Why do you need a PEO Broker?

There are 700 of them – how do you even figure out the right ones to call to even narrow down the process?

This will address some of the questions, but it really brings up the other questions that you have to think about. Not exactly a checklist but really this gives you an idea of the differences in the complexities of the purchasing process. But don’t be scared – there’s an easy way to do this all – more on that later.

The comparison spreadsheet we use has 48 rows and they are all important.  I know we have said this in other FAQs but it’s worth repeating – they sound like they (PEOs) all do everything – they will all check off they do it on your spreadsheet – just ask any direct PEO salesperson from any PEO- they will tell you how the PEO they are working for (currently)  is the best – here is the short truth to this fundamental and important question – PEOs encompass so many aspects that are each complicated – from payroll to benefits to HRIS to WC, etc… even if you have one now and you think you know what to ask for it will take incredible time to do the right due diligence on them and that presumes you went to the right ones.  What their salesman says, their internet reviews and their glowingly happy client referrals they cherrypick for you is not what you need to hear or internet reviews say or happy client referrals they cherry-pick for you to talk to say is not what you need – even if you had the time to do this time-consuming project, what you need is a professional that really is objective about the companies, has dealt with their problems, knows what is really going on this year with their software or organization.  By the way, a PEO broker doesn’t charge a fee for all this – they get you better rates than if you went direct – you fill out fewer forms – and they will do the comparisons between them all. 

Why do you need to compare? Because they are so very different from technology, from service, from guarantees, from style, from admin rates, from hidden fees, from benefit plan, and WC and benefit rates and renewals, from compliance help and defense.

What are these called? They’re called PEO brokers they don’t charge a fee they get lower rates and most importantly they’re good and that is the only thing they do and there are big differences between PEO brokers, but the most important thing is they will make sure you did not pick the wrong PEO you could get fired because of it literally.

See additional FAQs on how brokers operate:

Why Do People Select ThePEOPeople.com?

How Much do PEOs Really Cost?

What is a PEO Anyway?

Why Should I Call a PEO Broker Instead of the PEO’s Directly?

You would think going directly to a provider is the least expensive way to shop – but it isn’t, and here’s why.

• Direct sales forces are very expensive – see below for more on how much they cost you. Buying through large channel partners is almost always guaranteed to be less expensive, and give you a better deal. Amazon, Wayfair, Hotel Tonight, Priceline, etc.
• A direct rep only sells that company, and once you call them and get in the PEOs salesman’s Retail pricing Sales system, you are often stuck at higher prices. Don’t get sucked into the rabbit hole before it’s too late!
• Direct sales reps have quotas – the more they charge you the more they make and the closer they are to their quotas. When they’re talking to you, they don’t care about you or your business, they just want to hurry up and close a deal so they can move on to the next unsuspected business owner.
• Direct sales reps don’t have the buying power of a large distributor – see below how much this can cost you in all the fees.
• Direct sales reps can only sell one company – so with that being said do you really think they’ll keep you up to date on that company’s issues, or just recommend one that is better?
  • For example – when times get tough they conveniently “forget” to tell you about how they just lost a lot of clients and/or staff, how the modules really aren’t fully integrated, how they’re about to be sold, the ‘new’ software isn’t working well, a bad block of renewals is coming, e They’ll string you along for a client until the absolute last day, and then leave you hanging.
  • Do you think they are going fairly spreadsheet all the competition (all fees, services, medical plans) and break it down in a way that lets you accurately see the best option out of all of the ones you have? No – you’ll have to do all of these comparisons on your own and learn how to do it right. The problem is, doing it right isn’t actually the easiest thing to do unless you know the behind the scenes real facts on this business game-changing decision)
• Do you think they will negotiate with all the other competitions as hard as a large distributor? Do you think they even have the power to? (hint: they don’t).
• You use brokers now – for medical, and workers comp – for a good reason. Would you hire someone who’s just painted a small shed in his backyard to paint your house, or would you rather hire a fully serviced professional painting crew? That’s the difference.
• Don’t call direct and get stuck paying retail. As soon as they answer the phone their one objective is to get you added to a spreadsheet as another client, paying way more than they should for a lot less of the services than they should be getting.
• Don’t call direct – People get stuck on average spending 63 hours talking to each direct rep, looking at their demos, and comparing everything. 63 Whole hours? You would definitely be better off spending all that time optimizing and expanding your business, wouldn’t you? That’s almost 3 days’ worth of time just trying to find the right PEOs and Services when you could meet with a broker and get it done in a fraction of the time!

Want to compare PEOs? Click here to view a sample of potential savings.

1. Their broker told them they are terrible. 
2. They don’t want to spend the time on getting another quote (p.s. it doesn’t take a lot of your time if you use the right PEO broker). 
3. They love their broker and think PEOs are like getting quote from another insurance broker (but it is far from that – it is accessing bulk buying that your broker doesn’t have access to and doesn’t want you to know about. 
4. You got a quote years ago and it wasn’t good – (but the industry has changed dramatically after the federal act came out to regulate this industry and technology has allow you do things you couldn’t before, and the private market health rates still keep going up.) 
5. A major reason to get these quotes is honestly it is your job and now the courts have just made you actually personally liable if you don’t make sure you get the best deals for your employees under ERISA. 

