Constant information is being shot at you in a competitive environment. At times you have all the information you need to make important and fast decisions, but most of the time you have pieces of information coming in from all sides and don’t have enough time to collect more. Since the business world is so tactical, why not take advice from the experts, Navy Seals. They have to come up with creative solutions quickly and must always be adaptable while making decisions that could cost soldiers their lives (Much more important than a lost contract). So here is how the SEALS are trained to make decisions:

1.       Organize the Chaos – Start sourcing the information.  If the VP of Sales gives you differing information from the COO, but the problem being discussed is primarily an operations problem, you may want to listen to the COO because he is much closer to the problem.

2.       Stay Informed– In a chaotic environment, decisions come easier when you are constantly informed. Make sure you know your company’s current economic environment, strategy, and press.

3.       Seek Advisement- Even in a quick decision scenario, there is always time to ask a trusted adviser to take an outside view. Sometimes experts with outside perspective can see solutions that those involved in the situation cannot see. More eyes and ears lead to better strategy in both the military and in business.

Navy SEALS and business people make quick decisions to either win (war/business) or save (lives/money). Of course, we always think of winning as the more important of the two, but really saving is the most important choice. We need to make sure we live to see another day. No battle is a victory if your entire army is lost. The same concept can be attributed to business. If you are spending a lot of money when you do not need too, the consequence is lower margins, less investor buy-in, and finally less profitability.

Make sure your investing in timely decisions that end up saving your company money and, in the long run, winning you company investors and business. Making quick decisions can stop your company’s bleeding (money loss) before it leads to more serious problems that could affect your company’s long term health.

When you need to improve your business telecom and utility infrastructure or implement new business cost reduction processes, having an expert outside point of view can often be critical for the best outcomes. Call for a FREE consultation LT~CRS NATIONWIDE: 866-504-4050. And Yes…we WILL call back!

The answer to the question above is cost reduction! Every single company on earth is looking for ways to increase profits and reduce overhead. Being able to do one or the other will make you stand out above the rest.

Recently, Limitless Technology~CRS read the article “Be a Bottom-Line Contributor by Saving Your Company Money” written by a senior contributing author at Monster. In the article, the author tells several stories of employees coming up with excellent ideas that helped save their companies a great deal of money. Some of the ideas were:

1. An employee who invested in a bulk mailing machine to save their hospital a million dollars a year!
2. A process improvement change that led to radiation therapy being cheaper and quicker for the patient
3. A marketing agent buying discount chairs for her company as opposed to constantly renting expensive chairs.

Limitless Technology~CRS supports cost savings of all kinds, whether it is by internal or external resources. The examples above of cost savings are brilliant because they saved companies money by simply looking at an existing process and making it more cost efficient.

Companies need talent to look into current company processes and make sure the processes are up to date with new advancements and ways to save. For example, although the new radiation therapy process created in Example 2 saved the company a significant amount of money, the process can, most likely, be further improved once the company’s talent grows accustomed to the new process and notices ways to make it even better.

Being an innovator is a fantastic thing in a company, especially, in regards to cost savings and reducing bottom-lines. The question is how do you proceed if you have not found a process you believe you can modify to save money?

A very simple solution to this issue is to find a trustworthy, reliable, and recommended third party resource that focuses on cost reduction. These companies already have the skills necessary to generate savings. A special few are even able to find huge savings where you never expected, like saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on something as common as the company’s phone bills.

Limitless Technology ~ CRS would like to know: Do you think it is important to save the company you work for money? Leave your comment below!

Every family has a few relatives that will never give a physical gift. They fear that they will be the relative that gives that ugly sweater or the toy that’s meant for three year olds, when your child’s…seventeen. So what do they do? They send money, and usually its more then what they would have spent on the gift!

Now when your children are 12 and below, do they really need that extra money? You know you already get them everything they asked for during the holidays, so that extra money doesn’t need to be sitting in their pockets.

Instead, put that money into a bank or high interest CD for a college fund. Fifty to a hundred dollars in a CD every year for twelve years will really add up and I promise your child will thank you later.

If the kids are already out of the house, why not start saving for yourself? You know you usually spend that money on more gifts, but you never planned on having that money in the first place so why not save now!

For savings on everything else, there’s Limitless Technology CRS

(866) 504 4050

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Do you remember when making a difference meant everything to you in your job, career, business? No…not just going through the motions because you are experienced and feel you can predict what would happen prior to it occurring. A time when you were concerned with every line item of profitability. Do you remember those days?

