Birney Corporate can undertake specific cost control projects for our clients.The starting point of any cost control project in any company is to ensure that the reporting system is adequate and able to drill down sufficiently to identify possible opportunities.

For example, broad, all encompassing general ledger headings that do not segment expenses sufficiently are a problem when attempting to rationalize costs.

We also look to create specific internally generated reports that identify business units or areas that are doing more with less and we look to replicate that success across other areas.

Most areas of wastage – particularly in large companies – are sometimes obvious to the rank and file members of an organization, so we conduct interviews with staff members from the ground up to identify areas of wastage that can be addressed.

Birney Corporate also hold the view that fixed expenses such as freight, stationery, vehicle purchases, insurances, legal fees, telecommunications, fuel and many others should be put out to formal tender on a regular basis. We have developed a tender format that almost always results in a saving to our client company.

Staff are generally the largest single expense for any company and as such Birney Corporate are skilled in the art of identifying job share an multi skilling opportunities.

Other areas of cost control that we look at include but are not limited to :

1. eliminating like product double ups,
2. reducing the number of branches or company locations,
3. supplier renegotiations and tenders,
4. delivery run rationalization,
5. bulk buy policy formation,
6. dispensing with marginally profitable operations,
7. staff recruitment,
8. freight recovery,
9. casual labour/overtime,
10. IT services,
11. advertising,
12. debtor payment days,
13. leasing v’s purchase
14. productivity,
15. resource pooling.

It is always a good idea for companies to view their expenses through the eyes of a third party and Birney Corporate are available to do just that for you.

We have no emotional attachment to any part of your business and we have no vested interest in promoting anything other than real measures designed to produce real savings for you that are far in excess of our fees.

Formal tenders almost always result in cost reductions, yet few companies have the time or the knowledge to professionally run one.Birney Corporate have developed a tender format that provides for the best possible opportunity for cost savings both in expenses and in product procurement.

When we do a tender we go to everyone – not just the major players. We then efficiently compare like services and prices across a whole range of suppliers and we drill down to a final value proposition from one or possibly more suppliers.

Often this process can result in existing suppliers reducing their prices to avoid losing your business.

Most suppliers are prepared to provide super competitive prices in return for a certain supply contract, yet very few companies formally tender out their expenses and products.

Product tenders in particular can be very lucrative and Birney Corporate are well versed in the various traps associated with running tenders.

For example, some suppliers will quote very good prices on a core group of products but will make up the difference on the non-core products. When Birney Corporate run a product tender we seek pricing for every product – not just the core group.

We then apply usage factors and arrive at an overall average cost benefit per supplier or if possible we will spit the supply recommendation between multiple suppliers.

Just some items that lend themselves well to a formal tender are as follows:

1. freight,
2. stationery,
3. vehicle purchases,
4. insurances,
5. legal fees,
6. telecommunications,
7. fuel

Does your business have a great idea for a new project but lack the time or professional expertise to undertake an all encompassing feasibility study that is good enough to present to a board or business owner ?Birney Corporate are able to run full feasibility studies that include but are not limited to :

1. significant market research,
2. a potential customer and staff feedback analysis,
3. logistics analysis,
4. demographic analysis,
5. industry statistical analysis,
6. capex requirements,
7. public polling and focus group analysis,
8. variable sales and expense input spreadsheets,
9. initial forward cash flow statements for approval by your accountant

Our “Variables Input Spreadsheet” will allow you to input and change all of the potential variables (sales and expenses) for a new project. We can also build a “Multiple Project Variables Sheet” for you that compares two or more competing new projects. This will allow you to determine which project will provide you with the best return.

Every time you change the variables, the forward free cash estimations and the return on investment percentage will change, allowing you to fully understand the breakeven point for all potential projects.

Birney Corporate leave no stone unturned in dispassionately assessing a potential project and we are also able to manage the implementation of that project when the commitment to it is finally made.

Birney Corporate are experts in understanding exactly what the public think.We utilize every available tool to determine exactly what your customer base, potential customer base or the public at large are thinking about you, your product, your project or your organization.Birney Corporate can undertake specific market research projects for you that bring together random focus groups of community members or customer groups who are willing to share their opinions.

