Andrea Suarez 11/4/21 Andrea Suarez 11/4/21

How We're Using Data to Help You Save Even More

We talk a lot around here about dumpsters, pickups, and service schedules.

If you’ve been following us for any length of time, you probably know that most US companies get too much service, and that most of them have no idea.

But what you may not know is that we now have a new way to quantify what we know by experience.

We’ve recently partnered with Compology, a company that collects data on dumpster usage. They’ve created special cameras to measure data from inside the dumpster.

Why is this so important? Because our clients stand to save even more.

Compology’s dumpster cameras give us the following data:

How many actual pickups vs expected pickups
The average fullness at pickup.
Recent pictures of fill levels
Contamination stats

This information helps us know what your service needs actually are - and how/if the hauler is filling those needs.

It helps us ensure you’re paying for the right service levels. It makes sure you don’t pay for pickups that didn’t happen. And it keeps us up to speed on fluctuating service needs.

Without this data on waste expenses, you’re driving blind - and you’re probably paying for it.

Like many of you, data drives the core of what we do: help people save on their waste expenses.

When we want to get the whole picture of a company’s waste management process, we go to the invoices and contracts. These documents tell us the details of service: how often garbage is supposed to picked up, how often a particular location gets overage fees, what equipment is onsite. They also tell us who you’re working with to get trash service, and how long you’ve contracted with the service provider.

All of this information helps us determine where you’re overspending.

But this traditional date plus the new data we have access to increases your waste opportunities even more.

You can save by not paying for a missed pickup that would otherwise go unnoticed. You can save when the data shows us you only need twice a week service instead of three times a week.

Better data means better savings opportunities.

How are you optimizing data in your business?

Andrea Suarez 11/2/21 Andrea Suarez 11/2/21

What exactly is a utility and telecom audit? (+ Infographic)

Think of a utility audit as your ticket to substantial savings. Most companies are overpaying for their utilities; you don’t have to be one of them!

A utility audit is a thorough analysis of all electric, gas, water and sewer bills. A telecom audit reviews your phone invoices. The goal of both audits is to find areas where you are currently overspending and could save.

These audits are critical to you because you’re likely already overspending in these areas. Over the past 18 years, we’ve noticed that about 80% of companies we work with are spending too much on their utility and telecom services. Statistically, there’s a good chance you’re one of them.

We find the savings you’re sitting on in our three-part utility and telecom audits:

Research - We review pertinent telecom and utility invoices and service agreements. We don’t simply look at what you’re paying for, but we analyze whether you’re getting the best rates and whether you’re paying for what you actually need. Many of the companies we’ve worked with don’t actually need the entire service package they have - but more on that later!
Review - We look what is and isn’t happening in your utility and telecom processes. Are you taking advantage of all possible tax credits? Is there a cheaper, reliable service provider? Should you upgrade your telephone equipment? We look at all the angles to figure out what’s right for you.
Recommendations - We present the unique set of solutions that are right for you. We show you how much you could save when we implement those solutions, and we make sure there aren’t any unknown factors that could affect these savings.

Most companies simply don’t have the extra time to periodically evaluate their services. Or, they may not realize how common it is to overspend in these categories.

This article will help you understand what an audit is and why you need one. Let’s take a deeper look at how what this audit process entails, and how it so frequently succeeds in finding savings.

Research: Gather Needed Information for Utility and Telecom Audit

The first step in our utility audit program is for you to send us all needed documents.

We need:

12 month history of invoices for all telecom and utilities: electric, gas, water, and sewer.

A copy of every telecom and utility contract you have.

We are typically are able to get started with the most current invoice copy for each account and then pull the historical invoice copies from your utility vendor’s online billing portal.

Most companies are able to get us invoice or log-on information in just a few hours.

Review: Examine All Utility and Telecom Bills and Options

Once we’ve got a complete set of documents we:

Analyze the energy usage number vs. the current meter reading. Is there a discrepancy in these numbers? Is one much larger than the other?
Look for billing errors. Do your rates or fees jump in the past year? Are there typos? Does everything add up like it should?

Then we assess rate structures, trends, and tax exemptions. You may be eligible for a different rates structure. Or you may have been overcharged the past quarter. Or, you may not be taking advantage of the exemption opportunities available to you.

Because we’re so thorough, the entire audit process takes 30-90 days (depending on how many locations are in your portfolio).

Recommendations: Take Advantage of Savings Opportunities

We find the savings opportunities that are right for you.

We may suggest some or all of the following:

Different vendor recommendations
Rate structure options
Tax Exemption options
Credits due

The recommendations themselves vary, but we are able to identify cost reduction opportunities for over 80% of the companies that engage in our services.

Could more industries benefit from audits? Let us know your thoughts below!

Andrea Suarez 10/28/21 Andrea Suarez 10/28/21

Three Ways Waste Consultants Can Help Your Save Resources [Infographic]

The pandemic has stretched businesses to their limits. Staffing issues and lost revenue can lead to a sense of overwhelm or frustration for those in management and business owners.

You may feel like you need more time. You may be at a loss about how to deal with continued staffing shortages. You may feel apprehensive about your profit margins.

