Where to Look
January 26, 2018
It is always nice to hear good things about our company
When I was on the other side of the table
Looking to make a major purchase or an upgrade
I always made it a point
To get as much information as possible
I was looking to see
Who would be the most qualified
To implement the program or vision
We looked to achieve
I never liked long winded explanations
Just give me the facts
When giving the presentation
Give an apple to apples comparison
That is the only way you can make an objective decision
If a presentation leads to more questions than answers
I found that disheartening
Why am I babbling about this…
Recently…I was delighted
When a client complimented HBS
On the completeness of our presentation
They went on to say…..
We interviewed another broker…
Their presentation was confusing….
Leaving more questions than answers….
They felt our proposal was self-explanatory
It provided all the information they needed to know
They liked our attention to detail
Our proposal also noted
What items were under contract
And their expiration dates
Our goal has always been…
Define the client’s needs…
Properly address the client’s needs…
Show value with our solution….
Build a relationship of trust with the client….
Continually educate our clients
Everything we do
Is done with the client’s best interest in mind
HBS has provided substantial savings
To many of the Delaware Valley’s
Most successful firms
Many were surprised to find savings from 20% up to 40% and more
Deregulated Energy…Communication…Unemployment Taxes…Sales Tax…Property Tax
How do we do it…
We know where to look
Looks What’s New
June 27, 2016
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The Little Things
November 30, 2010
I was driving down the Garden State Parkway a couple of weeks ago and I was enjoying the full color spectrum of the fall trees. Some of the trees were beginning to lose leaves but looking on a mile or so ahead, it presented a beautiful view.
I really love this time of year and how God uses the landscape to paint a perfect picture.
Turning onto the Atlantic City Expressway, I started to notice that the picture was fading. No longer could I see the brilliant colors ahead, for the trees were almost bare once I got to mile marker 13.5.
I was a little surprised, for you would think that the fall splendor is universal in the area?
I didn’t realize that there exist little pockets; that have their own hours to shine.
We all must exist on our own timeline!
What made mile marker 13.5 the breakpoint?
That started me thinking. All the little things we just take for granted on a daily basis.
What made me stop and take notice of the difference?
Why?
Because that is part of my character and that is what we do here at HBS.
We look at the little things, the cost that most companies just take for granted.
Most of our items are just budgeted for.
What did we pay last year and how much do you think it may go up?
Electric…. Natural Gas…. Voice… Data…. Unemployment Taxes…. Sales Tax
Need I say more?
We call these costs the unsung heroes!
These are daily cost of doing business that most companies tend to ignore.
We find many people are resistant to change but:
The only thing constant in life is change!
Each client is unique.
Each opportunity opens the door to defining what the client is currently doing;
Exploring various options and
Providing solutions, designed to increase efficiency and savings.
We understand that the current economic climate has been difficult for many businesses.
HBS provides:
Smart Solutions for Smart Business.
Many times, it is the little things that provide the best opportunities.
Would you like to know more? Email george@hbsadvantage.com or call 856-857-1230.
Visit us on the web www.hutchinsonbusinesssolutions.com
Overpaying Telecom
April 9, 2010
By Andrew Backover
For 6 months, Nelson Human Resource Solutions paid $1,000 a
month for 80 phone lines that weren’t being used.
The staffing company also paid $600 a month for empty voice-mail
boxes.
Workers would switch offices and order new service. But they would
not disconnect the old service, Nelson says. The Sonoma, Calif. firm
only discovered the problem after hiring a consulting firm to check its
telecommunications expenses.
Many companies like Nelson are throwing money away as bills
skyrocket for telephone service, cellphones, wireless handhelds,
Internet accounts and laptops connected to networks.
The cost of telecommunications now ranks in the top five expenses
for most companies, up from about No. 10 a decade ago, companies
and consultants say. Companies spend 5% to 35% more than they
need to, experts say, because they pay for services they don’t use. Or
they fail to find the cheapest calling plans. They miss billing mistakes.
And employees make calls they’re not supposed to. As telecom costs
rise, so does the potential for excessive expense.
“The waste is enormous,” says Scott Schaefer, CEO of QuantumShift,
which helps companies manage communication services. “Every
single company that has over 100 employees is waking up to the fact
that (communications) is one of their largest expenses . . . and the least
understood.”
The expense isn’t minor. This year, U.S. businesses will spend an
estimated $403 billion on local and long-distance telephone service
and equipment. That is up from $274 billion in 1998, says the
Telecommunications Industry Association. In 2004, the total will
approach $600 billion, or nearly twice the Pentagon’s annual budget.