These sessions will give you a birds eye view of public opinion and perception and importantly they allow us to design a detailed strategy for you to act on those opinions and perceptions.

In addition, Birney Corporate can design and undertake a public polling campaign that mathematically samples and collates community or customer opinions.

Typically we would poll between 300 and 400 people and we would then present you with a detailed report on the feedback gained from that polling program.

The key to running successful focus groups and public polling is to ensure that the questions are well drafted, as poorly drafted questions can often elicit a particular answer.

We go to great lengths to ensure that our questions are not leading or misleading in order to ensure that the outcomes are robust and actionable.

Staff surveys are an exceptionally valuable business management tool that are often overlooked and not widely used.In any organization it is the staff that are at the coal face and it is the staff that encounter the problems and think about the solutions everyday.They have the collective knowledge about what’s wrong with the organization and how to fix it yet they are rarely collectively consulted.

Birney Corporate Staff Surveys are able to peel all the layers back in order to find out where the organization needs to improve – often we can find issues that management were not even aware of via the effective use of our staff surveys.

Our surveys are finely honed documents that get right to the route cause of an issue. They enable us to determine how the collective majority are being impacted by the company’s policies and procedures and they will also find the collective majority view about how to deal with those issues.

Our Staff Surveys deal with a whole host of issues including but not limited to :

1. determining staff morale (ie low/high and why)
2. finding hidden skills that certain staff members have – ie educational achievements etc
3. determining who is prepared to move to a different part of the organization ,
4. finding out what job each staff member aspires to,
5. Determining any shortcomings the IT system may have
6. Determining the level of support for a new company policy or procedure
7. identifying skilled friends of staff members that may be prepared to become employees
8. discovering staff perceptions about the company’s market reputation
9. discovering staff perceptions about the company’s strengths and weaknesses
10. discovering staff ideas for new directions and opportunities for the company
11. finding collective staff views about which company procedures are not working well
12. discovering staff views about the adequacy of staffing levels
13. learning about staff “wish lists” for their area/branch/department
14. finding out the level of staff satisfaction with current salary rates
15. determining staff views about potential acquisitions that could add value
16. find staff views about which competitor is the most formidable in the market

Where necessary Birney Corporate will take the Staff Survey concept one step further by conducting one on one interviews with all key staff members to further expand on the topics above and other related issues.

Birney Corporate are able to design a tailored staff training program for your staff that is interwoven with our series of well developed training templates.

We cover every aspect of the workplace with a particular focus on sales staff.

We will show your sales staff how to be better “cold callers” including conversational techniques for “breaking the ice” when meeting potential new clients.

They will learn about “transitional phrases” that allow the salesperson to gently transition the conversation back to business and we will teach them how to ask “closing questions” without appearing pushy.

Birney Corporate will also teach your staff how to manage their time including the introduction of “memory pegs” that ensure nothing is ever forgotten.

Simple things such as always using a persons name in an email and methodologies for remembering customer’s names and personal details are also taught.

Our training also touches on appropriate telephone techniques for sales staff to use including gentle up-selling and we also teach your staff a series of unique negotiation methodologies.

A lot of our program centres around 6 main principles which include:

1. Never leave a job half done
2. Never give or take unclear instructions
3. Never commit anything to memory – always carry a note pad
4. Never leave anything to chance
5. Always use a forward “to do” diary
6. Always use a “Daily Activities Pad”

Does your organization have so many branch/department/senior managers that its almost impossible to determine how effectively they are working in their respective areas? Birney Corporate have designed a Management Survey designed to seek and collate the views of all staff members in a particular branch/area/department about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the manager responsible for that branch/area/department. We have carefully crafted a series of questions to be asked of each staff member regarding their manager that can be used in two different ways :

1. The results can be given to the company manager so that he or she can determine if there are any managers that he or she needs to work more closely with
2. The results can be given directly to each individual manager so that he or she can honestly and quietly assess how his or her own performance is being viewed by subordinates and make any necessary adjustments.

Staff are not required to nominate their name when filling in the surveys as the whole process is completely anonymous. Importantly the completed surveys are not made available to anyone other than the manager involved or the company manager at their request.

These surveys are designed to assist all managers to improve their own performance over time and importantly they can provide the company manager with a viewing window into the operations and management of the company.