Were those days recent? Were they so long ago it’s hard to remember? Ever wish it was that way again? Did you ever feel back then, that you operated as if you had nothing to lose? Yet, every penny was precious no matter what the risk?Why does a “nothing to lose” state of mind work? Well, the answer is because it’s only when we’ve lost something that we can truly gain something better.

Excepting Complacency.

Have you ever said, “that just the way it is”, or “there’s nothing we can do about it”? Have you ever wondered why your people haven’t found the things you feel aren’t right about your operations or what could be improved?

Bigger question is…” If you could do something about it….would you?” Would you seek outside assistance? Would you look for a better way?

And if you did…would you feel you are doing an disservice or stepping on the toes of those in your company who you feel did not meet their responsibility of seeking workplace improvements?  You think they “should be doing” , or that “you hope they are doing” something (like you did when you cared about every penny and every nickel of profitability).

Goodbye Illusion: Hello Truth

What about the truth? Can you…or do you want to “handle the truth”? And do you feel something or someone wiser than your team could assist you in working “behind-the-scenes” to unveil your illusions and therefore help you improve? It may seem jarring to you, but really, it is quite gentle (gentler than you can ever imagine). So are we fearing the truth?

Or do you feel the crumbling of the illusion of your company’s efficiency will cause you too much pain? At LT~CRS we believe the truth never hurts. The truth only heals. In human nature, we are prone to want to hold on to things, but once there is nothing to hold on to, we can’t help but realize that the only thing we can truly hold on to is the truth. That’s why we hope you believe that somewhere in the Losing, there is a much greater Gaining.

So the question is, would you rather face the pain of breaking illusions and in the long receive amazing gains, or stay in the illusions and in the long run suffer?

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Using a contingency based~no risk model,  we specialize in reducing companies

telecom and technology monthly recurring expenses by removing inaccuracies, 

obtaining credits and negotiating better go forward contract rates.

BOTTOM LINE…We Improve BOTTOM LINES.

I fixed one of my outside sprinklers this past weekend. It wasn’t completely broken; in fact, it performed its main function okay. The timer went off, the water came out and the plants got wet. But apparently the PVC had become brittle and a significant leak began to occur draining resource in some areas and over watering where the leak was occurring– nothing major, we were probably losing 50 gallons of water 3 x per week.

The bad part was this must have gone on for many weeks,  because it wasn’t noticed until there was a hole blown through the earth.  So, once I noticed the issue, I had the sprinkler repaired by an expert so I was sure it would be done right. I asked him if there was a way he could have detected them sooner, and he defined a process and procedure on how they detect leaks and repair them before the customer like me received a giant bill. My expert also said why not all customers have them, it was good to check on e a year for a fee, or monthly fora smaller but more regular checking to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

After the repair, and my conversation with the repair company, I thought about what that leak meant to me. It was only about a little water, so it didn’t seem like much of an issue. Then I started to do the math: I was losing near 150 gallons of water per week. That was 600 gallons of water each month, or 7200 gallons a year!  Every day that I didn’t repair it, another 20 gallons of water lost. What a waste. And…It hadn’t dawned on me that the water I was losing meant money out of my pocket. (I get my water bill only once a quarter, so out of sight, out of mind). Then my water bill came: The utility devised a new rate based on the amount of water used. I was now paying for that leak in two separate places, and paying big over an $800 jump in my bill!!!

My sprinkler dilemma reminded me of how many organizations handle their telecom billing. For instance, most companies don’t notice their bills have changed and wonder why their bills are higher. The difference starts small and goes on in multiple areas of their business.

These charges are…Hidden in landline services, misunderstood on Internet rates, never noticed at the setup of the original billing, in 3rd party slamming and cramming charges,and many other areas.  And even when a “leak” on a bill is noticed, trying to work with the provider to get it removed is cumbersome and frustrating at best. (Not as nice as working with my professional irrigation company).

Yet…medium and large companies sometimes lose hundreds of dollars a day, thousands a week, $10’s of thousands a month and yes even $100’s of thousands of dollars per year with these billing errors!!!

Hopefully you won’t let your Company suffer these expensive and wasteful  “leaks” , and you will make sure you get an expert to help you ensure it won’t continue to cost you money that you’re not even aware of losing.

By Todd Larsen CEO Limitless Technology~CRS  April, 24th, 2013

Limitless Technology~CRS

Delivering expert results on: telecom auditing, telecom contract management, telecom expense management, and telecom billing optimization services.

