Hiring consultants to do that makes sense, but that could mean you’ve just added an expense to your expenses. At Pearl Logic, if we don’t find any cost savings, you pay nothing!

So, now that that’s out of the way, here’s what benefits you’ll receive:

• Reduced costs associated with operating expenses.
• You’ll keep your focus on your business while we do the work.
• Improved operating systems  – better and faster service to your customers.
• Our knowledge – we have extensive experience with all size firms and industries, and have managed, designed and implemented all varieties of operating services implementations.
• A sense of security – we are objective, with no ties to any service providers or vendors.
• Risk-free proposition – our compensation is a share of the savings realized by the cost-reducing solutions.

Past results have shown that 98% of our clients have realized a 20% – 40+% reduction in operating services expenses, while at the same time experiencing a significantly higher level of vendor customer service and support.

Check you expenses. Have they been climbing? How about your customer service? Has that been declining? Would it make sense to have a discussion with us?

We’re so confident that we can deliver, that if we are unable to secure any cost reduction, there’s ZERO FEE. That means that there is absolutely ZERO RISK to you.

Let me repeat that – we share 50% of your savings for 12 months only. Yes, you’ll still realize 50% of the discovered savings, and 100% beginning with month 13. If we can’t find any cost reduction, there is no fee.

No fee. No risk. Now, ask again, “Can I afford to hire cost reduction consultants?”

Our question to you is, “Can you afford NOT to?”

You’ll be happy to hear that no additional headcount is required. Your staff will most likely be asked to provide clarification in areas, grant access to locations and provide information for inventory purposes, but that’s about it.  Of course, periodically we’ll need some time to review project reports and status.

Otherwise, you will proceed as though we weren’t even there. In fact, we’ll be as quiet as a church mouse!

Whatever we call the middle of the year, it’s here. It’s time to look at our bottom line, our expenses, where we can improve and where we go from here. Many companies have asked employees to take a cut in pay. Many employees have found their benefits are costing them more because you had to make a tough choice. Most companies have searched for ways to reduce their expenses. Employees are being asked to do more for less and often with less.

But all indications are that the worst is over. Things are looking better. We’re over the hump in more ways than one. As you look ahead, check your contracts. What ones expire in the 2nd half of 2009? Now is the time to start negotiating your new ones.

Now think of the difference between that scenario and that of an air traffic controller. The last thing any of us would want is to have our plane stopped in mid-air because another plane is in your way. There is no stop and go – it must be a planned, smooth landing to be considered successful.

A Cost Reduction and Optimization services company is your air traffic controller. We, Pear Logic, follow a series of defined steps. These steps include audit & inventory, review & analysis, design & architecture, vendor management & procurement and operations & implementation.

Everything is planned, in place and implemented with smooth transitions as the goal. Your next “trip” – whether it’s hiring new vendors, purchasing new equipment, implementing new services or even disaster planning – will be smoother and more successful with an air traffic controller-type of direction and landing.

It’s now half-time. The 1st half of the year is over. The economy has made many business owners work harder and longer than they have in a long time. There are many tired and weary Presidents, Vice-Presidents, CFOs, CEOs, CIOs and all others who have a responsibility – no matter how small – towards the success of the business.

It’s time to huddle. It’s time to re-evaluate your business plan, it’s time to look at your ROI on your marketing efforts, it’s time to look at your cost reduction opportunities. Maybe it’s time to bring in some people off the bench.

What did you do the 1st half of the year that brought results? What did you do that didn’t work? What can you do to make the 2nd half of the year better than the 1st? Who is on your bench that can help?

Now, get out there and win!

“$1000″

“I’ll give you $500″

“Can’t do that. How about $800?”

“That’s still too much. $600.”

“I’ll split the difference – let’s agree on $700.”

Sound all too familiar? Does either party leave that conversation feeling anything less than disgruntled – swindled – taken advantage of – given the short end of the stick?

Proper negotiation should end with both sides knowing the best result was just achieved. When a negotiation is handled properly, an opportunity to do business again and again is there for you.

This article, 10 Techniches for Better Negotiation, provides some great advice regarding negotiation techniques. If you still wonder if you have what it takes, or confident that you don’t have that skill, bring in someone who does.

By the way, Pearl Logic does!

-  intimate knowledge of the services that are being contracted.

-  solid understanding of the key vendors and the differences in their services.

- experience in contract negotiations for those types of services.

- the ability to continuously assess the vendor relationship and the market, through monitoring tools, audit, analysis and optimization processes and vendor management programs.

Most companies are not able to dedicate resources to this effort. The solution is to outsource this initiative to help reduce unnecessary spending and optimize your services.

This is Pearl Logic‘s specialty.

From management to a clerk position, there are most likely procedures that are being completed on a daily basis because of a “we’ve always done it that way” mentality. Often this is due to processes created years ago. As the company grew, and technology came along, they just continued doing what they’ve always done.

The results are redundancies; software programs not talking to each other, which frequently requires double-entries; departments working independently, duplicate reports providing identical or similar information; slow results to requests due to too many levels of approval needed, etc.

Some of the benefits of using process improvement for office systems and management responsibilities are:

- reduced office expenses due to equipment and supplies sharing

- faster/better decision-making, resulting in happier internal customers

- more employee ownership, resulting in happier external customers

- barriers to sales are eliminated

- customer follow-up will be more proactive, resulting in repeat business

- cash flow is improved due to eliminating unnecessary steps

- less putting out of fires and more proactive management

Of course, each of these create a more attractive bottom line.

An example of redundancies, and continuing to do things because the process was never questioned … there are still companies that use software for employee time tracking, but also use a paper sign-in sheet “just in case” they need it.

Unfortunately, often the people who actually do the daily tasks are not consulted in ways to improve their job. Ask for their input and listen to them because they, more than anyone else, are the expert in their process.

And when you’re improving the flow of paperwork and office procedures, remember the importance of purchasing the proper equipment and services. Specialists in optimizing operating services and minimizing costs are a key partner when making the changes.

When looking at what process should be assessed, there must be a well-defined objective. The best way to place the initiative on course is to answer this very simple, to-the-point question, “What do we want to accomplish?”

How do you do this? Surveys, questionnaires and personal interviews are three quick and easy vehicles to know what takes priority. Listening to both your internal and external customers will help you identify the goals for and level of improvement. Often, since this is not a one-shot initiative, it’s wise to make incremental improvements over time.

The internal customer – those who work the current process daily – can identify time-wasters, extra unnecessary steps, redundancy and frequent delays or excess man hours.

The external customer can weigh in on quality, value, cost, customer service, return policies, etc.

Remember, at all times, that this is not just problem-solving. Problems are symptoms of a failure in the process. Determine what the problem is, then locate the symptoms.

An example is a manufacturer that used 4 screws to tighten a part, and 4 people down the assembly line, 2 of these screws were removed to add another (new) part then yet another person re-inserted 2 screws. It turns out the additional part was added which required the removal/reinserting of the 2 screws.

Unfortunately, at the time, no one mentioned this – no process improvement culture had been implemented. Once the production workers owned the process, the steps of inserting/removing/re-inserting the screws was eliminated. The result? A time savings was realized and 2 steps (removing the screws and re-inserting the screws) on the assembly line were eliminated.

This is process improvement. Simple changes creating results.