Five Questions That Separate Good Consultants from Great Consultants

No one buys a car and hopes that it will make transportation harder! No buys a steak dinner and hopes they will leave hungrier than when they got there. And no one hires a waste consultant and hopes that their waste management will become more frustrating. 

Your waste management partner should do exactly that - manage your waste. They should be eliminating your headaches, not causing them. 

Ask these five questions, and you’ll quickly know whether a potential consultant is a good fit for your company.

What is your profit objective?

Yes, this is an uncomfortable question, but it’s probably one of the most important. Profit objective plays a critical role in any profession, and it’s going to affect how your waste consultant interacts with you and your waste stream.

If they can’t or won’t answer this question, it’s a good indication that they’re not the type of person you should be partnering with anyway. 

Profit objectives are not the same across the waste industry. Waste Consultants aren’t like brokers. Most don’t charge a flat fee every month. Instead, they share in the savings they find for you. 

Good consultants will tell you that they share in the savings they find. Great consultants will tell you that they won’t charge you unless they find savings.

Consultants vary in how they split the savings. Here at WCI, we typically share in the savings 50-50 with most of our clients. 

What does your audit process look like?

Good consultants will conduct an audit; great consultants will make sure that the audit is incredibly thorough.

You don’t want to partner with someone who is going to find $2000 worth of monthly savings, but miss the $4000 opportunity by not bothering to check your equipment efficiency. 

Consider asking these three questions about the waste audit process: 

• What’s the turn-around time or time commitment? Audits can take quite some time - anywhere from 90 - 120 days. Be suspicious of someone who tells you they can complete their audit in less than two weeks. The more thorough the initial audit, the less you’ll overspend. It’s just that simple. 

• What do you analyze during the audit process? Your consultant needs to be exhaustive. They should look at your contract, your equipment needs vs current equipment, your invoice history, and the frequency of pick-ups. They need to be detail oriented, but also have the wherewithal to be able to see the big picture of your spend, too. 

• How do you share your findings? Will you get a copy of the audit results? What will the next steps of implementation look like? How much will your input be encouraged and accepted? You don’t want to partner with someone, for instance, who doesn’t let you have any say in those who are employed at your site.  

How do you bill us?

Pretend your electric bill suddenly goes through the roof. You go to look at your most recent invoice, and all that’s listed is one number, with one usage date. You have no way of telling what happened, or whether there is a mistake. You probably feel something less than victorious and empowered.

Waste disposal bills are similar to utility bills. How will you know whether you’re overpaying if you can’t see what you’re paying for?

Itemized waste bills minimize confusion, mix-ups, and errors. 

Most consultants will provide you with a monthly invoice. This invoice should list your locations, the services you are using at those locations, and what your cost for the month is. 

Good consultants will give you an itemized bill, but great consultants will provide additional detail about your location savings and comparison data.

What on-going services do you provide?

Excellent waste consultants look for every opportunity for you to minimize your waste disposal expenses. As a result, they shouldn’t stop after the initial audit is complete - they should keep looking for additional savings. 

In our opinion, great consultants offer on-going waste invoice review and service support. When you are having trouble with their hauler, the consultant is the one to resolve it.  And when there is a billing error, the consultant finds it and rectifies it. 

We find that many companies really appreciate the extra time they have as a result. They don’t have to spend hours navigating an endless phone menu, or trying to get in touch with the right representative. All of this gets taken off their plate.

Will you pay the waste haulers?

Most consultants will not pay the haulers for you.

They will renegotiate contracts as necessary, or send bids out to find you the least expensive waste service provider, but they will not pay the haulers on your behalf. 

Our practice is to ensure our clients are paying fair bills. So make sure our contracts are air-tight, and we review invoices to ensure they are in line with the contracts. (This eliminates things like surprise price hikes in addition to errors).

Conclusion

So, there you have it! 

Asking these five questions will give you a clear picture of who your potential waste partner is, and how they can help manage your waste disposal. 

A great consultant will do everything he can do to reduce your recurring waste expenses. They will be transparent about how they are paid and what their billing practices are. 

They will also conduct a thorough initial audit, but then go the extra mile and ensure you continue to experience all possible savings.

Don’t settle for less than ideal fit when it comes to your waste management. 

Your company and staff - not to mention your bottom line - will thank you for it.  

Want even more questions to ask a consultant? Download this free questionnaire to evaluate your potential waste management partner.

The Most Read Blogs of 2020

In 2020, we put out tons of content for people who wanted to learn more about reducing their waste expenses.

But these ten are far and away the most popular.

10. Our Audit Process

Do we come on-site? What do we need to start the process?

9. "What are ancillary fees?"

Learn where these contract specifications appear, and why you don’t necessarily have to pay them.

8. Do Our Audits Really Find Savings?

Ever wonder if waste audits are really effective? This blog post explains why we repeatedly find 10-30% of savings on average.