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Cellular companies are usually the last to offer insurance. However, as the market has demanded that they be protected from broken and stolen devices, cell companies are beginning to see the light. Companies like Sprint now offer $11/month insurance on the iPhone that protects against any type of lost or damaged phone with a $50 dollar replacement fee (That sounds awesome right?). However, was this insurance created to help the customer, or make money off of Companies’ risk aversion?

Let’s say that you have 25 company cell phones in your business. The average insurance cost per phone is $8/phone. So the average cost for your business for the month is $200. That means your company’s cell phone cost for 6 months is $1200 dollars!

Let’s do a little more math to see if this saves you money. The average cost of replacement (smart) phones $425. Average deductible for a replacement phone is $100. If you lose 3 of the 25 phones in a six month period you still lose money buying the insurance. That’s because $1200 plus $300 in deductible is $1500. The purchase of 3 new phones costs $1275. So, unless your employees are using their phones as golf balls for the driving range, cell insurance is not the way to go.

Limitless Technology~CRS

Delivering expert results on: telecom auditing, telecom contract management, telecom expense management, and telecom billing optimization services.

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Recently, I was brought a strong question from my brilliant daughter (who is attending the University of Florida, and pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing). Her question was…”Do companies sometimes love themselves too much?”

Being the curious and investigative type, it led me to my favorite question, “What do you mean?”

She explained further, “The companies we run, own or work for can be very close to our hearts. We can love the company culture, the way they do business, and even what they do for society. However, our “love” can blind us from the imperfections of our company.  We may think, because we like the people we work with, that they are catching every  error that they make and we may think that our company runs “well enough” and that it is running cost efficiently enough even when it isn’t.”

 So as usual, after stopping being impressed by her comment and thought process, I was compelled to provide what I was hopeful to be a fairly intellectual thought.

 I see it this way; all Leaders of Companies have a dream or a vision. That Vision involves people. People that:

1. Will perform over and above expected deliverables.
2. Have the ability to perform their task that drive their company’s revenues or profits the most.
3. Will give 110% at their jobs, because we do.

We also build cultures where we are “incredibly passionate” about we do.  We expect the people we employ, no matter what their skill set or training, to have that passion and do more than they may be capable of to enhance our dreams. Because we hire great people, and hired them in a specific function of the business in which they are brilliant, we sometimes expect them to be “brilliant” or “experts in all areas of the business. But is that real? Is it fair? Are we “experts” in everything? As my daughter put it, we may just be “blinded” by our “love” for success. However, successful organizations realize there are needs beyond their “culture” or “people’s capability.” Let’s see where that may be applicable…

•   If a legal battle ensues over HIPPA compliance for a hospital based on the breech of electronic information from a server in IT, do we expect the CIO to legally defend our position of electronic security and integrity in court? Or do we seek “expert” legal advice and defense internal and “externally” to ensure we defend ourselves the best?
• If one of our people in HR becomes sick, although they provided the entire company employee base with a wellness program, do we expect them to “heal” themselves? Or do we expect them to seek out the “best” treatment and “expert” resource to become healthy again?
• If our earnings are high, and we need to ensure our tax liabilities are in the “best order”, do we only trust our internal resources to make final tax decisions, or do we seek out the “highest” level of “professional” tax guidance possible to “ensure” we make the best business choices to minimize our ”risks and liabilities”?
• Or even simpler, if our business has a pest infestation, do we ask any of our employees to go get the appropriate chemicals and treat the issue as needed, or do we have them call an “expert” to “remove the issue and concerns?
• Are there not many more examples where we use external resources to “guarantee” we will get the best advice, guidance, resource or service?

 I would say yes.

 As I believe would you, in recognition that no matter “how well run”, “how great our cultures are” or “that our Company runs well enough”, where we can’t better our businesses by “recognizing” our employees may need the assistance of “expert” external guidance, (just as we seek for ourselves) when it comes to making our businesses the “best they can be”.

 Let’s “love” our businesses enough to realize that it’s the right thing to do.

Limitless Technology~CRS

Delivering expert results on: telecom auditing, telecom contract management, telecom expense management, and telecom billing optimization services.

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Every carrier sells a bundle as a money saving option, but does bundling really save your business money?

In some cases yes and in some cases no. The key is to know exactly what services are included in the bundle and what actual costs they are adding for those services.

Example: the carrier bundles a phone line with what they call “unlimited long distance”.

What is not normally known is that unlimited long distance is being charged at on average of $15 to $20 dollars per line. At an average long distance rate of 5 cents per minute this is not paid for until you have used 300-400 minutes of long distance. If you are not doing at least that much long distance, you are literally giving money to the carrier.