Financial services firms, where fast communication is key, spend an
average of $3,000 per year per employee — about five times the
amount of 15 years ago, says Bill Moore of consulting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In a time of layoffs and belt tightening, more companies are eyeing
telecom budgets, says analyst Maribel Dolinov of Forrester Research.
And no item is too small. Investment banking firm Salomon Smith
Barney recently suggested that its employees stop dialing 411, which
costs about $1, to get phone numbers. A handful of branch offices
have banned it. Consultants who help companies rein in telecom
expenses say most businesses waste money because of:
* Billing mistakes.
Last year, refrigeration equipment and laundryservices firm Mac-Gray upgraded its telecom network linking
regional offices in 11 cities with its Cambridge, Mass., headquarters.
But when AT&T upgraded the service, it continued to bill Mac-Gray
for the old service as well. Mac-Gray, with 500 employees and $150
million in annual revenue, failed to catch the mistake for several
months because the bill was so complicated, it says. The overcharge:
$75,000.
AT&T reimbursed Mac-Gray — but only after Mac-Gray hired a consulting
firm to handle its telecom services and to help with the dispute.
AT&T won’t comment on customers. But even it says billing disputes
are more common as customers buy more services.
Businesses aren’t the only losers. A billing error caused the county
government of Lee County, Fla. to pay $13,000 too much for longdistance
service over 4 months this year, says telecom management
firm Stonehouse Technologies. The money was refunded after the
problem was found.
How often errors occur is disputed. Consulting firm Rand Associates
says its business clients see billing mistakes on phone bills about 80%
of the time.
Often, tax-exempt organizations, such as municipal agencies, are
wrongly charged state or federal taxes, says Rand President Rudy
Richardson.
Also, computer systems that turn telecom services on and off aren’t
always in sync with billing systems. So customers might get billed for
several extra days of service, says John Gonsalves, vice president at
technology consulting firm Adventis.
Phone companies dispute that billing mistakes occur so often. The
Federal Communications Commission doesn’t track billing errors.
BellSouth, for one, says its bills contain mistakes less than 2% of the
time.
Regardless, it is up to customers to catch billing errors. And few businesses
go through bills line by line. The monthly stack of bills for
Nelson Human Resource Solutions stood 8 inches high. “There was
no one to analyze the paper,” says Chief Financial Officer Deborah
Mings. It now has QuantumShift handle its telecom operations.
* Carelessness.
Companies and organizations cannot always blamephone companies. Pricewater-houseCoopers had one client that paid
$80,000 in monthly service charges over 18 months for 36 cellphones
sitting in a crate in a warehouse. “It’s not that clients are lazy,” says
PWC’s Moore. “It’s simply impossible to stay on top of it.”
Eisai Research Institute, a drug research firm in Andover, Mass.,
thought it was on top of it when it banned employees from calling 900
numbers frequently used as sex, astrology and gambling hotlines. But
Eisai forgot to put the same block on its fax lines.
This year, in 1 month, an employee ran up a $1,300 hotline tab. The
company will say only that the worker wasn’t calling a sex line.
“That’s a perfect example of . . . (what) can slip through the cracks,”
says Eisai Treasurer Paul Drahnak. He expects Eisai to save $100,000
a year by turning its telecom operations over to a management firm.
* Inefficient contracts.
Because of an outdated long-distance contract,law firm Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker wasted $300,000 last year.
The Los Angeles-based firm was in the middle of a 5-year contract
that charged 7.8 cents a minute. When the contract was signed, the
firm saw it as a good deal. But long-distance prices have plummeted.
Businesses now often get volume discounts in the 3-cent to 4-cent
range. Finding the best deal, and anticipating market trends was
beyond the 800-lawyer firm.
“We just don’t have that capability,” says Chief Information Officer
Mary Odson.
Likewise, hotel operator Windsor Capital Group estimates it was
paying $100,000 too much each year on maintenance contracts for
telecom and other technology equipment in its 24 hotels.
One California hotel, for instance, paid 40% more than a Colorado
hotel did for a maintenance contract on telephone switch equipment,
which allows guests to use the phones. The contract was negotiated by
hotel managers, who aren’t telecom experts.
“They are in the guest-services business,” says Windsor Capital Vice
President Sam Sansone. It has since hired outsourcing firm United
Asset Coverage to handle its maintenance contracts.