7. How to Fix Waste Hauler Contracts

Many waste hauler contracts have the same problems - and they all need fixing.

6. "Why Do I Need a Service Provision in my Contract?"

In this blog, we go over just a few reasons why a service provision is critical.

5. Why Haulers Increase Their Rates

Most companies will get 1-4 price hikes every year from their hauler, and there’s one specific reason why.

4. "How much will an auto-renewal clause cost me?"

This clause can cost you - no exaggeration - thousands of dollars over the term of your contract.

3. Why Care About Waste Expenses?

Are waste expenses really that big of a deal? Find out why it’s worth it to educate yourself about the ways you could be overspending.

2. "I already have a waste hauler contract. Can you still help me?

The vast majority of our clients are already under contract, but they can still reduce their waste expenses!

1. What We Do and How We Do It

Most people don’t know what waste consultants do. We lay out all the details in this blog post.

Bonus: The most watched video on our site? 7 Ways You’re Making Your Hauler Rich!

What it's Like to Partner with Us - Part 2

Thanks again to Patrick Theismann of Beacon Management for sitting down with us and answering these question.
Below, you’ll find the transcript of the remainder of our interview with him.

How much savings did we find for you all?

I think we saw a 25-35% reduction?

On a scale of 1-10 how easy was it to work with us?

10!

What service issues have we been able to help you with?

My hauling charges! And simple things like getting a new container. My managers have probably called the hauler 4-5 times, and now I can turn that over to you all.

We’ve also had missed pickups. Carolina Woods, one of our properties, is a good example. The haulers were dreadful, the containers were in terrible shape. We weren’t getting punctual removal. That has changed now!

We’ve got new containers out there and we’ve got a difference structure now. It’s been very beneficial. Carolina Woods was one where I really needed you all to step in and reach out to your hauler contracts especially since we had just taken over the management portion for that location. Taking over contract management for us

Would you recommend our services? Why or why not?

No, because I don’t want my competitors to find you!

Actually, I have recommended you all before. A lot of my colleagues and contemporaries are in similar positions to me.

I handle a lot of operations. I also wear a development hat, trying to organically grow the company whether it be through acquisition or new construction or new property management opportunities. I simply don’t have time to negotiate our hauling contracts.

Getting notifications that expirations are coming up is extremely helpful. A lot of the service contracts we have automatically renew. If I don’t know they’re coming up to the deadline of when I can serve notification, that locks me in for another year or two! I am just not as in tune with when those contracts come up.

Being able to rely on you all has made things a lot easier for me.

What it's like to partner with us - Part 1

What is Beacon Management?

Beacon Management was founded in 1979, by my father in law. We manage and develop affordable housing for families and seniors. That’s the bulk of our portfolio. We do commercial as well as market rate development, but the company was really founded on affordable housing.

We have 32 properties throughout the country from Connecticut to South Carolina. The bulk of them are in North Carolina from Winston to Wilmington. And we have three in South Carolina and one in Connecticut.

How did you initially find out about our services?

I think you (Tyler Brunson, WCI’s CEO) came to my office! We talked a little bit. I think you were just getting started when we first did it. As business moves on a day to day basis, there are only certain things you have time for. One of which is negotiating contracts. I found myself negotiating more and more contracts for hauling as they were coming up or trying to save properties money.

Operating costs for an affordable community are extremely important. Our margins are pretty thin, so anything we can do to help operations is always helpful.

Taking something that I don’t necessarily like to do and working with someone who has a lot more knowledge in the industry has made things a lot easier for me.

Were you aware that you needed waste solutions or had waste disposal problems?

Not really! I knew there was ways to cut costs. I knew that we could cut costs. But without the intrinsic knowledge of the industry, I had no way to know. I could haggle with people with the best of them, but if I don’t have the knowledge of the industry, it doesn’t do me much good. That’s where I found the most value in working not only our friendship, but in working with someone who has the knowledge in the industry that I had none in as well as saving my companies and my properties more money.

What had you tried previously to reign in waste expenses?

I was haggling with hauler and they would say “this is what it is” and I didn’t have any recourse to go after them with. I found myself going to hauler to hauler trying to find competitive pricing, but I wasn’t getting any real traction because you don’t really know who to contact.

As I think as we mature in our professional careers, what you know is very important. But who you know is also very important! Me calling a customer service line, and you calling someone you actually know? Much different outcomes.

What was most surprising to you about our audit process?

It wasn’t difficult! Half of our time is spend doing due diligence to close deals. Obviously getting you the service agreements and contracts are not the most difficult thing to do! There are alot more arduous tasks you have do!

I found it easy to send you the stuff — it was actually more difficult for me to find the documents. We’re trying to move to more digital records, so sending you the invoices and service contracts has helped me manage that process because we have to keep them electronically. Now every agreement that we’ve negotiated or renegotiated I have electronically, so the access makes that a little bit easier.