Our waste reviews can help alleviate each of these issues.

_Infographic - Three Ways We Make Your Company More Efficient.png

Andrea Suarez 10/26/21 Andrea Suarez 10/26/21

5 Reasons Why You Should Overspend on Waste {+ Infographic} - Part 2

Incredibly, there are reasons to keep overspending on your waste and recycling expenses. Most companies in the US are overspending on their disposal services, but there are some who may prefer it that way. Below, we’ll go over the last two reasons why.

You like having waste problems.
You like to ignore relevant data.

In this series, we’re exploring all the reasons you should keep overspending by 10-30% on your waste expenses. In this blog post (part 2 of a 2-part series), we’ll look at the last two reasons.

You like having waste and recycling disposal problems.

You may actually enjoy the surprise of waste problems. You may love it when your staff tells you your hauler has missed pick-ups at a particular location for the third time this month. You not have a problem with recurring issues because you may think this is normal.

Additionally, you may not have a problem devoting the time and energy needed to resolve these situations. You may have lots of spare time to call your hauler, wait on hold for 20 minutes and then have a customer service rep tell you that they can’t help and that you’ll need to get in touch with your account manager. You may have the expertise to know who to navigate hauler customer “service” departments, but most people don’t.

And, more importantly, they don’t have the time to waste. Do you?

You like to ignore relevant data.

Take a look below - these are the stats we’ve found after 18 years of service in the waste industry. Bottom line? Most companies are overspending, and they have no idea. Don’t be one of them.

If you have the resources to make your hauler rich, you should keep overspending on your waste expenses. If you don’t mind having inefficient waste and recycling services and equipment, you’ll almost certainly keep overspending. And if you don’t want to take advantage of professional expertise, you can keep paying more than you need to for expenses.

But if these reasons aren’t true of you - if you value your resources and your time - then you can chose to stop overspending on waste expenses.

Are there other reasons to keep overspending on waste? Let me know in the comments below!

Andrea Suarez 10/21/21 Andrea Suarez 10/21/21

Profit Margins Getting You Down? Three Ways We Make Your Company More Efficient: Part 3

The pandemic has stretched all of us thin.

Many business have seen a concerning dip in profit margins and revenue. How can businesses keep growing during this tumultuous time? How can businesses cut expenses and stabilize?

One of the best ways businesses can cut expenses is by having their waste spend reviewed.

There are three reasons this little-known resource can help:

You’re probably overspending in ways you don’t even know about.
Recurring expenses can translate into recurring savings opportunities.
Our waste reviews reliably yield savings.

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

First, you’re likely overspending on your waste spend.

90% of US companies are doing this exact thing, and they have no idea. This is because the industry has normalized things like prices spikes, ancillary fees, and long term lengths. Most contracts, for instance, don’t include terms that will actually protect you from price spikes. They don’t prohibit ancillary fees, which then show up every month on your invoices. And they tend to lock people into contract terms that are too long.

You don’t have to be one of these companies.

These hidden problems don’t have to stay hidden. You can get an industry expert on your side who will make sure you stop overspending.

Second, recurring expenses can translate into recurring savings opportunities.

You’ll always have waste expenses; that can’t be helped. But if you pay too much for them, you’re going to pay too much by a lot because they recur every month.

Suppose you spend $2000 every month at one location for waste expenses. If we are able to reduce that amount by $500, that’s not a one-time reduction. It will happen on every waste bill until you get a new hauler or until service requirement significantly change.

So that $500 reduction can turn into a $6000 reduction in a year. It can turn into a $12,000 reduction over two years. It can turn into a $30,000 reduction over the term of a five year contract. Who wouldn’t want that kind of boost to their bottom line?

Third, our waste reviews have a high rate of success.

We typically find savings 90% of the time for our clients. These savings average out to be a 10-30% reduction in monthly waste expenses.

Over the 20 years we’ve been in business, we have honed our audit process to be effective and efficient. It’s worked for hundreds of companies and it can work for you too.

You can find out for sure if you’re sitting on savings for free. Our initial audit process requires zero capital outlay. We are entirely self-funded until we find savings. Then, we’re paid out of those savings at a rate of 50%.

If we don’t find savings you owe us nothing. You can find out if you’re overspending without taking on any risk at all.

What other benefits could a waste review afford you during this time? Let us know in the comments below!

Andrea Suarez 10/19/21 Andrea Suarez 10/19/21

5 Reasons Why You Should Overspend on Waste - Part 1

As strange as it sounds, there are in fact some solid reasons to overspend on waste.

But for the majority of companies nationwide (the actual number hovers in the 90% range), these reasons aren’t actually applicable. These reasons aren’t actually good reasons to overspend! Why would you chose not to save money? Most companies simply don’t realize they’re overspending.

There are 5 reasons why you should overspend on your waste and recycling disposal expenses.

You can afford to make your waste hauler rich
You love inefficiency.
You don’t like to delegate to experts.
You like having waste problems.
You like to ignore relevant data.

In this series, we’ll explore all the reasons you should keep overspending by 10-30% on your waste expenses. In this blog post (part 1 of a 2-part series), we’ll look at reasons 1-3.

