As small- or medium-sized businesses, your prospective clients may have encountered obstacles when considering and evaluating professional employer organizations (PEO). Concerns about pricing transparency, employee experience and the downplaying of earned success could all be standing in their way of making a commitment to work with your service bureau.
Diving into the details of these potential roadblocks and identifying solutions can help you overcome common objections while helping your prospects understand the benefits of a PEO. After all, you may be able to expand your business and provide a valuable service to both your prospects and current clients by reviewing and enhancing your sales strategy to focus on PEO business model benefits. Here are a few tips:
1. Pricing Transparency
To serve the role of a trusted advisor, there needs to be a high level of transparency in your pricing structure. In some cases, clients may feel that given their specific needs, hidden costs could come into play after an agreement is reached and contracts have been signed. Consider the fact that the decision makers within an organization may ultimately have stakeholders to please, and their caution about pricing may be more apparent. To prepare for this, it’s important for any proposal to clearly indicate how the costs are calculated with the expectation that your contact will not be the only one reviewing it. Small costs added into your proposal can be seen as hidden, so be sure that your pricing structure presents an upfront and transparent picture that will help to manage their pricing expectations.
2. Address Loss of Control Concerns
Some prospects may be hesitant about working with a PEO due to a fear of losing control of what they have built. The most effective way to overcome these concerns is to focus on the significant time and resource savings, plus human resource (HR) and compliance expertise your PEO offers. It’s also important to help them understand that your goal is to be a trusted resource and partner in their business, not to take it over.
3. Focus on Employee Experience
When describing the benefits of a PEO, you should make sure that employee experience is high up on the list. Employees may not fully understand co-employment, and it's important to make the transition as smooth as possible so that any concerns are quickly addressed and don’t interfere with productivity. Morale is important to your prospects and focusing on maintaining a positive experience for employees can go a long way toward securing new business.
A Winning Strategy
Considering these points from your prospective clients' position can help you better understand their potential objections. This enables you to arrange your proposal in a way that describes the PEO model benefits and how you can have a positive impact on their organization. Not only will this help you close more deals, but it will give you the ability to nurture your client relationships over time.