Pamila Kew / May 22, 2019
Professional Profile
When it comes to the telecommunications, merchant services, and small package shipping industries, contracts and prices are ever changing. Unless youâre dedicated to managing these services full-time, how can you be sure youâre paying exactly what you should?
Thatâs why Schooley Mitchell Strategic-Partner Zach Madrigal takes it personally when going about finding savings.
âIn any of our careers, you get people saying âwell, I could do that myself,ââ Madrigal said. âBut this is what we do, all day, every day.â
Take, for example, one of Madrigalâs happy clients: a pool construction company. Schooley Mitchellâs initial value report for them reported $38,000 in total savings on their wireless, but unbeknownst to us they ended up purchasing additional telecom equipment under the impression that they were getting a great deal.
âWe circled back with them and did another value report,â Madrigal said. âNot only were they not getting much in savings out of the new equipment, but they had over 40 phone lines that hadnât been used in months.â
This clientâs savings jumped from $38,000 to $44,000 after the second value report â overall 65% savings on their wireless alone.
âIf you asked me to build a pool, I would suck at it,â Madrigal said. âBut cost reduction is what we do.â
Schooley Mitchell is the largest cost-reduction consulting firm in North America, with offices from coast-to-coast in the United States and Canada. On average, Schooley Mitchell reduces their clientâs expenses by 27-28% in several different categories and have delivered over $320 million in documented savings to over 20,000 clients to date.
Prior to joining Schooley Mitchell, Madrigal worked in medical device and pharmaceutical sales and business process outsourcing. He also had a long career in sales management.
âEventually I got into the financial component â specifically looking at financials and how these changes and products would benefit their facilities and lead to cost-reductions,â he said.
Cost-reduction stuck with him, and when he wanted to start his own business, Madrigal had four main things he was looking for.
âI wanted something that was transparent, I wanted something that was contingency-based, I wanted something where I had a long term relationship with my clients, and I didnât want to sell anything I was skeptical about,â he said. âSchooley Mitchellâs value proposition is crystal-clear.â
For Madrigal, Schooley Mitchell let him embrace his inner entrepreneur and become his own boss.
âIâm working harder than I think Iâve ever worked in my entire life, but at the end of the day, Iâm working for me. Schooley Mitchell has given me more opportunities to make decisions every day. Whether theyâre good or bad, I get to make them,â he said.
In his free time, Madrigal loves spending time with his family and giving back to his community. He belongs to a group called Neighbours helping Neighbours â a local non-profit designed around stepping up to help your community.
âWeâre a hands-on group. For example, we do a lot of ramp building for people in wheelchairs or with walkers that canât use stairs,â said Madrigal. âWe did Shop with a Cop last year and we raised $80,000 to help kids have a happy holiday season.â Zach Madrigal, Strategic-Partner
As a cancer survivor himself, Madrigal also gives support to children through Imerman Angels â a one-on-one cancer support group. He also participates in two separate head and neck cancer support groups at MD Anderson in Mesa, Arizona as well as HonorHealth in Scottsdale.
âI make it a very high priority. I set up calls every week to talk to them when theyâre going through radiation and chemotherapy until theyâre about two months out,â he said. âI feel like Iâm very blessed and the more I can help the better I feel.â
If Madrigal could have prospective clients understand one thing about his business, itâs that working with Schooley Mitchell is not a one-and-done experience.
âWe become their trusted advisors. We want to be considered part of their team. Itâs an ongoing commitment, and when we start optimizing and making improvements, weâre there for you in the long term,â he said.
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