You can afford to make your waste hauler rich

You may be one of the few companies out there who has excess funds. You may be flush with extra revenue, so how much you pay for waste services at all of your locations isn’t of concern to you. You may not have to worry about budget forecasts or balancing the books at the end of the month.

And if you do have excess funds, you may have already decided to allocate them to overpriced waste expenses. You can afford to spend whatever the waste companies charge you. (An aside: most hauler contracts are designed to allow indiscriminate price hikes, so most companies pay more than they should for expenses incurred over the term of their contract.)

Or, you may just enjoy overspending. Maybe you like the idea of helping your chosen waste vendor become rich. You may like helping them increase profits by paying extraneous fees. You may enjoy the sudden price hikes that add to their bottom line.

But chances are, this isn’t true.

You love waste service and equipment inefficiency.

You may love knowing that you’re likely one of the 70% of companies who are being over-serviced by their trash vendor. You may enjoy getting too many pick-ups every week at your locations. After all, who doesn’t love paying for services they don’t need?

These extra pick-up only benefit one person - and it’s not you. Your hauler is likely incentivized to make additional pickups because more pickups almost always mean more revenue. When was the last time you heard of a hauler voluntarily reducing their service frequency?

Additionally, you may like leaving equipment inefficiency to chance. You may be satisfied with inefficient waste and service levels. (50% of companies have too much or too little waste equipment.) You may prefer not to have an expert review your current waste management process for redundant equipment or ineffective waste equipment.

You don’t like to delegate to experts.

You may think you have the resources to complete your own waste review. And some people are able to complete a cursory review on their own! But most CEOs and COOs don’t have the expertise it takes to do their own waste analysis. Waste reviews are not simple processes to complete. It can be difficult to know where to begin, what exactly to assess, and how to assess your current process in general.

And if they do have the expertise, it’s likely they don’t have the time. We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. (Our reviews are almost always 100% remote). We’ve been doing waste reviews for the past 18 years, and we know how to find your hidden waste problems and solve them - for good!

You can keep overspending on waste . . . but you don’t have to.

We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. If you don’t mind having inefficient waste and recycling services and equipment, you’ll almost certainly keep overspending. And if you don’t want to take advantage of professional expertise, you can keep paying more than you need to for expenses.

But if these reasons aren’t true of you - if you value your resources and your time - then you can chose to stop overspending on waste expenses.

Are there other reasons to keep overspending on waste? Let me know in the comments below!

Andrea Suarez 10/14/21 Andrea Suarez 10/14/21

Staffing Troubles Getting You Down? Three Ways We Make Your Company More Efficient: Part 2

If you’re like most companies right now, you’re either are having or have recently had staffing shortages.

With so many businesses closed down or operating for limited hours, many employee’s positions were either eliminated altogether or reduced in scope. Unemployment nationally has decreased since April of this year, but the economy (and the workforce) is still trying to recover.

Even if you haven’t struggled with staffing issues, you and your team may likely find yourself stretched thinner than you were before. There may not seem like there’s enough people to address issues or complete routine tasks.

So how can you free up some of your staff’s time? Or, to put it another way, how can you help them make the most of the time they have?

Consider delegating waste management and service issues to a waste expert. This will help your staff:

Free up some of their time each month
Focus on more urgent priorities
Protect their time in the future

With many business still trying to maintain equilibrium, offloading the unnecessary tasks your staff have to handle could be one of the best choices you make during this on-going pandemic.

Bringing in a waste expert can free up your staff’s time.

Waste problems can be difficult to see and solve. Not every waste issues is immediately apparent - some may be lurking on your invoices, unnoticed. It takes a certain amount of expertise and experience to find them.

On top of that, it can take dedication and time to completely resolve them. Waste haulers are, unfortunately, not known for their customer service. We find that it can take repeated calls and emails to get an issue addressed depending on the hauler. We also have found that it’s sometimes necessary to escalate an issue through management if issues are not resolved. We keep contact information on hand so that if this happens, we know who to call.

All of this takes time that your staff likely doesn’t have right now.

If your staff are already struggling to get done everything they need to accomplish, they need fewer things to do, not more.

Delegating all customer service issues to industry experts like us ensures that your staff’s time is not needlessly consumed.

Help your staff use their time effectively.

Without having to resolve hauler customer service issue, your staff can devote more of their time to other more urgent priorities.

After all, your likely weren’t hired to manage haulers. They have other things to do that are more important than spending hours on the phone trying to get your waste vendors to clean up a mess, or to come back once more and pick up trash at a forgotten location.

One other consideration: during the pandemic, your staff may have taken on other additional responsibilities. They may be devoting more of their time to other projects, giving them even less time to take on administrative or vendor issues.

As employees struggle to juggle different tasks, you may find that you may be called in to help. You may need to fill in a shift here and there. You may have to jump in on projects to aid them to completion. You can protect your time by protecting your staff’s time.

Freeing up some of your staff’s time will allow them to focus more on critical responsibilities; not secondary ones. In a season when everyone is stretched thin, delineating between priorities is a absolutely necessary.

Support your staff (and protect your own time) by delegating waste issues to industry experts who have your best interest in mind.

