Over time NSA has recruited additional members, and today the organization rep-resents over $1.7 billion in collective rev-enues. This gives NSA significant leverage when negotiating national contracts with prod-uct manufacturers and service providers. Guy Mingo, chief executive officer (CEO) of Marsden Holding, a privately owned se-curity and facility service provider primarily serving the mid-western and western U.S. says, “NSA provides the purchasing power we need to be competitive in today’s mar-ket. It’s vital to realize every cost advantage possible, and NSA is a key partner for us in this effort.” When the GPO first formed, a few vendor partnerships for core janitorial products were negotiated. Over the years, this vendor base has ex-panded to include a wide variety of prod-ucts and services used daily in the facilities management industry. The additional vendor partners offer sig-nificant discounts on equipment purchase and rental, office supplies and services, fleet and rental car services, core business needs and technology solutions. Advantageous Partnerships A partnership with a cellular provider pro-vides members with cell phone services, and they can take advantage of programs many building service contractors may not consid-er, such as safe driving practices, GPS track-ing of employees for better service routing, timekeeping and payroll solutions, etc. NSA negotiates savings with vendors leaving building service contractors and related businesses more time to focus on what really matters. Paul Greenland, president of Aetna Building Maintenance, a regional janito-rial, facilities management and industrial support service provider in the Midwest sums this up by saying, “By purchasing cell phones, office supplies, chemicals, vehicles and equipment though my NSA contracts, I easily save more than $50,000 per year. Plus, NSA takes care of the negotiations so I can focus on business, not pricing agree-ments.” Members receive contractually protect-ed pricing and can continue to purchase consumables from their loyal and trusted distributors — saving money without dis-rupting their established supply chain or retraining site personnel. Members can also purchase a wide va-riety of equipment and services directly from the manufacturer or service provider, eliminating the distributor markup. Companies can realize savings of 50 per-cent or more on consumables, equipment and services. The NSA team works with the vendor partners to monitor product use and en-sure members get the best value for the goods and services they need to run their business. According to Stanley Doobin, president of Harvard Maintenance, a national jani-torial, facilities and building maintenance services provider based in New York with satellite offices across the U.S., “Our savings are amazing and we recoup our member-ship fee in just one week. How can you af-ford to pass on an NSA membership?” Members can take advantage of order control and reporting tools that help moni-tor and manage their spending, making sure that each job stays within budget. The end result is bidding and servicing jobs more profitably. Members also have access to extensive training tools and webinars designed to improve employee productivity, delivering greater profitability. Companies can see savings of up to 50 percent on consumables, equipment and services. Membership Opportunities In addition, sponsored meetings provide opportunities to hear from top national speakers, share experiences and network with peers and vendor partners. Further, the investment in membership can pay dividends through significant sav-ings and year-end rebates. “NSA’s purchasing power and educa-tion programs helped reduce our costs and significantly improve our profitability,” says Yasser Youssef, president of The Budd Group, a janitorial, maintenance and land-scaping services provider in the southeast. Prior to joining, a dedicated representa-tive will perform an initial cost analysis for a business and project the savings an opera-tion should realize. Once a business joins, a representative will guide an owner through the process to make sure he or she receives group pricing from preferred consumables dis-tributors and access to direct pricing from many of the group’s equipment and ser-vices partners. A representative will continue to work with a company to ensure maximized sav-ings and overall program benefits. Bob Weintraub, chief executive officer (CEO) and owner of Service Management Group, a commercial cleaning and build-ing maintenance provider for Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, states: “Joining NSA and getting started was easy. Our NSA rep took us step-by-step through the pro-cess on how to maximize the savings and other benefits offered to NSA members. Joining NSA was a smart move for SMG and we look forward to the savings we will real-ize every year.” Terry Sambrowski, vice president and execu-tive director for National Service Alliance, has been with the organization since July 2001 and contributed years of contract and negotiation experience to the group. She played a major role in expanding the vendor partnerships offered to members. National Service Alliance (NSA) is the industry-leading group purchasing organi-zation for independently-owned building ser-vice contractors and related businesses in the U.S. NSA is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Visit NANSA.org for information. www.CMMOnline.com 37 Image courtesy of TimArbaev/iStock/Thinkstock
CMM – Archives June 2014: 37
