What We Don't Do - Part 1

What we do is pretty unique - we are independent waste auditors that find every savings opportunity you’re sitting on.

We do this through our audits, a remote, detailed analysis of your waste and recycling processes.

But there are some important things we don’t do as waste consultants. We’ve made deliberate decisions to offer services that benefit you and your bottom line.

This is why we don’t:

• Obscure our pricing.

• Pay vendor bills on your behalf.

Not doing these things ensures no surprises on your end. We don’t believe in being anything less than transparent, whether it comes to our rates, our billing practices, or our services.

We don’t obscure our pricing.

We bill for 50% of the savings we find for you.

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

This means that our services are not an added business expense or line item. You pay us exclusively out of the savings we find for you - our process is cash-flow positive.

This method of pricing motivates us to find your maximum savings opportunities. It’s part of what makes our audit process so thorough. We’re not going to easily overlook potential cost-cutting solutions if we know it will hurt our compensation! We find that this pricing method actually serves your best interests: more savings are found when we have a stake in the game.

We don’t get paid unless we benefit you and your bottom line. If you paid us upfront, it would not only be an added business expense for you, but we would not be as motivated to find savings.

If we don’t find any savings opportunities for you, you don’t owe us anything. After all, why pay for a service if you don’t directly benefit from it?

We don’t pay hauler invoices on your behalf.

We don’t ever pay your waste hauler, utility, or telecom bills on your behalf. We’re not waste brokers -  we think you should see your bills and know what you’re paying for. Brokers and some consultants will often package waste hauler bills and their own fees in one tidy little bill. It can be convenient for larger companies that don’t want the hassle of keeping track of multiple invoices for their many locations.

But it can obscure what exactly you’re paying for. You get one bill from the broker that will likely only have one amount listed. This amount is conglomerate of services at all properties, and will also typically include his broker fee. This method provides you no transparency. You have to rely on your broker and trust that he is being honest with you.

Suppose your broker hands you an invoice that is 30% larger than last month’s invoice. Your broker may tell you that waste hauler fees have gone up, or that you had a standard price hike at two locations. (Brokers are not financially motivated to negotiate contracts that are in your best interest. They may choose to do so - but they may not.) But in reality, your broker may have decided that his fees should increase. Obscuring what you are being charged opens the possibility for unfair spikes and charges to occur.

In order to prevent this, we have a different standard billing practice. We set up ideal contracts, service levels, and waste equipment, but all of the bills for every waste, recycling, and valet vendor are sent to the appropriate party or parties at your companies. They don’t go through us beforehand, so you’ll never get a hauler bill from us.

We will, however, audit those invoices. For most clients, we can obtain online log-on information from you or your staff that allows us to see these invoices on the hauler website. We find hauler invoices contain errors about 10% of the time, so we are careful to ensure that the line items on your invoice match the pricing or service levels dictated in your contract.

What We Don't Do - Part 1

What we do is pretty unique - we are independent waste auditors that find every savings opportunity you’re sitting on.

We do this through our audits, a remote, detailed analysis of your waste and recycling processes.

But there are some important things we don’t do as waste consultants. We’ve made deliberate decisions to offer services that benefit you and your bottom line.

This is why we don’t:

• Obscure our pricing.

• Pay vendor bills on your behalf.

Not doing these things ensures no surprises on your end. We don’t believe in being anything less than transparent, whether it comes to our rates, our billing practices, or our services.

We don’t obscure our pricing.

We bill for 50% of the savings we find for you.

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

This means that our services are not an added business expense or line item. You pay us exclusively out of the savings we find for you - our process is cash-flow positive.

This method of pricing motivates us to find your maximum savings opportunities. It’s part of what makes our audit process so thorough. We’re not going to easily overlook potential cost-cutting solutions if we know it will hurt our compensation! We find that this pricing method actually serves your best interests: more savings are found when we have a stake in the game.

We don’t get paid unless we benefit you and your bottom line. If you paid us upfront, it would not only be an added business expense for you, but we would not be as motivated to find savings.

If we don’t find any savings opportunities for you, you don’t owe us anything. After all, why pay for a service if you don’t directly benefit from it?

We don’t pay hauler invoices on your behalf.

We don’t ever pay your waste hauler, utility, or telecom bills on your behalf. We’re not waste brokers -  we think you should see your bills and know what you’re paying for. Brokers and some consultants will often package waste hauler bills and their own fees in one tidy little bill. It can be convenient for larger companies that don’t want the hassle of keeping track of multiple invoices for their many locations.

But it can obscure what exactly you’re paying for. You get one bill from the broker that will likely only have one amount listed. This amount is conglomerate of services at all properties, and will also typically include his broker fee. This method provides you no transparency. You have to rely on your broker and trust that he is being honest with you.