Protect everyone’s time now and in the future.

You don’t know what waste disposal problems you may have down the road. You may need to make immediate or significant changes to your waste service schedule, or you may have a massive billing error. Navigating these issues with your hauler will almost certainly take up your time or your staff’s time. But it doesn’t have to.

Regardless of what happens, you can rest assured that you can continue protecting your time by having a waste ally on your side. Delegating waste issues to an expert will ensure that no matter what issues arise in the future, you’ll have a dependable source of support to address them.

Protect your staff by getting a waste review. It’s a dependable, proven way to protect your time, your staff’s time, and ultimately, your bottom line.

How could a waste review protect your time? Let us know in the comments below!

Andrea Suarez 10/12/21 Andrea Suarez 10/12/21

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 questions.

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.

Andrea Suarez 10/7/21 Andrea Suarez 10/7/21

Hurting for Time? Three Ways We Make Your Company More Efficient: Part 1

Most companies have struggled since the onset of the pandemic. It’s caused economic upheaval and unemployment rates are still trying to recover.

As a result, you may find yourself shorter on time than ever. You may struggle with staffing. And you may find yourself with reduced profit margins to boot.

What’s a company to do?

A waste review expert can help alleviate three of the most pressing issues for most companies right now:

lack of time
lack of staffing
lack of resources

For the next three weeks, we’ll discuss each of these topics.

Today, let’s focus on the first item and answer the following questions: how can a waste review help companies protect their time?

A waste review helps companies save time by delegating the review process.

Most companies are overspending on waste - we estimate this number hovers around 90% in the US. But, most companies don’t know this. And even if they did, they likely wouldn’t know how to assess their current waste issues or what to do in order to correct these problems.

This is where a waste review expert like us comes in handy. We’ve been doing waste reviews for almost 20 years. We know where to find your hidden waste problems. We know the questions to ask, the documents to review, and how to handle hauler communications. And we know how to implement the solutions you actually need.

Your team doesn’t have time to learn the right way to do an analysis then to complete a thorough one.

We do.

You can save three months of effort (the typical length of time it takes to complete a waste audit). And because our method has proven to work, you can know that there’s a 90% chance that at the end of that time, you’ll save 10-30% off of your waste expenses.

A waste review expert helps companies save time by handling service and billing issues.

Service issues can be intimidating for the uninitiated. We handled hundreds of service issues for our clients ranging from small things like missed pick-ups to larger issues like haulers who repeatedly leave trash strewn across the property.

We’ve taken the lead on behalf of multiple clients for their billing mistakes large and small as well. Haulers sometimes make mistakes that are significant. If invoices are not reviewed, you can end up overpaying by thousands over time. (We estimate billing errors occur about 10% of the time over a year.) Why take this chance?

Your staff likely don’t have the time to deal with gnarly service issues. They may not have the time to review every invoice that comes in. Let them prioritize other issues, and delegate customer service and billing review to people who know how to protect your interests.

A waste review helps companies save time by preventing waste issues.

Our services are designed not only to fix current problems, but to prevent future ones. We do this in two ways.

First, when we initially review your waste management process, we do it thoroughly. We review every waste stream and do everything we can to eliminate inefficiencies. We recommend changes that will reduce your costs, like changing equipment size, varying pick-up days, or reducing the number of pick-ups per week.

We also have the capability to collect data using sensitive cameras installed on your waste equipment. As a result, we can track missed pickups and fill levels. This allows us to make sure you get compensated for missed pickups. It also gives us a way to ensure you’re getting serviced as often as you need: if your fill levels are consistently low when they are picked up, we’ll be able to see that and update your service levels accordingly.

We also review your waste needs at the end of your contract term. Waste needs change over time, and we want you to be able to maximize every savings opportunity available to you. We make sure you still have the most cost-effective vendor by negotiating prices. We make sure you’re using the most efficient waste equipment.

All of this ensures that we are able to protect your bottom line. Missed pick-ups don’t go unnoticed. And service levels and equipment are optimized. And your waste expenses go towards what you actually need - not what your waste hauler “thinks” you need.

Protect your time with a waste review. It’s a dependable, proven way to protect your time, your staff’s time, and ultimately, your bottom line.

How could a waste review protect your time? Let us know in the comments below!

Andrea Suarez 10/5/21 Andrea Suarez 10/5/21

5 Reasons Why You Should Overspend on Waste - Part 1

As strange as it sounds, there are in fact some solid reasons to overspend on waste.

There are 5 reasons why you should overspend on your waste and recycling disposal expenses.

You can afford to make your waste hauler rich
You love inefficiency.
You don’t like to delegate to experts.
You like having waste problems.
You like to ignore relevant data.

In this series, we’ll explore all the reasons you should keep overspending by 10-30% on your waste expenses. In this blog post (part 1 of a 2-part series), we’ll look at reasons 1-3.

You can afford to make your waste hauler rich

But chances are, this isn’t true.

You love waste service and equipment inefficiency.

You don’t like to delegate to experts.

You can keep overspending on waste . . . but you don’t have to.

But if these reasons aren’t true of you - if you value your resources and your time - then you can chose to stop overspending on waste expenses.