So to answer the question yes, bundles can save you money. However, you need to know exactly what is included and that the services being offered are actually services you benefit from.

It is now the 8th of January, 2013. The champagne has been poured and the New Year’s resolutions have been made. But when we make these resolutions, do we really stop and reflect on the goals we want to accomplish?

Often, people have the best of intentions to improve their metal, physical, and professional life. They want to lose weight or get that promotion they crave. However, completely accomplishable resolutions become impossible dreams when no time is taken to plan out how that goal will become accomplished.

“By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail”

-Benjamin Franklin

You may wonder why I say “impossible dreams.” That statement may sound deterrent or too negative, because no dream is impossible. What I really am stating is that we make the dreams impossible to fit in with our lifestyles… when we don’t incorporate them into our schedules through planning.

For example, you’re a financial professional that wants to get recognized or promoted within your business, or as a top level executive make a significant impact to the bottom line. You know the only way to get truly recognized is to make a strong fiduciary impact in your company. So you set your goal” or New Year resolution to “make an impact in your company.” While the intent is pure, very little objectivity surrounds this goal, except for core emotion and ambitious sentiment. Since no plan has been set in stone or…written down, as time goes by, you will find in most cases you don’t have the time to accomplish this goal. This is because coupled with your everyday daily activities and tasks, you have unforeseen items that constantly get in the way of accomplishing your “new resolution”. Eventually that goal to “make an impact” will fade as you constantly have to deal with the next job task.

Now if you made a plan with your goal “to make an impact in your company by calendaring one hour a day to review financial statements or bills and find where the company could be saving,” then you are defining planning. Let’s say you make the time from 4:30-5:30every day. This ensures you are setting an instance for that task. Eventually it will become a part of the job, and you will find ways to save, be rewarded through the results you achieve, and if in a VP or like financial role by showing initiative and getting results that promotion that you crave may just occur! While it may seem simple, calendaring the specific task makes it accomplishable.

First step is planning. Here are some other steps to help you succeed.

1. Focus on one resolution, rather several;
2. Set realistic, specific goals. Losing weight is not a specific goal. Losing 10 pounds in 90 days would be;
3. Don’t wait to make resolutions. Make it a year long process, every day;
4. Take small steps. Many people quit because the goal is too big requiring too big a step all at once;
5. Have an accountability buddy, someone close to you that you have to report to;
6. Celebrate your success between milestones. Don’t wait the goal to be finally completed;
7. Focus your thinking on new behaviors and thought patterns. You have to create new neural pathways in your brain to change habits;
8. Focus on the present. What’s the one thing you can do today, right now, towards your goal?
9. Be mindful. Become physically, emotionally and mentally aware of your inner state as each external event happens, moment by moment, rather than living in the past or future.

And finally, don’t take yourself so seriously. Have fun and laugh at yourself when you slip, but don’t let the slip hold you back from working at your goal. 

There is one side note that I should mention. In accomplishing any goal, it is never wrong to ask for help along the way. Maybe you already work 50+ hours per week, barely spend time with the family as it is, hardly ever see your friends anymore and just can’t or find it hard to balance your life at all or give any more of your time to your company. Then it is not wrong to have an outside resource lend you a hand as long as it is mutually beneficial for you and that resource.

Every every package that needs to be delivered to a customer adds to your company’s bottom line. Especially expensive is the over night couriers (How many times have you needed to get something to a client after the post office has closed?). Your only option was to mail it with a custom and expensive delivery service. Well here are some tips from Limitless Technology CRS to help reduce these fees.

1) Get a large carrier discount by assigning one shipping company to your account. There are two ways you can save money by assigning one company for your services. You can work with your shipping company for a lower service rate than their standard rate and use your loyalty to the shipping company as a bargaining tool. You can also ask for a volume discount on top of your discounted rate because you are running all your shipping through them, even if you don’t ship a million packages a day.

2)Reduce wrong address charges. Carriers usually have online tools that help resolve address errors. However, if you don’t use the applications, they will charge you for incorrect addresses.

3) Use standard boxes for all your orders. Unless you are shipping a motorcycle or an elephant, consider shipping large orders in several standard boxes as opposed to one non standard box. Trust me it will be less expensive (In this case, more is less).

These tips can greatly reduce your company’s shipping cost. Unfortunately, reducing telecom expenses is not as easy as reducing shipping costs. Telecom cost reduction requires constant attention to current rates and a careful investigation of past phone billings.

Call Limitless Technology CRS (866) 504 4050 or go to www.limitlesstechnology.com  to see how much you can save today.