The truth is it can be really time consuming and confusing even if you already have a PEO and know what you want.  Gathering the proper information is not the time-consuming part – that should take about 20 minutes at the most and it is generally the same information you are used to gathering to shop Medical Insurance. The time-consuming part is listening to all the salespeople all sound the same and all asking you the same questions and all telling you how terrific their PEO is, and in may cases filling out different forms with the same information for them.  Then part two – they all ask for more information with mostly the same questions and sometimes different forms and questions. That is really annoying.  They get you quotes that are kind of hard to compare because the services all sound the same, but how they are actually delivered is incredibly different and for you to really find out this you then need to do a deep dive into each type of service (and of course the medical plans never match up) and then demos. In the end the truth is you still will not know everything you need to know. And if you get past all that you need to read their confusing contracts that all have incredible language in their favor that you can and must change and add to. It goes on and on, and that ignores negotiation for price and modules and guarantees.  WOW.   

Or you can use one professional third party to do most of this, tell you the truth and get you better prices while still allowing you to do your job and letting them do all the hard work.  These are called PEO Brokers – just like you use your insurance brokers – they don’t charge a fee, they work for you, not the PEOs, have wholesale discount prices and they make sure you don’t pick the wrong PEO, if you should even have a PEO at all. One of the most important things is which PEO broker you pick – see other FAQs (hint: only select a PEO who is only a PEO broker, not an insurance agent, and only one that has staff and clout – most are either a small team or a single PEO salesperson.

Ok – Glad you asked.   This is all we do.  We have professional staff. We have clout with all the PEO’s. We have infrastructure and systems. We have been doing this for years. We love what we do. On average we save clients 25% but we are totally objective and will help you determine the ROI if a PEO is right for you in the first place.  Our clients use us for years – for renewals with PEOs, for ongoing service issues and even to change PEOs if they have different needs or the PEO isn’t doing their job.  Click here to find out more about us, our history and testimonials. 

We wrote the book on the industry.  We are straight forward and make this exploration of yours efficient, honest and a pleasure. 

Who is SBE479?  You will see that on some of our literature – years ago we had this as our name – it is because this is all we do and SBE479 stands for the Small Business Efficiency Act #479 – this is the federal act that governs the industry.  

We are a PEO Broker.

You most likely charge employees a portion of their benefit costs and hopefully are using a Section 125 Plan (one you have filed and one you submit 5500’s for (that is another story). Under the 125 plan, those contributions are deductible by the employee for Federal and State Income tax. Under Section 125 you as the company, would also save money because your F.I.C.A. matching contribution is based on a lower salary.

Scooping is when the PEO charges you a percentage on your employee’s salary, pays the Government the tax on the salary and keeps the rest! Really? Yes. Who would even think to ask that question – and by the way that percentage of the total employee contributions for all your benefit plans really adds up!

Read about a specific example here!

That is why you need a professional PEO broker to guide and educate you on what you need to know about each of these PEOs – whether it is their fees, modules, service model, history of renewals, etc. That is one of the reasons some many smart HR and Finance professionals use SBE479.org – ThePEOpeople.com

If someone can’t explain their services to you in a way that a 5th grader can understand, there’s a good chance they don’t understand it enough themselves and are just repeating what they heard from somewhere else. Which would you rather have – someone trying to fool you with complex charts and big phrases, or the straightforward real experience and practical answers of multiple clients with multiple PEO’s with YEARS in the business?

Our team has always been a brokerage company. We don’t charge fees and only earn our money if we find options that are great for you. We don’t just sign clients to get paid off of fees, we genuinely care about getting the best for you and the people you’re responsible for taking care of. Our PEO Consulting services are designed around simple aligned objectives with you and your company.

We are Objective. We are in this, for one thing, to help businesses take better care of their people. Our team has always been a brokerage company. We don’t charge fees and only earn our money if we find options that are great for you. It’s not billable hours and time – it’s results we deliver, or we don’t get paid.

Why is it cheaper and better to use a PEO broker vs. calling the PEO directly – doesn’t a broker cost me more?

100% the opposite – 1) PEO direct reps cost the PEOs a lot and they add on a lot to your cost – a lot maybe 20%!  We cut out that expensive bias change and give you access to our wholesale prices, plus we’re objective so we know the good, the bad, and the ugly – the truth about each. That direct salesman is not telling you the pros and cons of them vs the competition – the sell you the company they work for or they don’t get paid – plus as we said they add on up to 20% over our prices with the same PEO. Also, there are over 700 – how do you know the right ones to pick in the first place – their ads? A quality broker knows – who is right for your size, location, industry, service level needs, and other requirements – and most importantly frankly who will make your life great or miserable.