Was there anything that surprised you about our initial savings recommendations?

Well, it actually goes back further than that. When you and I talked, I was intrigued by your model because there’s a lot of services that will say, “If you pay me ‘x’, I will be able to find you this.” I liked your model because similar to a developer, you get what you get. If you’re able to save money, then you make some money, and you save some money.

So really, that was the biggest aspect of our meeting and why I wanted to do business with you. I knew that if you didn’t do your job effectively, I didn’t have to pay you. If you did do your job effectively, you earned it, you made the agreed amount that we had determined according to your agreement, and we also saved.

I really liked that because I wasn’t coming out of pocket right away. I found the savings, and you money that you agreed upon. It was a win-win because it wasn’t out of pocket! Liquidity as a developer is not something we have a lot of! As a management firm, we have a lot of cash that goes out for proposals and so me not having to put money up front for a hopeful savings on the back end made me rest a lot easier.

What makes a prospective partnership attractive to you? Let us know in the comments below!

Top 3 Ways Companies Overspend on Waste

Most companies nationwide are overspending on their waste disposal and recycling expenses. In the past 18 years we’ve been in business, we’ve discovered that many of these companies are overspending in similar ways.

Below, we go over the top 3 ways most companies are overspending.

Why Our Audits Work

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.

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.

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

• It's 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.

Can you afford not to have a waste ally on your side?

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. Can you afford not to?

How to Find Waste Savings

There are three easy steps to find your savings opportunities.

1. Have a Discovery Call

2. Sign agreement

3. Audit review process

Let's look at each of these.

Have a 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.

Who Should Sign Up For a Discovery Call?

You should sign up for a discovery call if one or more of 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.

Signing our 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.

Our Audit Review Process

Our audits find savings conveniently and consistently. If you’re like 90% of companies nationwide, your waste contracts are the primary reasons you’re overspending on waste and recycling.

And to get any new contracts right - or to renegotiate old ones - we know we have to review every pertinent detail about every waste and recycling stream at every location.

Fortunately, we can do that remotely, and with inconvenience to your staff being kept to an absolute minimum. To begin our audit, we request several key documents for each location in your portfolio:

• Copies of current trash hauler contracts

• Copies of the most recent invoice

• A list of every location under review

The majority of our clients can assemble this information in just a few hours.

Then, we take 60-90 day to thoroughly evaluate your current waste management process and find where your problems are. We use google maps and google earth to look at the location of dumpsters on your property.

The documentation you give usually tells us everything we need. Your current service agreement tells us about your terms, pricing, and auto-renewal clauses. Your historic invoices show us the hauler’s record of service levels, equipment, rates, and fees.

Right off the bat, our analysts 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. Does your site really need to be serviced twice a week? Or is bi-weekly service actually ideal? We’ll also ask your site managers questions about your customer service experience.

Your hauler may have great rates, but misses pick-up frequently - and doesn’t give billing credit. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio.

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 exempt. We’ll look for language that prohibits auto-renewals, and limits price increases to a certain percentage.

Then, we’ll find other pricing options. We keep records of nationwide haulers, and we know equitable rates when we see them.

Some of our clients profit from switching waste haulers, but for others, we renegotiate existing contracts for better rates.

Our analysis will make it clear which option is more financially sound for you. We make sure you don’t leave any savings opportunities on the table - which is why we have a success rate of over 90%.

An exhaustive audit is possible with this solutions-oriented approach. Our clients know our audits are thorough and our process works - and they save big.

Ongoing Billing Review and Service Help

Post-audit, we continue to monitor billing for errors - 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!

3 Reasons Why Our Audits are Risk Free

Not every one of our clients were 100% convinced they had waste problems prior to the review.

And to be frank, they didn’t have to be since our audit process is 100% risk free.

Many of our clients had never had a waste audit before, so our process involves three critical risk reduction factors:

1. You only pay us when we find results. We are willing to take the risk of finding no savings because we have such a dependable rate of finding savings. We’re 90% sure we can find savings. But in the event you turn out to be one of the 10% that don’t have savings, you don’t owe us anything.

As one of our clients, Chris Sprenger of SanStone Health and Rehabilitation Center, told us, ““We had zero capital exposure and very limited time invested with your company. When you couple that with the significant savings we were able to achieve, it makes the decision to hire Waste Consultants seem like a no-brainer.”

2. You only pay us out of the savings we find. In other words, our process is cash flow positive. Our services aren’t an added expense, and they aren’t something you have to budget for.

3. You pay us a rate of 50% gross savings. If we find you $100,000 in savings a year, you’ll keep $50,000 and we will be compensated $50,000. Our revenue comes out of the savings we find for you.

As a result, we’re motivated to find the most savings opportunities we can for you and your waste disposal expenses are further reduced.

This is exactly why our audits have such a high success rate.

We know exactly how to find the expensive problems you have with your waste management.