Birney Corporate will confidentially “debrief” each Manager and discuss the results after each survey is completed.

We carefully and tactfully discuss the results in a relaxed, positive and effective manner.

Are your sales figures heading south but you’re not sure why ?Every wondered why certain customers do or don’t buy from you ?

Are you worried that something may be effecting your customer service levels but you cant quite put your finger on it ?

Well the Birney Corporate Customer Survey can make all these things crystal clear for you.

We have designed a simple customer survey that we invite either your entire customer base or just a sample of your customers (or non-customers) to complete.

Often we will personally call on a select group of customers (or non-customers) to personally complete the survey with them onsite.

We get right to the bottom of their buying motives by asking questions like :

1. why they do or don’t they buy from you ?
2. Are you their first choice supplier and if not why not ?
3. Do you get 100% of their business ?
4. How do they rate your service levels ?
5. What extra services would they like to see you offer ?
6. How helpful do they find your staff ?
7. If a former customer – why did they stop dealing with you ?

The insight gained from these surveys is invaluable and very often will lead to action of some description being taken by management.

Do you really know what your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are ?Do you know them all ? Are there some that you may have missed ? Have you ever written them down ?Birney Corporate can assist you to complete this vital task and then address the issues that arise from it.

We will work with you one on one or we will chair a meeting of your management team.

These meetings will typically start with a SWOT analysis but will generally move onto producing a wider strategic plan for the organization.

Staff and Managers are challenged to think hard about where the business is at right now, where it should be at and where they want to take it in the future.

Potential new opportunities are discussed and ideally these strategy days would take place after a Staff Survey has been completed and the results can then be discussed.

Other potential discussion points during these strategy days might be :

1. potential cost saving measures
2. potential new customer groups to target
3. marketing methods not yet tried
4. Key message development
5. Potential for price rises
6. Creation of mission statement
7. Staff training requirements
8. Possible new sales initiatives and “silly ideas”
9. Competition SWOT analysis
10. Potential acquisitions or expansions
11. Potential new products or services
12. What should the business look like in 2 years ? 5 years ? 10 years ?

If successful and well patronized, these strategy development days can result in a complete blueprint for the future of the organization being created.

Are you holding more stock than you need ?Are you running out of fast moving items regularly ?Do you want to move from “min/max” re-ordering to “forecast” or “history” re-ordering ?

Are you unsure of the re-ordering parameters – ie lead times, put away days, admin days ?

Should you be re-ordering weekly ? What about monthly ?

Would you like to tender out your products to multiple suppliers to achieve cost downs ?

Do you have too many similar products on the shelf unnecessarily ?

Do you want advice about what re-ordering parameters to implement ?

Should you keep items that sell only once per year ? What about twice per year or maybe 3 times per year ?

How many stock turns do you think you should be getting ? How can you increase them ?

What can you do with your dead stock ?
Birney Corporate can assist you to answer all of these questions utilizing our professional knowledge in this area.

Have you ever thought about asking your suppliers for “consignment stock” ?

Many businesses are unaware that they could potentially convert at least part of their stock holdings to supplier paid “consignment stock”. This is particularly so if your business sells products that are readily available from multiple wholesalers.

Typically supplier paid consignment stock would be granted at no cost to the reseller and it is paid for as it sells.

Birney Corporate have designed a Consignment Agreement that will give your suppliers the confidence and protection that they need in order to offer you consignment stock.

Our Consignment Agreement clearly sets out the terms of the agreement and sets in stone the consigned stock and quantities so that all parties are clear about the arrangement from the start.

We will also approach suppliers on your behalf to negotiate consignment terms with them that could potentially result in massive cash flow savings for your business.

Birney Corporate are able to conduct a comprehensive audit of your company procedures and practices to determine which ones need upgrading , which ones should have been made obsolete and which ones are not working as intended.Typically these audits would involve detailed one on one interviews with rank and file members of the team. We quickly identify those practices that are not working well and we collaboratively seek answers to how they can be improved.

Many larger companies adopted their current procedures and practices many years ago but their businesses have changed substantially since then.

All too often management are simply unaware of the discontent that exists in the organization due to outdated or unworkable policies that are in real need of change.

Birney Corporate will identify these issues and make recommendations to you about alternative procedures and practises that have broad support within the organization.

