What We Do:

The Cost Reduction Company helps small businesses decrease their overhead expenses and increase their bottom line. Did you know the fastest way to increase your bottom line (and sustain it) is by managing your overhead? Reducing your overhead by just 1.7% can increase your bottom line by 10%.

Are you being over-charged for basic overhead services like Internet, phone, mobile, credit card, print, copy, IT, water, gas, electric, fax, fire, burglar, elevator and emergency lines?

The first step toward decreasing your overhead and increasing your bottom line is to have us do a NO COST INSPECTION of your invoices to see if we can eliminate any unauthorized charges, double billings, services not being delivered, or unapproved price increases.

If we don't find any real savings, there will be no fee, and you will hopefully sleep well knowing that you are not overpaying for your overhead. If we are able to reduce your overhead, you will keep 2/3 of the savings, and our fee will be the other 1/3.

How We Do It:

STEP 1

• A signed agreement gets us started.
• Your current invoices give us what we need to begin breaking down your costs.
• A letter of authorization lets us get the contract terms and other details from each service provider.

STEP 2

• We will break down your expenses and contract terms for each of the services you select, and provide my recommendations to reduce these costs without impacting your service levels.
• This process takes 1-2 weeks per service to complete, and 30-60 minutes to present.

STEP 3

• We will implement the recommendations that you approve. This will take from 1 to 6 weeks.
• We will also review your invoices each quarter for the term of this agreement and hold your service providers to the negotiated pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How can a small business keep costs under control?

  • Conduct Regular Expense Audits

  • Optimize Vendor Negotiations

  • Reduce Unnecessary Expenses

  • Improve Inventory Management

  • Automate Financial Tracking

  • Leverage Outsourcing When Needed

  • Implement Energy-Efficient Practices

  • Streamline Operations & Reduce Waste

  • Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) & Adjust Accordingly

  • Encourage a Cost-Conscious Culture

How do service providers manage to increase their pricing without telling you?

  • When a provider offers service without a contract, it's not for your sake. It means they can change their pricing at any time. Guaranteed pricing without a written contract is not guaranteed.

  • Even with a contract, when you remove or downgrade services, the small print typically says that your provider can increase their pricing.

  • Unlimited usage is not unlimited. Most wireless providers use the term "Unlimited" in the name of their offerings. Most of these are unlimited talk and text, but not unlimited data. If you call in for service, the provider typically incentivizes their service personnel to sell additional services, and they often times do so without making it clear that these services are not included in your current pricing.

  • Simple fraud explains many price increases. When a provider incentivizes their sales people to sell products that customers don't need or want, it is not uncommon for them to show up on the customer's invoice.

  • Being talked into something you don’t need by a commissioned salesperson is another likely occurrence. This is especially common when the customer is unfamiliar with the technical language or without the technical ability to measure what is actually being provided. For instance, when a salesperson recommends more Internet bandwidth, it is very difficult for the customer to know if received it or if this is something they really need.

How do you know what you are actually getting from a vendor when you don’t understand their technospeak?

  • Before speaking to the vendor, write down the real-world problems in your business that you would like them to solve. Include how this problem impacts your business and what success would look like. For example, Problem A is causing shipping delays, and you would like to decrease the average shipping time from 2 days to 1 day. By providing this information, you will get more direct and honest feedback from the vendor as to whether their solution is a good fit.

  • If a term is unclear, request a simple, non-technical explanation. For example, if a vendor says something like “we leverage the latest blahblahblah,” ask them how blahblahblah would help you achieve the shipping goal problem listed above? Don’t just trust the vendor’s word it. Make them translate their jargon into business language that you understand. If you are not confident with their translation, use a 3rd party expert who can translate it for you.

  • If you are just working with a salesperson (who is incentivized to convince you that their products can do everything you need), request a meeting with their engineering team or even better their service team to answer the questions above.

  • In the contract, clarify deliverables, timelines, and performance expectations. Include clauses for service level agreements, cancellation, and renewal terms so you know exactly what you’re getting.

  • Get multiple competitive bids and ask each bidder why they think their product would be better than the others in solving your business problems.

How do you know if the company you are buying from is actually qualified to deliver the service you want?

  • Rely on experience, not marketing. With today’s technology, anyone, and I mean anyone, can have a website that says they are experts at everything, even if they have never delivered a single solution in this area of expertise.

  • Get referrals from businesses you know who use the service you are looking for. References provided by the service provider are never going to be anything less than their favorite customer (possibly a brother-in-law who pays 50% less than what you would pay.)

  • Ask the vendor if you can talk to a real customer who is using their service to solve the problems you have listed above. If they cannot recommend another business for this purpose, think hard about moving to the next vendor, or at a very minimum, ask for a free trial of their service so you can see for yourself if it is going to work in your business.