Insight: Championing cash flow and bigger profits 
Biz2Biz NWA August 2010
By Janie Pritchett-Clark
Ninety-eight percent of all businesses are paying too much for essential services. That probably includes your business.
Exactly how much more? Anywhere from $500 to $98,500 a year, says Steven Spradling of Insight in Springdale.
Spradling’s company serves as a buyer’s agent to contract for services such as telecommunications, data and Internet circuits, wireless phone service and high-volume copiers and printers.
“Most business owners don’t realize they have options,” says Spradling, a consultant in the area for the past 20 years, and who specializes in productivity improvement and management practices. Spradling has worked with several Fortune 100 companies.
What having options means to the business bottom line is bigger profits. Insight negotiates on the client company’s behalf to get the best deal possible for the services required. On average, Spradling says, an Insight audit will cut expenses by 31 percent.
Jan Phillips, owner/agent of State Farm Insurance in Springdale, saved about 30 percent.
“For a small company, that’s pretty good,” she says.
“To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have pursued an audit if I hadn’t known Steven Spradling,” she admits. In hindsight, she says, the savings were significant for the size of her company, especially for the minimal effort it took to gain those savings.
Just as compelling is the fact that Insight’s fee is based on a percentage of the savings it provides.
“If we can’t save you money, you don’t pay us,” Spradling says. “That’s why we say, ‘Improving your bottom line – guaranteed.’”
“They provide us a great service,” says Eureka Pizza controller Bonnie Turner. With nine stores and 55 phone lines, the restaurant’s phone bill is 50 pages front and back.
“It’s easy to miss an unauthorized third-party charge,” Turner says. “We call it ‘getting slammed.’”
Insight analyzes those charges to make sure the company is only paying for what is needed and authorized. When a mistake is made, Insight does the legwork and negotiates refunds.
“Seeing a credit on a bill – it’s a beautiful thing,” Turner says. “Insight has saved us thousands of dollars over the years.”
The Insight audit
A client relationship with Insight starts with a free audit of what services are being used and how much is being spent.
In the case of Boozman Hof Eye Clinic, Insight analyzed long distance, telephone, Internet circuits and cable use looking for the most effective service, clinic administrator Harry Ware says.
“The efficiency was more than dollar savings,” says Ware, although he estimates the savings were around $15,000 a year. “They actually improved the quality of services while saving us money.”
Turner says Insight can do the audit much more efficiently than she could.
“It’s their specialty,” she says.
Turner says she doesn’t just save on the bill, but also on time she’d otherwise spend on “hold” dealing with complicated, frustrating, tedious issues. “I was certainly challenged by these tasks when I didn’t have Insight on my team,” she says.
Team Insight
The Insight team consists of Spradling; JoAnne Smith, who spent eight years as a telecom specialist with Tyson Foods Inc.; and Marci Conner, who handles the day-to-day operations.
With their personal and combined experience in industry, corporate negotiations, operations management and billing, Insight has saved its clients a bundle.
Insight works with companies of all sizes in business, retail, restaurant and professional services. It also works with nonprofits, churches and school districts.
“We’ve worked with many companies, and have successfully improved their cost effectiveness and final profits,” Spradling says. “There’s almost always room to fine-tune a contract and reduce the cost for the same service with the same provider.”