State, Federal and local Government’s across Australia have earmarked tens of millions of dollars in grants to assist with everything from the funding of a community facility to a multi-million dollar grant for a public or private company seeking to develop specific technology.The problem however with Government grants is that they are generally hard to find and the application process is often onerous and requires a significant amount of hard work and strategic thought.It is often the case that many eligible companies not only do not submit an application but they are actually unaware that the grant exists in the first place.

Birney Corporate can manage the entire Government grant process for you from identifying a suitable grant, to writing the application to securing the funds.

State, Federal and local Government’s across Australia have earmarked tens of millions of dollars in grants to assist with everything from the funding of a community facility to a multi-million dollar grant for a public or private company seeking to develop specific technology.The problem however with Government grants is that they are generally hard to find and the application process is often onerous and requires a significant amount of hard work and strategic thought.It is often the case that many eligible companies not only do not submit an application but they are actually unaware that the grant exists in the first place.

Birney Corporate can manage the entire Government grant process for you from identifying a suitable grant, to writing the application to securing the funds.

Many companies are interested in mergers and acquisitions but it can sometimes be hard to identify what synergies (and therefore cost reductions) can be achieved between the two parties if the merger or acquisition was to take place.Sometimes potential synergies are simply non-existent despite some people within the organization believing otherwise.Birney Corporate are able to provide you with a completely dispassionate assessment of what potential synergies can be achieved by a merger or acquisition.

We look at every possible synergy measure that can be implemented including but not limited to :

1. job sharing and staff reductions ,
2. location reductions,
3. vehicle sharing,
4. resource sharing,
5. IT savings,
6. stock rationalizations
7. Customer sharing
8. Intercompany sales
9. Distribution centre sharing
10. Back of house function sharing – ie HR, accounts receivable , accounts Payable
11. Finance cost reductions (ie cash sharing)
12. increased buying power benefits
13. tax benefits via capital equipment depreciation

Reports are the remote controls of any business and it is essential to have plenty of them.Of equal importance is the need to ensure that your reports are not skewed by some abnormal issue.Birney Corporate can look critically at your current reports to ensure they are relevant and not skewed. In addition we can also propose a new suite of reports where necessary.

This suite of reports will allow you to effectively maintain control of your business and to be forewarned of dipping graphs.

We will critically analyse your general ledger headings to ensure that you have enough of them and that the headings fit the expense.

Birney Corporate take the view that the best way to critically analyse spending is to avoid the temptation to implement broad all encompassing general ledger headings. Our preference is for more general ledger headings not less. This will allow you to keep abreast of all spending sub-categories and reduce them where possible.

Increased gross profit percentages are the quickest and easiest way of improving the bottom line of any business.Every percentage increase in gross profit becomes bottom line profit because the expenses of the company remain static.Price rises are the most obvious way to increase your gross profit percentage but there are many other ways that should also be explored.

Birney Corporate will conduct a “market price analysis” for like goods and services from your competitors and in the first pass we will make a recommendation to you about the opportunity for an immediate price rise.

Very small regular (2 to 3 times a year) price rises should also be contemplated to at least combat inflation.

We might also make recommendations to you regarding the following methods of increasing gross profit percentages :

1. Increase focus on higher margin customers
2. Negotiating rebates with suppliers for product purchases
3. Importing more product from the overseas factories that make them
4. Cracking down on sales staff that are unnecessarily discounting products
5. Engaging in joint buying opportunities with other companies
6. Implementing a policy for “bulk buys” of products that meet pre-determined criteria
7. Investigating the creation of a cheaper “home brand” range of product

Birney Corporate can lead the assault on gross profit margins for your company and in doing so vastly improve your bottom line overnight.

Birney Corporate are experts at importing products from the overseas factories that make them.Importing products direct from an international factory can result in products being purchased anywhere up to 50% cheaper than from locally based suppliers.Birney Corporate have all the tools, contacts and knowledge required to find similar products made in overseas factories.

We can run an “end to end” importing program for you from finding the right product, to undertaking the due diligence on the factory, to sourcing samples, to placing initial orders, arranging freight and dealing with customs.

Birney Corporate are particularly well versed at importing from China and we are also well connected in many other countries.