Complicated contracts
Buying telephone service used to be simple. Before the breakup of
AT&T in 1984, customers essentially bought local and long-distance
service from one company.
But the splintering of AT&T led to hundreds of long-distance
competitors, each clamoring for business customers with slightly
different deals.
In 1996, when Congress mandated more competition in the local
phone business, hundreds of tiny competitors started offering service.
And wireless service, once a luxury, is now a staple. In fact, 51% of
workers with cellphones say their companies pay at least part of the
monthly tab, says research firm Telephia. Also, companies are paying
to connect more employees to the Internet.
As telecom expenses have grown, companies have struggled to
respond.
Most large firms have designated employees watching over telecom
and computer systems. But in small firms, the chore often falls to
chief financial officers, who lack expertise. “Every company in the
world can’t afford to have an expert in house,” says Eisai Research’s
Drahnak.
Also, telecom expenses can be hard to track. For example, Internet
access charges might fall under the budget of a company’s information
technology department. But cellphones, often purchased by employees
and then expensed, might fall under travel budgets.
Consolidating bills can be hard, too. Law firm Paul Hastings has
seven U.S. offices. It buys telecom services from 24 companies. The
bills came in so often, at different times of the month, that they sometimes
got lost or sat on desks until they were late, Odson says.
Getting help
Last year, Odson handed management of the $1.8 million domestic
telecom budget to QuantumShift. Odson expects to save $700,000
this year. One big help? QuantumShift found it a better long-distance
contract.
QuantumShift’s software also searches for billing errors and unused
lines. It consolidates bills, which saves time, and lets Odson more
easily order new services. And it lets her analyze expenses to a single
phone number.
Even after paying for QuantumShift’s services, Odson expects
telecom costs to be about 26% less this year.
Companies that help others cut telecom costs are doing a brisk
business. Privately held QuantumShift had 116 customers as of June,
up from 45 the year before. It posted a 300% year-over-year revenue
gain in its first fiscal quarter. Stonehouse Technologies recently added
20 employees, bringing its total to 60. Veramark Technologies says its
outsourcing revenue has grown 30% in the past 10 months.
Phone firms, too, are trying to cash in. AT&T’s consulting arm
recently redesigned a customer-service system for First Union. It will
save the bank $38 million over 5 years, says AT&T executive Randy
Johnston. That’s because First Union’s customer service agents will
have faster access to more information, which means it’ll take less
time to handle customer calls.
Just as regular consumers can save money on phone costs by shopping
for calling plans that fit their needs and checking bills for errors,
companies can save money by taking simple steps:
* When billing errors occur, report them to the phone companies’
customer service team — not the sales team, says AT&T.
* Make sure disputes are noted in computer systems. That way, a
response is likely to be faster. Also, customers won’t have their service
turned off because they didn’t pay disputed bills.
* After ordering new service, ask for a detailed explanation of the bill.
Companies that don’t pay attention could find themselves in the same
place as Mac-Gray Chief Financial Officer Michael Shea.
“You wake up some morning and say, ’Holy cow. How am I spending
$1 million on communications,’ . . . and no one knows.”
Our Perspective:
This is an old article that appeared in 2001. As the old saying go, “The more things change, the more they stay the same. We see instances like this happening constantly.
How much are you paying for Telecom or voice and data services. I thinks this presents a strong case on why you should be looking at this now!
For more information email george@hbsadvantage.com or call 856-857-1230
Learn more by visiting us on the web www.hutchinsonbusinesssolutions.com
Reign in Your Telecom Spend
February 6, 2010
Telecom spending is in on the rise, which raises a critical question: are you in control? For most companies, the answer is no. Today’s changing competitive landscape and increased telecom cost management pressures mean that even the smartest companies must examine their spending to avoid overpaying millions of dollars each year in billing errors, unused services and vendor noncompliance.
Hutchinson Business Solutions (HBS) give efficiency and visibility to the purchasing, billing and contracting process, ensuring you never overpay for telecom and take full advantage of every available telecom cost reduction opportunity. While billing, contracts and rate structures can be overwhelming for even the most experienced, for over 10 years HBS’s visibility has given us the insight needed to give you telecom cost control, while increasing service levels from your vendors.
Whether you need guidance justifying a purchase or full-scale telecom auditing, HBS ensure you’re always paying fair market value and maintaining vendor relationships that are compliant with your contractual engagements.
Our clients are finding savings from 10% to 40%. Should you like to know more about your opportunity for savings and efficiencies email george@hbsadvantage.com
Hutchinson Business Solutions 