We know what questions to ask, and how to be persistent in finding creative solutions tailored to your needs.

Our success is your success.

The more savings we find, the more we all benefit.

The initial waste review process is entirely self-funded. “Self-funded” means that we incur the initial expenses of performing the 1-3 month long audit.

In other words, you don’t pay us during the initial investigation and analysis period; essentially making the audit itself free.

You don’t pay for:

• Our review of your contracts

• Our analysis of your invoices

• Our evaluation of market prices

• Our requisition of vendor bids

• Our waste and recycling stream analysis

While our waste and recycling audits have a 90% success rate, we don’t think it’s fair for you to pay for a service that you are not directly benefiting from.

You don’t pay for our analysis, you pay for our solutions - the real-world, cost cutting solutions that actually affect and benefit your bottom line.

Just take it from Jen Morrow, Tenant Services Coordinator at The Simpson Organization:

"The cost reduction opportunities that you identified and implemented were substantial and, in this current economic client to say they were welcomed, would be a vast understatement.

We are currently looking at over $100K in gross annual savings due to your efforts.

I also want to say a quick note about the Senior Analyst assigned to us, Tony Perkins. He has done an exemplary job - always professional and very quick to respond to any requests or questions!”

How We Fix Common Waste Problems - and Find You Savings!

We provided you with our portfolio and you were able to reduce our waste disposal expenses by over 25% as a direct result of your knowledge, industry contracts and tireless efforts.”

Rik Maxey, Community Management Corp

Can a waste audit really help you? Will it save you money? Will it work?

Who better to answer these questions than our clients! Throughout this document, they'll share their thoughts on the waste savings journey.

They represent different industries, and each had waste issues unique to them. But they all share one thing in common: they suspected they could be overspending on their waste expenses and they chose to do something about it.

In this post, you’ll learn how companies just like you found hidden waste savings opportunities.

We’ll show you the three steps companies took in their savings journey:

• “I could have hidden waste problems.”

• “WCI can find savings.”

• Savings achieved.

In the process, you'll learn what our waste review process was like for them, and how much they are saving or have saved as a result.

Ready? Let's dive in.

“I could have hidden waste disposal problems.”

About 90% of companies are overspending on waste and they have no idea. After 18 years in the business, we have found that most companies overpay in one of the five following ways:

1. Your contract allows price spikes.

Most haulers count on price hikes to increase their revenue. They go above and beyond the cost of servicing your account. We’ve seen haulers raise prices as much as four times a year at a 5-10% increase. These incremental increases add up.

Your current waste contracts almost certainly allow for this unless someone on your team has proactively added language limiting or prohibiting them.

2. Your service levels and equipment are inefficient.

Your waste equipment comprises every waste and recycling receptacle serviced by your hauler. The efficiency of your waste equipment has a direct impact on your waste spend.

If you don’t have the equipment you truly need, or if you have too much equipment, you’ll overpay. About 70% of the clients we’ve worked with in the past 18 years have been serviced too frequently!

Rhonda Cummons of Presbyterian Homes found herself in this exact position not too long ago.

Every month, Rhonda was paying for too many trash pickups - something we quickly put a stop to. This contributed to a 22% reduction in waste expenses!

And in January 2021, we helped a multi-family complex save an average of $3200 every year just by replacing their on-call waste dumpster with an 8 yard dumpster that gets bi-weekly service.

3. You don’t know market rates for waste and recycling services. Haulers know you’re not likely to consult with the restaurant across the street when you set up your service contract.

They know that you’re not going to ask that restaurant what their disposal rate is, or how often they get price spikes.

They also know that you don’t know what other area haulers are charging, and so you can’t know if they’re overcharging you. This is exactly what allows price gouging to happen. If you’re in the dark about hauler pricing, how can you tell what is fair?

4. You’re paying ancillary invoice fees. Most waste invoices include several ancillary fees. Most standard contracts neither limit nor eliminate these fees.

With our assistance, the majority of our clients pay a reduced fuel fee and administrative fee on their contract. Case in point - Rhonda Cummons! Not only did we reduce pick-ups, but we eliminated every additional fee on their contracts.

This contributed to her gross saving of $25,000 on her yearly waste expenses. What could you do with an extra $25,000?

5. Your contract automatically renews.

Waste needs often change over time, and waste service levels may need adjusting. About 95% of waste contracts we’ve seen include automatic renewal of contract terms.

When we cancel the auto-renewal clauses for our clients, it allows us the opportunity to find better pricing with another hauler or to renegotiate new contracts with your current hauler.

We recently did this for a multi-family management corporation called Camso. Two of their locations had a faulty contract that not only included an automatic renewal clause, but it allowed for indiscriminate price increases.

Cancelling these clauses will help us ensure they are always with their ideally-priced vendor.

Could you have one or more of these hidden waste problems?

Most companies are overspending, and you don’t have to be one of them. Which of these hidden problems do you think you might have?

