by Tom Reda, VP Marketing, PAG
New CFOs/CIOs understand the importance of generating success at the beginning of their tenure. Improving cash flow is one area that has a quick and positive impact on the organization. As Samuel Dergel states in his landmark book, Guide to CFO Success – Leadership Strategies for Corporate Financial Professionals, “New CFOs who help with cash flow early are appreciated and welcomed as key contributing members of the management team.” Same holds true for new CIOs. The PAG telecom audit is a great way to generate an early cash flow win for you, your team, and your company.
How Telecom Audits Can Help
Invoice Issues
There are various reasons why companies often make the mistake of overlooking invoice issues. For one, they can be unaware of how easily errors can be hidden in between those invoice pages that are filled with acronyms and telephone jargon. In fact, Gartner estimated that 80% of telecom invoices contain mistakes, yet 90% are paid without being audited.
When checks continue to be written without a complete understanding of what they are for, mistakes happen. This often results in paying for services and plans that are unnecessary or overpriced. In one recent instance, a client had an $11k line item charge on their bill that raised red flags with our audit team. As we dug deeper, we discovered the charge was from another company and didn’t belong on their invoice.
Time
A common misconception is the idea that telecom audits will take up a lot of the CFO/CIO’s time. The truth is, their involvement is as much or as little as they want. At PAG, we prepare our findings and keep them updated throughout the entire process – all without taking their or their staff’s time. Here’s some more good news: telecom audits can be done quickly.
We work on a 60-day time frame from the time we get the data to present our findings. Once we get the green light from a business, we perform implementation. And, depending on the time it takes a carrier to adjust to the changes, companies can possibly see results in their next invoice. It’s not uncommon to start seeing results in 90-120 days. What’s more, telecom audits are self-funding projects that can help CFO/CIOs put money towards projects that’ll propel their businesses forward.
How PAG Can Help
PAG is the only telecom audit company that stays on for an additional two years following the first 12 months of our services at no additional charge to our clients. Our three-year commitment to companies helps us ensure that what we set up during the audit doesn’t change. Additionally, we only get a minority percentage of the savings for the first 12 months, and all the work we do is offsite – not in your offices, so there’s never an inconvenience.
At PAG, we understand that CFOs/CIOs can often be working out of tight budgets and can be overwhelmed with their workloads making it difficult for them to focus on certain projects, handling mergers, and even identifying invoice issues. These pain points can affect a CFO/CIO’s business’s bottom line and continue an unhealthy cycle of overspending.
That’s why we’re dedicated to uncovering savings and cutting costs strategically with our procurement and audits. At PAG, we can guide CFO/CIOs towards getting the most out of their budgets.
While everything starts with an audit, it’s important to note that the audit is only one of the three services we provide, along with procurement and guidance. Our audit team is experienced and provides quality work. We know where to look, and we know how to deliver substantial savings. Our three-step process guarantees savings and best-in-class pricing.
A Different Approach to Negotiating
Our approach at PAG is simple and straightforward. We provide better pricing and don’t believe in having adversarial relationships with our clients’ vendors. Instead, we’re committed to working closely with vendors in order to provide the best service to our mutual clients. We believe in developing strong connections and respecting the longtime relationships our clients have with their vendors. We work collaboratively with their vendors of choice, to secure the best possible pricing.
Not Just for the New CFO/CIO
In addition to a quick and profitable win for the new CFO/CIO, all CFO/CIOs can benefit from a telecom audit, especially in the following situations.
Mergers/Multiple Locations
An M&A situation can be a big messy puzzle for a CFO/CIO. For the CFO/CIO who is in a company that has conducted a merger and now holds the responsibility of reconciling the finances of two businesses, making an impact can be challenging due to existing restrictions – especially if that CFO/CIO is a new hire. It’s often easier for individuals who are promoted from within to oversee mergers because they have better insight into the company history that has been taking place.
Additionally, with mergers, CFO/CIOs can often be faced with overlaps or duplication of their invoices and manual expenses which could result in more unnecessary costs. And while some CFO/CIOs know they could possibly produce savings, they may not be completely aware of how or where they can find those savings. Fortunately, telecom audits have made large organizations realize that a significant amount of money can be trapped inside their phones, and at PAG, we can help CFO/CIOs uncover those savings to benefit from a healthy bottom line.
The first step is in providing a complete inventory of all their telecom assets due to the overlapping and duplication that can happen when you’re merging two companies. And if you’re an organization that has multiple locations – healthcare systems, law firms, grocery chains, retail stores, multiple offices – you can rest assured that we won’t disrupt much of anything. In fact, savings will be much easier to find.
Many of our CFO/CIOs clients have used the substantial money generated by a PAG telecom audit to fund other growth initiatives previously deemed cost-prohibitive. A PAG telecom audit generates an average savings of 20%.
Do You Need Full-Service Telecom Consulting?
If you’re ready to see major savings and benefit from a telecom audit, contact PAG to get started. We’ll help you save money by identifying errors on bills and free you up to work towards other business goals. Get in touch today!
