Our Broker-Centric Business Model: Timeline of a Typical Engagement

28 February 2021 ExtensisHR7 minute read

All of the United States’ 900+ PEOs are dedicated to providing superior payroll and HR solutions for employers, but not all recognize the valuable role you play as a broker. For this reason, many brokers rightly worry about protecting their client relationships from encroachment by their PEO partners.

Extensis is guided by a different principle. We prioritize and preserve the broker’s relationship with their clients and prospects. Brokers work hard to earn their clients’ trust, and we recognize and respect the value of this time investment.

Our broker-centric business model reflects our commitment to delivering personalized service to brokers as well as the small- and medium-sized businesses who utilize our HR solutions.

So, what does our broker-centric business model look like in practice?

Before the RFI

The more information you have at your fingertips, the more quickly you can close sales. We want to make it easier for you to access helpful information, so we provide a wide array of resources to familiarize yourself with our Professional Employer Outsourcing (PEO) solution and our Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) solution.

Our newly re-designed website also streamlines your ability to share information with prospects. The Extensis website features quick access to industry-specific HR outsourcing information, detailed descriptions of what is included in our PEO and HRO offerings, helpful articles for business owners/leadership, and more.

We also release useful resources geared specifically toward strengthening your sales process, such as worksheets, eBooks, and webinars. We aim to answer questions, gather feedback, and make sure you feel comfortable explaining the full value of Extensis to prospects.

Generating the Initial Quote

Hard numbers help further the conversation quickly. The sooner you can evaluate a quote, the more quickly you can advance your sales cycle.

We know “time is money,” so we streamlined our proposal process to make it as easy as possible to request quotes for your prospects or incumbent clients.

Generating a basic quote with Extensis requires a minimum amount of information, all of which is easy to obtain:

A dependent-level census
The company’s most recent health insurance invoice(s)
Plan summaries
Renewal information (if renewal is within 60 days)
General health questionnaire (GHQ)

We strive to turn around a basic quote within 24-48 hours.

For clients desiring a more detailed quote, we ask you to provide all of the above information, plus the following:

A copy of the current Worker’s Compensation policy (not expired)
Current payroll register
Current value of Worker’s Comp Loss Runs (previous 3-5 years)

The documents listed above are required for companies not currently using a traditional payroll company or PEO. If the company is currently partnered with another PEO, we provide a worksheet detailed the specific names of each document to request from their existing PEO partner. This explicit guidance makes it easier for you to obtain all necessary documentation to generate ‘apples to apples’ comparisons.

Furthering the Conversation: Overview & Analysis

Businesses seeking comparison based solely on price nearly always fail to take full advantage of Extensis’ comprehensive resources and deep HR expertise. In order to tailor our service to each client, we always want to know more about their business and the full extent of their HR needs.

Before the proposal, we ask you to arrange a discovery meeting (currently conducted virtually during the pandemic) to include yourself, the prospect’s representatives, and one or more of our HR managers.

During this meeting, we begin to explore the business, probing areas where we believe we can add further value.

Many prospects “don’t know what they don’t know.” Some may be accustomed to the restrictive “big-box” PEO model delivered by their existing outsourced payroll and HR provider. Others may handle all human resource management in-house and are unaware of the full extent of the HR solutions, benefit services, risk and compliance services, and HRIS technology available to them through Extensis.

Since you understand your incumbent client/prospect’s unique business challenges, we encourage you to ask questions on their behalf. Your voice is important, and your role in servicing the client is invaluable.

Once we understand the full scope of how we can help the client/prospect, we then tailor each proposal to their business to ensure they receive maximum ROI on their investment.

This level of personalization helps businesses become better employers and also increases your competitive edge against other brokers or PEOs offering “one-size-fits-all” solutions.

Broker Review & Input

With Extensis, brokers are involved during every phase of the proposal process. Before submitting any information to the prospect, we send the proposal to you and walk you through important points. This gives you the chance to address any issues or bring up questions we may want to consider before sharing the proposal with the prospect.

As the eyes and ears of your client, your sign-off on the proposal is important. We expect your clients/prospects will want to consult with you, so we aim to prepare you to answer their questions with confidence.

Together, you and our sales manager will present the proposal. We never contact your clients or prospects without your knowledge.

Technology & Services Demo

After reviewing the proposal, we encourage interested prospects to learn more about our sophisticated HRIS technology and the scope of services they will receive once they engage. We coordinate a tech demo and an introduction to the HR manager with whom they will be working.

You are always invited to participate in these meetings.

Onboarding

Once the client decides to engage Extensis, we begin the onboarding process. We introduce ourselves to the client’s workforce and begin the day-to-day delivery of HR administration.

As the employer’s advocate and advisor, we encourage you to be part of the onboarding meetings to the extent you prefer. Some brokers play an active role in the hand-off. Others are deeply confident in our services and are comfortable playing a less prominent role.

Throughout the Engagement

After onboarding is complete, we provide comprehensive benefit administration services, a fact most brokers appreciate. Many brokers’ administrative workloads are significantly reduced once employees begin using the self-serve tools in our HRIS software and start contacting our Employee Solution Center directly for explanations of benefits, payroll questions, lost insurance cards, etc.

With less work on your plate, you can now direct your attention away from time-draining tasks toward higher-value activities requiring more of your expertise, such as annual enrollment or specific requests from your client’s C-suite.

An Ongoing Broker/PEO Relationship

We believe compensation should be fair and transparent, which is why our broker commission scale stands out in the industry. Unlike other outsourced HR solutions providers, we do not recognize Broker of Record letters. In our eyes, once you onboard a client, they are your client for the duration of their engagement with Extensis.

Leveraging your PEO relationship with Extensis does more than help your clients – it protects your book of business from other brokers or outsourced HR companies. By letting Extensis assume the risk and do the administrative heavy lifting, our broker-centric business model allows you to dedicate more time to advocating for your clients/prospects and demonstrating your commitment to their success.

Do you have a client or prospect who can benefit from working with Extensis? Contact our broker sales team and let’s start the conversation.