Learn more about your hidden waste problems for free - sign up for our video mini e-course and we’ll show you how you can save!

5 Reasons You Need a Zero-Risk Waste Audit ( Infographic)

When you get a waste audit, you take on zero risk - just scroll down to see why!

The entire audit process is easy and convenient for you, your staff, and your residents or visitors. It’s worth undertaking because of the high probability of finding savings. 90% of companies nationwide are overspending on their waste and recycling expenses, and we typically reduce these costs by 10-30% for the majority of our clients.

You need a waste audit, and you can get one risk-free. You can find out if you’re sitting on savings - and if you are, you only pay us from those savings. Our services are never an added line item.

What have you got to lose? Schedule a free consult today.

5 Signs of a Great Contract {Infographic}

Chances are that reviewing your waste contract is not at the top of your list of priorities today. But thanks to the infographic below, you can easily review your waste contract to determine whether you’re overpaying.

90% of companies nationwide are overspending on their waste and recycling disposal expenses. Much of this occurs because their contracts make it easy for their haulers to make excess profits.

If you ensure that your contract has the specifications below, you’re far less likely to overspend.

These clauses are the ones we ensure each of our clients have. They’re the most critical specifications that your contract needs, and they’re the the ones that most business don’t have. (Short on time? Talk to us right now - just sign up for a free, no obligation consult to talk about your waste concerns. 15 minutes is all it takes).

Have you ever heard of these contract specifications? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Got Dumpsters? Ask Yourself These Four Questions {Free Infographic}

Too many of our clients have overspent on waste equipment. Could you be one of them?

Below, we cover the four questions you should ask if you rent or own dumpsters.

Course Launch: Your 5 Hidden Waste Problems {Free Access}

Most companies are overspending on waste - and they have no idea. Are you one of them?

We’ve been helping companies reduce their waste and recycling expenses for 18 years. We’ve found that the hidden problems you’re most likely to have are:

- Your contract allows price spikes.

- Your service levels and equipment are inefficient.

- You don’t know market rates for waste and recycling services.

- You’re paying ancillary invoice fees.

-Your contract automatically renews.

These issues can steal thousands of dollars from your bottom line.

So we’ve created a completely free video course for you to learn about these problems and how you can solve them. Click the button to sign up.

This course is the first of its kind and is designed for busy professionals who want to save on their company’s waste expenses.

Below, you’ll learn more about:

1. Why this course is necessary

2. How this course is delivered

3. What this course consists of

By the end of this article, you’ll know how this course can help you assess your waste expenses.

Why this free course is necessary

90% of companies nationwide are overspending on waste by 10-30% every month. Why? Because they don’t know how they’re overspending.

Not many people have the time or expertise to carefully review their waste and recycling contracts before they sign them. You have more important things to do during your day, right?

I’d like to challenge that by showing you how much some of our clients have saved. Many were spending thousands - even hundreds of thousands - more than they needed to due to these hidden waste problems. Just click below to learn more.

If you don’t have to time to learn about hidden waste problems, you’ll likely continue to overpay. We don’t want that for you.

But there’s another reason these problems are hidden. It’s because most haulers are not going out of their way to charge fairly and set up honest contracts. Haulers are out to make a profit, and they will sometimes go to extremes to ensure they retain your business.

In the course, we talk about how having automatic renewal clauses makes it difficult for you to change vendors. We talk about how not capping price hikes will make you overpay. We talk about how you actually aren’t required to pay ancillary fees.

We take a behind the scenes look at how haulers try to pull fast ones. And we show you what you can do about it.

How this course is delivered

One section of this 7-part course is delivered to your email inbox every three days. At the end of the course, you’ll receive a link with access to all of the videos and additional PDFs so that you can easily and permanently access the course.

This course is:

• Easy. We break down concepts and make it clear how each problem can impact your bottom line.

• Convenient. We’ll email you once every three days, so you can view the videos at your convenience. No rush, and no deadlines.

• Completely free. We’ve distilled 18 years of waste experience in this course and you can access it all for free.

And if you sign up right now, we’ll include an additional free PDF with even more savings tips!

Click here to sign up >>

What this course consists of

This course will show you where you’re overspending and what you can do about it. Each email will contain one video and the occasional bonus content. These videos less than 10 minutes long, and contain helpful visuals to explain the material.

This course and are packed with inside industry information about your hidden waste problems, including:

- How to prevent price spikes.

- How to spot inefficient waste equipment.

- How to prevent being overcharged on invoices.

You’re the only thing standing between you and savings. Sign up for free right now!

Your 3 Steps to Waste Savings (+ Infographic)

We estimate that 90% of companies nationwide are overspending on waste. So we’ve made our review process thorough so that no savings opportunity is missed.  

These three simple steps have saved companies millions of dollars over the past 18 years, so we know they can work for you too. 

