According to a recent NAPEO market survey, almost one-third of PEOS who participated in the survey said they were experiencing a decline in operating income. Operating income is an accounting term that measures the profit associated with the business operations after deducting expenses like wages, depreciation, and the cost associated with acquiring new clients.

There are two sides to the equation of operating new income: revenue and expenses. There’s one business function that has an impact on both sides of the equation — and that’s marketing.

“The decision to move forward with a PEO was almost always based on a trust that the PEO would handle the [HR] functions with the same care and investment as the business owner.” —NAPEO’s “PEO Market Research” April 2018

In NAPEO’s research, they found that once prospects can answer the question “what the heck is a PEO?,” a large fraction (67%) of prospects that previously described themselves as “somewhat interested” in partnering with a PEO become “very interested” in partnering with a PEO.

But that isn’t enough to turn a prospect into a lead, much less turn a lead into a customer. Perhaps the most important finding from their market research report regards those who almost become PEO clients. They received a formal proposal from a PEO yet did not move forward. Why?

LeadG2 is an inbound marketing and sales enablement agency that does excellent work with organizations that are B2B focused and have complexed sales environments. What that means is they’re typically targeting executive-level decision-makers. It’s not a one-call close; it’s a sales process that might have a long sales cycle, a multi-step sales cycle that could last weeks or even months. It’s typically a higher ticket, more complex solution that’s being offered.

One of the markets that really describes this situation is PEO companies and human resource outsourcing firms. These organizations are trying to sell to business owners and trying to engage in complex discussions about how they can better manage their human resources, payroll, and benefits. This requires building trust, credibility – and it’s a long, complex sales cycle that often creates frustration. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to stop using tired and overused PEO marketing tactics.

Too many Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) are ignoring the obstacles to lead generation and turning conversions into customers. The primary cause? PEOs are treating their lead generation process as though it were no different from lead generation for other industries such as legal and medical.

This is understandable; besides the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEOs), educational material online and offline does not address the unique challenges that come with marketing a PEO. But thanks to NAPEOs April 2018 market research paper, we now have a roadmap that clearly points out the barriers to obtaining new PEO prospects and moving them down the sales funnel.

The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) bills itself as “The voice of the PEO industry”—providing government advocacy, public relations, and marketing support to its members. In fact, they’ve done such a great job of producing marketing content assets that their member companies can integrate into their marketing and sale enablement strategies.

The NAPEO content library includes whitepapers, brochures, and infographics that are designed to build credibility and trust with prospects and educate them on the “what’s, whys and how’s” of PEOs. They also offer ad templates and social media graphics that can be used to evangelize the benefits of using a PEO. If this all sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is.

As the economy heats up and businesses are growing, business leaders are seeking ways to take advantage of market opportunities and maximize their revenue growth potential. They’re renewing their focus on core competencies and eliminating distractions wherever possible. They can’t afford to devote their most valuable resource – time – to things like processing payroll and managing human resource policies. 

There’s no doubt that these are important tasks, and there are significant risks associated with neglecting or taking short-cuts in these areas. But no entrepreneur starts their business dreaming of someday shopping for the most cost-effective healthcare benefits. 

They would rather solve customers’ problems, build their brands, and grow their revenue. Therefore, more and more companies are choosing to outsource these human resources tasks and functions to professional employer organizations (PEOs) and human resource outsources (HROs).