Suppose your broker hands you an invoice that is 30% larger than last month’s invoice. Your broker may tell you that waste hauler fees have gone up, or that you had a standard price hike at two locations. (Brokers are not financially motivated to negotiate contracts that are in your best interest. They may choose to do so - but they may not.) But in reality, your broker may have decided that his fees should increase. Obscuring what you are being charged opens the possibility for unfair spikes and charges to occur.

In order to prevent this, we have a different standard billing practice. We set up ideal contracts, service levels, and waste equipment, but all of the bills for every waste, recycling, and valet vendor are sent to the appropriate party or parties at your companies. They don’t go through us beforehand, so you’ll never get a hauler bill from us.

We will, however, audit those invoices. For most clients, we can obtain online log-on information from you or your staff that allows us to see these invoices on the hauler website. We find hauler invoices contain errors about 10% of the time, so we are careful to ensure that the line items on your invoice match the pricing or service levels dictated in your contract.

Guide to Waste Consultants {2020 Updated Version}

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

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

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

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

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

• The problem

• How we find savings

• How you can benefit

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

The Problem with Your Waste Management Process

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

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

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

• Having ancillary waste or vendor charges on their invoices

• Having a waste hauler contract that auto-renews

• Having a hauler contract that allows price hikes

• Having incorrect disposal or recycling service levels

• Having expensive service rates

• Not having a waste ally

Read more about your waste issues here.

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

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

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

How We Find Savings on Waste and Recycling Spend

We follow the same six basic steps for every company:

• Assign WCI Personnel

• Review Waste Expenses

• Identify Cost Reduction Opportunities

• Develop Recommendations

• Implement Recommendations

• Provide a monthly savings report

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

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

Tony and Allen have seen it all. They know all about under-performing waste vendors. They can find the holes in your contract because they’ve seen the very worst of the worst. And they know how to adapt our proven process to fit your industry, your locations, and your needs. 

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

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

For every account, we ask that you sign a Letter of Authorization so that we can ask waste and utility vendors to work with us on your behalf. We also ask for utility invoices and current service agreements - or the account log on information so that we can access them. 

Then, the review starts. For waste reviews, we look at your invoice history, and we complete 12-month audits on any equipment that is larger than an 8 yard dumpsters. Right off the bat, our PMs will know if you’re overpaying for a dumpster based on its monthly rate, or if you need to decrease frequency of pick-ups at a certain location.

But other information is not nearly so straightforward. For anything larger than a 8 yard dumpster, we have to evaluate your tonnage, and your frequency of pickup. Do you really need to be serviced twice a week? Or is bi-weekly service ideal? We’ll also ask you questions about your customer service experience. The hauler you have may have great rates, but suppose he’s only servicing one of your locations once a week instead of twice a week. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio. 

Then we find other pricing options. This is really where our expertise comes in handy. Do other reputable haulers have better rates? Are you in the right utility rate structure? If your contract has less than ideal terms, we evaluate whether it’s best to try to renegotiate the contract, or terminate it altogether.

Termination is pretty rare - we only recommend doing so if it is in your immediate best interest financially. Typically, our clients stay with their current haulers and we simply renegotiate their current contract. 

How You Benefit from Our Services

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

We make sure you don’t leave any savings opportunities on the table - which is why we have a success rate of over 90%. If you’re paying for waste or utilities, you’re probably overpaying. And you don’t need to. 

We provide a report that shows the amount you’ll save on a month to month basis, but we’ll also show you how those savings compounds over time.

Waste and utility expenses are recurring, so whatever you savings we implement adds up quickly. Hundreds saved each months translates to thousands - even hundreds of thousands - for the duration of your vendor contract. 

This report also shows the savings at each and every location. And it shows your bill for that month. (We share in the savings at a rate of 50%.  So we’re motivated to find all possible savings opportunities!) 

Where there are service changes, we ensure a smooth transition. We manage contract cancellations and arbitrate any kick-back we get from the haulers. When there’s a really major problem, we’ll bring it to your attention. But for the most part, we are able to do what we do with minimal inconvenience to you and your staff. 

And going forward, we audit all of your invoices. We find errors 10% of the time, and those errors can be costly! So we make sure your waste and utility vendors are upholding their end of the bargain; that they’re charging you what they’ve agreed to in your contract. 

When service issues arise, we’re your first line of defense. We stay on top of the situation until it’s resolved. We wait on hold forty-five minutes, and we make multiple calls to your site managers and your vendors. Then we make sure that whatever resolution is promised actually happens.

Companies across the nation are benefiting from our services. You can’t afford not to!

Explore your options. Schedule a short, informal consult with our CEO, Tyler Brunson. He’ll shoot you straight about how our services can benefit you - and show you how our services can protect your bottom line for years to come.

What questions do you have about what we do? Let me know in the comments below!