During our review process, we:

1. Review your contracts and invoices for inefficiencies or errors.

2. Analyze your service levels and equipment

3. Implement cost-cutting solutions.

This process consistently reduces gross waste expenses by an average of 10-30% each month.

Schedule a Free, No-Obligation Consult Right Now

Review your contracts and invoices for inefficiencies or errors.

Our process is completely remote. You and your staff are busy. You don’t need a team to come on site and disrupt your day. We’re able to consistently save companies 10-30% simply by reviewing waste documents and asking critical questions of your site managers. 

We compile copies of:

• Every waste and/or recycling contract you have. 

• 12 Month invoice history or hauler portal log-on information

• A list of site addresses

• A list of site manager contact information

Most companies are able to send us all of this information in under 4 hours. 

From this information, we are able to compile a complete picture of your waste and recycling management process. We input all information into a Master analysis sheet that lists every location, every piece of waste equipment on your sites, contract expiration dates, and fee information. 

This is the most detailed part of the review process, because we take pains to ensure we have a clear picture of what your waste process truly is. 

Then, we analyze that information to see what your waste process should be. 

Have 15 minutes to talk with us about your waste concerns? You can sign up for a free consult right now! 

Analyze your service levels and equipment

Once the data is compiled, we find the gross waste output for every piece of equipment you have on site. Then we find your inefficiencies - and the correlating savings opportunities. 

Take Rhonda Cummings of Presbyterian Homes, for instance. She had waste problems she didn’t know about, just like many of you. She was paying ancillary fees, and she had inaccurate service levels. As a result, Rhonda was overpaying by $22,000 in her waste expenses every year before we stepped in. We adjusted her contracts and we fixed her service levels. 

Common waste problems include:

• Too many pick-ups

• Wrong dumpster sizes

• Not selling recyclable by-products (manufacturing)

• Not using cost-reducing waste equipment like compactors

• Having poor quality contracts

• Not limiting price hikes on contracts

• Not eradicating the auto-renewal clause

• Paying waste expenses at above-market rates

Want to learn more about common waste problems?

The waste industry isn’t set up to help you manage your waste disposal efficiently. It’s set up for haulers to make a profit. As a result, most of the companies we work with have at least one of these problems - and it’s costing them. How many of these issues do you have?

We create waste solutions that are beneficial to both you and your waste hauler. In fact, we complete this part of the analysis for free. You only pay us when we find savings. And even then, you only pay us out of the savings we find for you. We share in the savings at a rate of 50%.

Implement cost-cutting solutions.

After we have created a thorough plan to address your waste disposal problems, we present it to you. We ask your top level leadership to gather on a teleconference, and we present a slideshow containing information for each of the cost-cutting solutions we’ve discovered for your locations.  

It’s important for us to vet all solutions with you so that we get your feedback. We learn everything we can about potential obstacles to our solutions before this presentation, but sometimes there are unforeseen hiccups. There may be a last-minute construction job or other situation that could delay solution implementation. 

We almost always implement the majority of our proposed solutions, but every so often the implementation timeframe gets adjusted according to client needs. 

After we’ve discussed the plan going forward, we make those critical changes. Depending on your situation, this may include one or more of the following: 

• Renegotiating contracts with better terms

• Getting new contracts with better pricing

• Adjusting service levels

• Adjusting waste and recycling equipment

We ensure smooth transitions occur as necessary, and we are proactive about keeping everyone on your team and at your sites in the loop.  

When hiccups occur, we resolve them. And going forward, we resolve all service and contract issues at every one of your sites. When your current contracts expire, we get vendor bids to make sure you’re paying the absolute best rates.  We’re committed to your savings - present and future. 

There’s a 90% chance we can find you savings.

Our review process is painstaking. Our analysis is thorough. Our implementation process is convenient. As a result, we find savings for companies just like yours over 90% of the time. We consistently reduce gross waste spend by 10-30%, and our on-going services ensure no future savings opportunity is missed.  

Schedule a free consult to learn more. You can likely sign up for one in the next hour! You’re the only thing sitting between you and savings.  

Here’s Why You Have Hidden Waste Problems

Most companies are overpaying on waste and recycling problems, and most companies also don’t do anything about it. Why? Because they don’t know they’re overpaying. 

The waste industry has certain norms in how they operate. These norms ensure that rates go up year over year, and that you won’t have the time to find better rates before your contract automatically renews. They ensure that you won’t have much recourse when service issues arise and that you have the wrong service levels. They ensure that you overpay. 

In this article, you’ll learn why these problems remain hidden (and why you likely have them). 

These problems remain hidden because of three false assumptions:

• You can’t make changes to a proposed contract.

• Your stated service levels are accurate

• Your waste hauler is being fair. 

None of these things are necessarily true. We have great success negotiating contract terms. Most service levels are actually inaccurate (70% of our clients have received too many pick-ups). And your waste hauler isn’t always fair - particularly when it comes to price hikes. 