Are there other reasons to keep overspending on waste? Let me know in the comments below!

Andrea Suarez 10/4/21 Andrea Suarez 10/4/21

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

Not too long ago, we sat down with one of our long-time clients, Patrick Theismann. We wanted to get his perspective on what it’s really like to work with us, and how we were able to help him and his team consistently reduce waste expenses.

Read part 1 of the full interview below!

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!

Andrea Suarez 9/30/21 Andrea Suarez 9/30/21

Your 5 Hidden Waste Problems (and Their Solutions)

You’re overpaying on your waste and recycling expenses by 10-3%, just like most companies nationwide.

Here are the five ways you’re overpaying:

- 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.

Doing any one of these things will result in overspending. Doing all of them guarantees it!

In this blog, I’ll walk you through the basics of each topic and show you how these problems are leading to overspending on waste expenses in your location portfolio. Ready? Let's dive in!

Problem #1: You’re overpaying because your contract allows price hikes.

Let’s talk about what price spikes are, how they affect your bills, and how to tell whether your contract limits them.

What are price hikes? Haulers count on raising profits by consistently increasing or hiking up the rates of service.

Most haulers will not enter an agreement unless they are making at least a 15% profit, and their profit margins will almost always increase every year. (Some haulers make as much as 100% or more in profit!)

We’ve seen haulers raise prices as much as four times a year at a 5-10% increase. These incremental increases add up.

Say you’ve employed a hauler for four years. You started paying them $1,000 a month. Four years later, you could be paying as much $1,500 a month or more!

That’s a 50% increase - at just one property. Think about how much you’ll be paying a year from now, or two, or ten.

Ask your accounting team to log on to your hauler portal and review the invoices from the past year. Are there noticeable increases?

If you don't have a copy of your waste hauler contract, ask your hauler to send you a copy.

Your waste equipment comprises every waste and recycling receptacle serviced by your hauler. These include:

- Compactors

- Front Load Dumpsters

- Open Top Dumpsters

- Balers

- Toters

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.

You’ll also overpay if your service levels are incorrect. “Service levels” indicate how often trash and recycling is picked up at your locations.

About 70% of the clients we’ve worked with in the past 18 years have been serviced too frequently!

Are you one of them?

Problem #2: How Your Service Levels are Ineffective

Your hauler is paid to pick up your trash, not to find cost-cutting waste solutions.

As a result, in the 18 years we’ve been in business we’ve seen inaccurate service levels occur in almost every state - regardless of which waste vendor was employed.

What exactly do we mean by inaccurate service levels? We mean that your real waste disposal needs have no correlation with what you’re paying for.

You may be paying for 5 pick-ups a week when you only actually need 2. Or, alternatively, your dumpsters are too big.

How would we know the difference? Let’s walk through an example that shows the level of detail we frequently use to maximize savings.

Suppose you have a location in Raleigh, NC with two-6 yard dumpsters that is serviced three times a week by Waste Management.

We would find out:

How full those containers are when serviced
The equipment history for the site
Pricing options for larger dumpsters
Pricing options for less frequent service
Whether the materials in these containers can be recycled
Whether the hauler frequently misses pick ups
If there is a history of overage fees

These questions would give us the full picture of your current waste process. Let’s assume we find that your dumpsters are only about half full when serviced, and that it’s more cost-effective to pay for larger dumpsters that get serviced fewer times per week. A typical client in this scenario could save as much $3000 over the lifetime of their waste hauler contract.

Problem # 3: You don’t know market waste rates.

Let's look at the third way you may be overspending: you don’t know market rates for waste and recycling services.

We’ll go behind the scenes of the waste hauler industry and show you how haulers can take advantage of what you don’t know.

Let’s talk about what market rates are, why knowing them creates accountability, and how that accountability results in savings.

Market rates means the going rate of waste and recycling services in your area. We wish there were uniform rates throughout the country, but this just isn’t the case. A “good” rate in Virginia may be an astronomically “bad” rate in Idaho.

Your average market rates are dependent on three aspects:

The number of haulers in your area.
Your geographic location.
Consumer tolerance for price hikes.

Your market rates can also be affected by other factors like fuel and equipment prices.

Keep in mind that market rates are average rates, but not the required rate. We find most of our savings for clients through capping price spikes, eliminating ancillary fees, and implementing ideal service levels. The “market rate” can almost always be improved by an independent auditor. We know how to work within industry constraints to find every savings opportunity available to you!

We just worked with a client in Roanoke, Virginia that was charged almost $235 a month for one 8-yard dumpster by Republic Services. We found another area hauler that charged $120 a month for the same service - which amounted to a $4140 in savings over the 3-year term of that contract. And that was just at one site!

Problem #4: You’re paying ancillary invoice fees

Your hauler would rather keep you in the dark about negotiable fees.

With our assistance, the majority of our clients pay a reduced fuel fee and administrative fee on their contract. If your contract prohibits fees, you don’t have to pay them.

Here are two of the most common fees.

Container Service Plan: This is a fee that was automatically added to most Waste Management accounts a few years ago. Enrollment in this plan allows you to replace your container at will.

