work to find you the very best waste management options available to you. And it works. (Tad saved over $6,500 a month on waste expenses!)
What Our Waste Audit Is
What exactly is so exhaustive about what we do? We go through your invoice history for every location for every piece of equipment.
We compile data. We record all benchmark 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. When all the data is in, we analyze. Our analysis shows:
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 the whether you have 1 location or 100 locations, we will look at every invoice to make sure no savings opportunities slip through the cracks.
We talk with you. In order to serve you well, we ask you specific questions about how satisfied you are with your current waste and or recycling service levels. If you have a hauler with decent rates who just can’t seem to ever be available when you need him, or who consistently skips pick-ups, that’s not acceptable. In a scenario like this one, we would find a better hauler for you - one who can actually do what he’s agreed to do.
We scour the market. We’ve been in business over 17 years, so we know good hauler rates from bad ones. We know if you’re overpaying - and by how much. We know if we can find you a better hauler, and we know where to look to find them. (Just ask Lisa from Ardmore Residential!)
We scour your hauler contract. We know that areas most people overlook in their contracts. We look at whether your contract allows ancillary fees, whether it regulates price hikes, and how difficult it is for you to end your contract. The more we know about your contact, the easier it is for us to see what your next steps should be to eliminate your waste headaches.
Read about how the audit fits into our Six Step Process .
How Long It Takes
You may be thinking “Man, this must take a while!” And you would be right - it does. The average time for our waste audit completion is 60 - 90 days. We’re thorough.
We don’t do a rush job because that isn’t ultimately what’s best for you or your bottom line. And at the end, we can pinpoint your waste issues - and show you how to solve them.
Post-Waste Audit
After we’ve conducted the waste audit, we create a savings report called the Waste Savings Summary. It shows you exactly where you’re overspending and how we can fix those problems on your behalf.
We talk you through our recommendations, and why we think they would be the best choice for you. Nothing super complicated here - it almost always comes down to a matter of who can provide the best service at the most ideal price point. We never recommend our clients get cheaper haulers who are not, in fact, reliable and trustworthy. We never suggest that they sacrifice quality for price.
Once we’ve discussed the changes with you, we implement them. This means that we renegotiate contracts or find new haulers and services as necessary.
After the changes affect your invoice, we share in the savings with you at a rate of 50%.
Then, we audit your waste disposal bills to make sure they’re accurate, and continue to provide monthly reports that show the on-going effects of the service or contract updates.
Our Audit Process Will Solve Your Waste Headaches
Our waste audit process is thorough because it’s the very best way to end your waste worries. Whether you find yourself drowning in over-priced services, or harried by constant missed pick-ups, there is a solution to your problems.
Schedule a quick, informal call with our CEO, Tyler Brunson today to see how you can benefit from our services.