 Learn more about your waste problems here!  

You CAN make changes to a proposed contract  

If you remember nothing else about this post, remember this: you can ask for different terms than a standard waste contract. In fact, you absolutely should. 

Most default waste contracts are set up to help your hauler:

• Increase profits

• Not be accountable for poor service issues

• Retain your employment at the end of your contract. 

You have to be proactive about putting specific language in your contract to make sure price hikes are limited and service provisions are provided. You’ll also need to make sure no auto-renewal clause occurs in the contract. 

You should ask for the following inclusions on your contract:

• Short terms (3 years - no more)

• No automatic renewal

• Limited price hikes

• Provisions for poor service

• No ancillary fees

If your hauler wants your business, they’re going to be willing to listen to some (if not all) of your requests. If they aren’t willing to work with you, you may be able to find another vendor in your area who will. 

Your service levels ARE inaccurate 

70% of our clients in the past 18 years have had inaccurate service levels. Why? Because many haulers are paid based on the frequency of service. The more pick-ups they complete, the more they’re paid. So when they set up your contract, they’re likely going to err on the side of too many pick-ups. 

Your hauler is not often going to take the initiative to find cost-cutting solutions for you. They’re paid to pick up your trash, not reduce your waste spend. Doing so would run counter to their desire to make a profit. 

Check your dumpster fill levels. If they’re consistently less than half full prior to pick-up, you’re paying for too many pick ups.  

Your waste hauler ISN’T necessarily being fair 

Your hauler isn’t going to tell you if they’re charging more than their competitor. They’re not going to tell you that they plan to raise your base rates twice in the next year. They’re not going to volunteer information that could cut into their bottom line. 

 They’re going to do what is typical in the waste industry. They’re going to hand you a contract to sign and assume that you won’t want to tweak any of it. They’re going to assume that you won’t carefully look over it and that if you do, you won’t want to make any changes.  

It’s not necessarily because they’re out to get you - it’s simply because the industry has evolved this way because profits are paramount.  

It would be fair of them to:

• Agree to limit price spikes to a certain percentage -and timeframe. 

• Agree to cancel the contract without penalty if they can’t provide adequate serviced as agreed to. 

• Give you plenty of time to get bids of other service when your contract expires 

But again, most haulers are not going to voluntarily do this. 

The good news is that many of them will if you ask them to. Ask for what you want. The worse you can hear is a “no.”

Go in depth: learn more about hidden waste problems

We’ve created a free, comprehensive mini e-course for you to learn more about your waste problems. There are 5 ways you’re likely overpaying on waste expenses, and we go over every one of them in depth.  

Sign up below and we’ll send you the first video immediately - and include an additional downloadable PDF.  

Three Ways To Reduce Your Waste Expenses Today

You don’t have time for solutions that don’t work. 

Below, you’ll learn the top three things you can do today to reduce your waste expenses. These cost-cutting solutions are the same ones we routinely implement for our clients, so we know they work. 

These three solutions are:

1. Find out if you have an auto-renewal clause on your contract

2. Find out if your terms are long.

3. Find out if your price hikes are capped. 

Most companies we’ve worked with in the past 18 years have an auto-renewal clause, long terms, and no price hike caps. In fact, these are the default terms for most waste disposal and recycling contracts. So chances are you have them. 

It can seem daunting to dive into your waste contract specifics, but we’re going to break it all down for you, step by step. By the end of this article, you’ll know if these three clauses appear on your contract and what you can do about it. 

Read more about your waste problems here >>

So pull out your waste contract and let’s find your savings opportunities. 

1. Find out if you have an auto-renewal clause on your contract

An auto-renewal clause is a language that specifies what happens upon contract expiration. Most waste hauler contracts will renew for terms of 1 year, but we’ve seen contracts that renew for an additional 5 year term! 

If you have this clause on your contract, it’ll make you overpay. Most companies don’t track their contract expiration dates, and they don’t bid out for new services every few years. Your contract will renew without you knowing, and you’ll overpay because you didn’t have a chance to find less expensive vendors. 

We always cancel the auto-renewal clause for our clients because it allows us to find the very best pricing and services that are available to them at the end of their contract. It saves them thousands of dollars in the long-term because we make sure they’re saving the most they can on waste services - every time, for every contract. 

Check for your auto-renewal clause on your contract. Most of the time, they are on the second page under the “Terms” section and they look like this:

Many haulers will allow you to cancel your auto-renewal clause at any point in the contract. Call your hauler to find out today.  

2. Find out if your terms are long. 

Most waste hauler contracts are 5 years long. All the contracts we create for our clients are only 3 years long. This allows us to find the best pricing available at more frequent intervals. We want you to have as many opportunities as you can to take advantage of better pricing. Short terms allow us to help you do that.