Fuel/environmental fee: Almost everyone gets this charge on their invoice.

Basically, the hauler is charging you for the gas it takes to get to your site and deliver your trash to the dump. But here’s the thing - they charge everyone on their route a fuel fee.

They are more than recouping the cost of gas. And with no limits in place on your agreement, your fuel and environment fees are likely to skyrocket at will.

If you have a bad contract, you’ll pay these fees in addition to your price spikes, overages, and extra trip fees - for every location in your portfolio. These little fees add up fast. This is why our clients rarely pay the entirety of these fees. We close all the loopholes in our clients contract that allow haulers to charge these fees.

Problem #5: Your contract auto- renews

We don’t want you to be like most companies nationwide who are massively overpaying on their waste and recycling expenses. In this section, we’ll look at what an auto-renewal term clause is, where you can find it in your contract, and why it’s important to eradicate it.

Most haulers are betting on the fact that you’re not going to remember when your contract expires - typically three or five years from the day you sign it.

They know that if you are aware of this date you may choose to go with a different hauler or change your contract. So most contracts have what is called an automatic renewal clause. It means that unless someone intervenes, your contract will automatically renew without notice and without your input.

Waste needs often change over time, and waste service levels may need adjusting. 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.

Both options can contribute to thousands of dollars in savings over time.

If there was a possibility that a 15 minute phone call could save you over $100,000 each year, would you make time for it?

Anita Huffman, the Corporate Finance Director at TWE Smart Nonwoven Solutions, did. As a result, her company will save $300,000 in the next three years! How much could you save?

Click here to schedule a call with us today!

Andrea Suarez 9/28/21 Andrea Suarez 9/28/21

How to Renew Your Waste Hauler Contract

You should only renew your contract if you meet both of the following criteria. First, your contract may be about to expire. Most hauler contracts have a length of five years, then they automatically renew for another term. Most terms are a minimum of one year, but some contracts will renew for another five year term.

If you find yourself in the window of time prior to your contract renewing, you’re in luck! You have the freedom to evaluate whether there is better pricing or better service to be had.

Ensure your contract has these specifications, and you’ll maximize your savings opportunities.

Want to know exactly which clauses you should include in your contract?

Just click here: “Waste Contract Scorecard.”

You need to know for sure that your hauler has the best available pricing. You need to know that you are receiving the best price and the best service.

In this article, we will thoroughly examine the steps to renewing your waste hauler contract with your current vendor. (Looking to get a new contract?)

To get a new waste hauler contract with your current vendor, you’ll need to:

Cancel your auto-renewal clause.
Reach out to your sales accountant.
Create a new contract.

Carefully completing these steps will set you up for current savings and future opportunities.

Prior to Renewing a Waste Hauler Contract

Before you get a new contract with your current hauler, ask yourself these questions:

Do I know for sure that no better pricing is available from other area haulers?
Am I satisfied with the current vendor’s service record?
Is the current hauler easy to work with?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, now is not the time to renew your contract! You need to know for sure that your current hauler is actually the best option for you.

Cancel your auto-renewal clause.

Cancelling this clause will give you the time you need to create a new contract. If you don’t cancel this clause, your contract will almost certainly renew with your current terms. This is likely not ideal because your current contract probably guarantees you’ll overspend on your waste expenses. Most contracts don’t have clauses that limit price hikes, or ancillary fees. And they don’t typically include service provisions and term limits of 3 years. Have these specifics ensures you maximize your savings opportunities.

To make sure these clauses make it into your contract, you must cancel the auto-renewal clause so you have time to draw up a new one.

Reach out to your account manager.

You must also reach out to your account manager to let them know that you are creating a new contract with additional specifications and that you are cancelling the auto-renewal clause.

In our experience, it can be difficult to get in touch with your account manager. You may need to call the general customer service line to get in touch with them; they may not have a direct line (you may rightly be suspicious as to why that is). You will also want to follow up with an email that details what you are going to do. It is always critical to have this information in writing, so that if anything is later called into question you can point to your documentation.

Some account managers are not going to be pleased since they know your specifications will likely cut into possible profits. In the event that you encounter resistance, you may need to remind your hauler that you want to agree on a contract that is mutually beneficial - not just one sided. Assure them that they will still retain your business as long as the pricing is comparable to area service rates and quality of service remains high.

Set up a new waste contract.

In almost every contract we negotiate, we try to have the following clauses in the contract.

Language limiting price spikes. This is by far the biggest way you’ll save. Depending on which hauler you employ, they may agree to limiting raises in your rates to one or two a year, and capped by a certain percentage. It may require a bit of haggling, but in the long run this contract specification will can easily save you thousands of dollars at one location. Read more about contract problems and solutions here.
No auto renewal clause. Eradicating this clause will give you the time you need to evaluate the very best pricing and service options for your waste disposal needs. It gives you the freedom to review and change contract specifications before the same old (often expensive) stipulations automatically renew.
A service provision. If you’ve ever had service issues at any one of your sites, you probably understand why this clause is so critical. If your hauler fails to perform, you need an easy out of your contract.
Short terms. We highly recommend getting three year contract terms instead of five year terms. You need the freedom to review your market waste disposal options as frequently as possible so that you can take advantage of better pricing. Shorter terms allow you to do just that, thus saving you money.
Limited or eliminated ancillary clauses. There’s no law saying that fees have to appear on your invoices. We prefer to have them included in the rate since your base rates are hopefully already capped. It’s really hard for your hauler to bump up your fuel charge if your contract prohibits you from having one.