 It may be surprising that we can ask for terms that are shorter than the industry standard - and that we get them. But we find that most haulers are willing to agree to shorter terms. And this brings up a key principle when it comes to your contract: be willing to ask for what you want. You’ll may be surprised what your hauler agrees to.  

There’s no mandate that says all waste contracts have to have terms of a certain period of time. Or that you have to have an auto-renewal clause, or that you can’t cap your price hikes. (Or that you have to be charged ancillary fees, for that matter!) 

Your term lengths - and several of your other contract specifications - do not have to comply with industry norms. Ask for 3 year terms. 

Again, short terms give you more opportunities to make sure you have the best pricing. You’ll be able to bid out for terms more frequently, so your waste disposal and recycling rates will be fair. 

3. Find out if your price hikes are capped. 

Your rates will climb if you don’t cap your price hikes to a certain percentage. Most haulers will charge you what they can. They plan on raising rates at least once over the next year, and your contract is going to let them do that - unless you have a clause specifying they can’t. 

This is one of the most frequent ways we’ve seen people overpay in the past 18 years we’ve been in business. People assume that these rate increases are fair, and this is not usually the case. Haulers raise their rates because they can. Not necessarily because they need to. 

Most price hikes are a 5-10% increase to your base waste rate. They can occur as often as four times a year, and there is no warning prior to their occurrence. When this occurs at one property, it can constitute a significant additional cost. When it occurs at multiple properties, it can be catastrophic. 

 Look for language like the following on the first page of your contract. This language will appear in the notes or comments section of your contract. 

If you don’t find language to this effect, you’ll likely be subject to a price hike in the next year. You won’t be able to edit your contract mid-term to prevent these hikes, but you can add this language to future contracts like we do for all of our clients. 

Sign up for our completely free e-course: “Your 5 Hidden Waste Problems”

If you’re like 90% of companies out there, it’s likely that you’ve found that your contract includes an auto-renewal clause, long terms, and no limits on price hikes. 

These are just a few of the hidden waste problems that most people have. Learn more about these issues by enrolling in our completely free, comprehensive video course: “Your 5 Hidden Waste Problems.” Sign up below and we’ll send you the first video immediately - and include an additional downloadable PDF. 

"I already have a waste hauler contract. Can you still help me?"

Having a waste hauler contract is not an obstacle; it’s an opportunity! Every client we’ve had in the past 18 years has had waste contracts in place.

We can help you if you have a contract because:

• We’re expert contract re-negotiators.

• We know how and when to break a contract if necessary

We carefully evaluate the options that are available to you. Could you save by switching haulers? Is your current hauler amenable to renegotiations? We find the choice that not only reduces your expenses but serves you well.

Our renegotiations work because we’re waste experts

It’s relatively rare that we recommend our clients change vendors during our initial audit phase.

For the majority of the clients we work with, we renegotiate the current waste hauler contracts. That means they keep their haulers, but they get better pricing and better terms.

Suppose you’re on year three of a five-year contract, and your pricing is abysmal. We do the research and find that 3 out of 4 haulers in your area offer less expensive pricing. We’d then present you with the options. We’d show you how much you could pay in the next few years if you switched. If you’re like most clients, you would likely chose the option that saved you the most money. (On rare occasions, we have had clients who have wonderful relationships with their haulers and chose to stick with them - even if they are losing money by doing so!)

Once we get your go-ahead, we would ask the vendor to draw up a three-year contract with better rates. (You can read more about how exactly we create airtight contracts here.) You get locked-in, equitable pricing. And the vendor is guaranteed your business for one year longer than you current contract. Everyone wins!

Contract renegotiations work - they save our clients money!

We use this process for most of our clients. Rhonda Cummons of Presbyterian Homes is a good example! Like many of you, she had waste contracts in place. But we were still able to reduce her gross waste expenses by 22%. We eradicated ancillary fees and adjusted service levels - and her waste spend dropped by $25,000 that year. (She saved $100,000 over the next four years).

How we know when to terminate a contract

You should only get a new waste hauler contract if you’re 100% certain that you will be terminating your service.

This means that one or more of the following is true for you:

• You can no longer work with your hauler due to on-going service issues.

• Your current contract is set to expire shortly, and you are getting a new hauler.

• There are other haulers in the area who could provide comparable or less expensive service.

• You will save more in the long run even though you’re incurring a termination fee.

We run the numbers for you, and then present you with the best cost-cutting solution. Every so often, this means that you should terminate your contract.

Termination fees can vary from vendor to vendor, but a typical termination fee is the average of the most recent 6 invoices x 6. So if you pay $1,000 a month, you’ll owe your hauler $6,000.

This may sound like a lot but for many companies, but this may actually be the less expensive option in the long run - especially if you’re about to hire a waste vendor with more cost-effective pricing.

Get premium access to the on-demand webinar, “7 Ways You’re Making Your Waste Hauler Rich!”

Give us your email, and we’ll redirect you to the video - and send you a free 20+ PDF on how to reduce your waste expenses!