Andrea Suarez 9/23/21 Andrea Suarez 9/23/21

Real Stories: Saving on Waste Expenses {Free Download}

Waste reviews are, unfortunately, not common practice in most industries. As a result, most companies overspend by 10-30% every month on too much service, inflated rates, and inefficient waste equipment.

We’ve compiled the most common waste issues in an easy-to-download document that is interspersed with our client’s take on our process. It’s the real deal, and will hopefully help you understand how other companies just like yours have saved.

Download Now

Many of you have likely wondered: “Can a waste audit really help me? Will it save me 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 whitepaper, 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.

Andrea Suarez 9/21/21 Andrea Suarez 9/21/21

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!

Andrea Suarez 9/16/21 Andrea Suarez 9/16/21

How Much Can I Save On My Waste Spend?

Hundreds of businesses are continually overspending on waste disposal, reduction, and removal, yet so few of them are taking active measures to rescue their spending.

We want to help you find your hidden problems, their solutions - and start immediately helping your bottom line.

How much am I overspending?

If you’re spending more than $10,000 a month on waste, we can likely help you save 20%-40% on your waste spend. For some companies it will be a little less (LINK), for others, it will be more (LINK).

This is the average amount of savings for a company. How did we come up with this average? In the 17 years we’ve been in business we’ve helped hundreds of clients. And we typically have saved them 20-40% on their waste spend.

Why is this number so dependable?

It’s because we’ve been overseeing the industry for 18 years. In short, because 90% of all our clients for the past 18 years overspend.

If you’re spending north of $10,000 on waste, there’s a 90% chance you’re overspending. We help mid-size companies across every industry reduce and manage their waste. Most companies need our services. They’re overspending, and they have no idea.

We know how the waste industry operates. They’re going to try to overcharge you. Your waste hauling rates are going to increase, and you’re going to be charged for all kinds of fees that aren’t really service related (LINK).

They’re going to overcharge you because it’s the industry norm: because they can. These haulers rely on the way that waste disposal and waste reduction contracts are so infrequently reviewed and prey upon that by implementing a variety of charges.

What if you don’t find any savings?

Over the years, there have only been a small percentage (about 10%) of companies that don’t benefit from our services.

There can be any number of reasons for this. Sometimes certain markets are really tough. Other times, there are external factors that keep the companies from savings.

When we don’t find any savings for a company, we actually see this as a benefit for them. First, the company now knows for certain that they’re paying fair prices for their waste spend.

They know that their contracts are airtight, and they know that what they’re paying is commensurate with the market.

Secondly, the company just got a free waste audit. We don’t believe that you should pay for something you don’t benefit from. It’s part of our performance-based pricing. If our services aren’t of benefit to you, you don’t owe us anything. You only pay us when we find savings that affect your bottom line. Here’s more ways that our audit can prove to be beneficial. (LINK)

How do we help reduce your Commercial Waste cost?

We have worked to construct a system of accountability and investigation that has evolved into a proven reduction formula.

We help hold hauling companies accountable for their billing information and the contracts they create, we recognize the ways that they intentionally overcharge, and we ensure a reduced and beneficial contract renegotiation.

During our audit, we also assess a number of different variables that could contribute to overspending on waste removal, things like improper equipment and location of equipment. You can find five specific ways we do just that here.

You can’t afford not to have our services!

Our end goal is to save a company all the money that has been unknowingly shoveled out to waste haulers. We find a considerable number of companies struggle with regulating their waste removal spending and are regularly taken advantage of. We strive to

Andrea Suarez 9/14/21 Andrea Suarez 9/14/21

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.

Andrea Suarez 9/9/21 Andrea Suarez 9/9/21

Score your waste management process!

90% of companies are overspending on their waste disposal process, but they don’t know! These problems remain hidden because most people don’t know what to look for.

So we made a scorecard for you to evaluate your waste. We tell you exactly what to look for, and help you score yourself accordingly.

You can know for sure if you need a waste review. You can know for sure if your waste contract is helping you save. You can know for sure if you are protected from indiscriminate price hikes.

Just click the button below to find out. It’ll take you or your staff less than 30 minutes to fill out - and it could save you thousands in the process.

Download Now

The scorecard’s questions are divided into three parts:

Contracts
Service Levels
Customer Service

Each section will thoroughly evaluate your current waste management process.

At the end you’ll know exactly what you need to do to make the process more cost effective and efficient. You’ll know how to address each of your waste disposal problems - and save!

Andrea Suarez 9/7/21 Andrea Suarez 9/7/21

Five Pieces of Waste Equipment You Can't Not Know About

“Right,” you may be thinking “what could possibly be so important about waste equipment?” A lot - especially when you take into account how much one dirty little dumpster can affect your profit margin!

“Right,” you may be thinking “what could possibly be so important about waste equipment? Aren’t dumpsters pretty self-explanatory? What could possibly be so important about waste equipment? ”

The waste equipment you have and how you use it is so important - one dirty little dumpster can have a huge affect your bottom line!

One of our recent clients found this out the hard way. We started working with a manufacturing company in summer of 2018. At one of their locations in South Carolina, they were paying almost $200 a month for renting their open top container. But we found them a better vendor that would only charge $50 per month. The client ended up paying about $1700 less a year for the dumpster, and $25,500 less per year for that location.

One little dumpster can mean thousands of dollars in overspending per year.

Psst! Learn about the top ways you’re overspending - for free!

If it’s on your location, each piece of equipment in the list below is affecting your bottom line. The more you know about each of them, the more informed decisions you can make about their uses, and the more you might be able to save.

And since we know you can’t spend all day looking at waste equipment, we’ve boiled it down to the five most important ones.

So take a deep breath, hold your nose, and let’s dive into the world of waste equipment!

Toters

Did you ever take your family’s trash to the curb as a kid? You loved it, right? Or maybe you’re one of those anomalies like our CEO, Tyler Brunson, who enjoys taking out the trash as an adult! Either way, you’ve seen one of these. Their best feature? Wheels. Meaning that instead of dragging it down your never-ending driveway, all you had to do was tilt and pull. Kids the world over rejoiced.

In the waste industry this is called a toter.

Size: Usually about 43” high, 36” deep, 96 gallon capacity

Use: Residential, multi-family units, or smaller businesses

Cost: Flat monthly fee

Dumpsters

Dumpsters can come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors, but there are four different kinds:

Front Load Dumpsters (also known as FELs)
Front Load Dumpsters with Casters
Rear Load Dumpsters
Rear Load Dumpsters with Casters

Of all these types, the front load dumpster like the one in the video is the most popular. If you have a dumpster on your property, it’s probably this one! The front load dumpster gets picked up from - you guessed it - the rear.

Restaurants, apartment buildings, shopping centers, office complexes and convenience stores most often use dumpsters for their waste disposal.

Dumpsters with casters are used mostly in urban areas. They may be stored in one place, like the basement of a high-rise or an alley, then wheeled out to the street to be picked up.

Some fast facts:

Size: 4, 6, and 8 yard (by total cubic yardage capacity)

Use: Consistent, relatively light waste streams

Cost: Flat fee based on the size and the frequency of pick-up

Open-Top (or Roll-off)

If you’ve ever walked by a construction site, chances are that you’ve seen one of these.

Like the dumpsters above, these come in several sizes.

Size: 20, 30, 40 yard sizes

Use: Often for construction waste, but they are also used for heavy, bulky items that won’t fit in smaller containers. These containers are perfect for hauling refuse like large pieces of wood, old furniture, or metal scraps.

Cost: There’s a flat fee per pick-up, a rental fee, and a fee based on actual weight.

Compactors

Remember the trash compacter scene in Star Wars? Han Solos, Leah, Luke, and Wookie find themselves in a compacter the size of a room that gets turned on. It’s a great scene, and - spoiler alert - they survive.

Fortunately, most commercial compactors don’t ever see that much excitement.

For businesses that produce a significant volume of waste, compactors can really help reduce how much space your garbage takes up in the dumpster. (And, if you believe the gentleman above, they’re fun to use!) When your garbage takes up less space, your hauler shouldn’t have to come pick it up as often. This is a great way to reduce waste expenses.

There are two types of compactors: self-contained and breakaway. Since there are some big differences between the two, we’ve used the chart below to compare size and uses.

There are three fees for compactors regardless of type:

Flat fee per pick-up
Rental Fee
Fee based on actual weight (charged by the ton)

Self-contained compactors tend to be more expensive to lease because the equipment is more expense for the hauler to purchase.

It’s worth noting that some haulers will charge the actual tonnage fee that the landfill charges to them to dispose of the waste. Other haulers will charge you more - the landfill tonnage fee and whatever else they feel like charging you as profit.

Balers

Up to your eyeballs in cardboard? You may need a baler. A commercial baler like this one packages waste products like cardboard, newspaper, shrinkwrap, plastic, clothes, or even tires! Balers are a great way to save space and money.

Size: 60 - 72”

Use: to flatten and package waste for recycling or selling.

Cost: Lease for a flat monthly rate or purchase

Conclusion

Toters, dumpsters, open-tops, compactors and balers have specific uses, dimensions, and costs. When they’re used strategically and serviced appropriately, they can help you keep your waste expenses to a minimum. Now that you’re familiar with each type you understand how they are used at your location - and maybe even have some ideas about how new equipment could save time and resources.

What questions do you have about waste equipment? Let me know in the comments below.

Andrea Suarez 9/2/21 Andrea Suarez 9/2/21

How to Overspend on Your Garbage Dumpsters {Infographic}

Spoiler alert: you’re probably overspending on your dumpsters. Most companies are doing these exact things, and paying way more than they should. See below for three of the most common ways people overspend on their dumpsters.

How to Overspend on Your Dumpsters This Month.jpg