PREMIER HCM
By Steve Evans
Most insurance brokers spend their time focused on the big pieces of the employee benefits puzzle: health plans, renewals, networks, plan design, and compliance. Those are the issues that drive most client conversations.
But there is another system sitting quietly inside every employer that touches almost everything brokers care about, and that’s the one your client uses to process payroll.
Payroll determines how benefits are handled, how retirement contributions are processed, where employee data lives, and how compliance documentation is tracked.
Brokers depend on payroll providers every day, but who their clients work with often doesn’t get enough attention until something goes wrong and it starts affecting the broker’s business. When it does, it can create problems for the broker and sometimes even give the HCM provider an opportunity to take a shot at getting your insurance business.
The payroll companies your clients use can have a bigger impact on the relationship than many people realize. For brokers who introduce payroll vendors to their clients, a few things are worth paying attention to.
Look Beyond the Salesperson
Most insurance brokers find their payroll partners the same way—at a networking event, through a referral, or a payroll rep who walks into the office and says they want to “partner.”
This is how many of these relationships start. Before long, you’re referring clients their way.
Often, it’s simply because the salesperson is likable and seems easy to work with. But the challenge is that the sales rep doesn’t have control over what the company ultimately does.
Large payroll companies, like the one I left to start our company, are complex organizations with multiple divisions selling to the same clients and aggressive revenue targets. In that environment, it is not unusual for different parts of the company to pursue opportunities that compete with the advisors who originally introduced the client to them.
This is why brokers should always understand the following before referring a payroll provider:
Where else does the company try to generate revenue from its client base?
Because that answer matters more in the long run than the relationship with the individual salesperson.
Understand the Ownership Structure
Ownership is one of the most important aspects of evaluating a payroll provider.
Many payroll and HCM companies today are owned by insurance brokerages, private equity firms with insurance holdings, or are part of organizations that actively sell employee benefits under their brand. That is where things can start to get messy.
When a payroll provider also sells insurance or financial products, they have a front-row seat to employer data, employee census information, and benefit enrollment details. That kind of visibility can make it very easy to spot opportunities to sell other services.
When brokers lose business to payroll companies, it’s rarely because someone redesigned the benefits plan and made it better. More often than not, it’s a broker-of-record change positioned as a simpler way to manage payroll and benefits together. That doesn’t include you.
A quick review of the company’s website can be revealing. If benefits, retirement plans, or insurance services are listed, or the company is owned by a large insurance or financial services firm, that tells you a lot. Hearing phrases like “single source for everything” can also signal how they plan to expand within their client base.
Payroll touches nearly every part of your client’s employee experience. When it works well, everyone benefits.
Ask How the Relationship is Protected
Now that you have a better understanding of the payroll providers you work with, there should be clear guardrails in place.
Brokers should ask their salesperson questions like:
- If one of my clients asks your team about services that I normally handle, how is that conversation handled?
- Who else within your sales organization is allowed to contact the clients I refer?
- Do you maintain a “no-call” list for referred clients, and how would I make sure my clients are included on that list?
- How am I identified in your system as the referring partner so my clients are not receiving ongoing sales calls from other divisions?
- If I need help supporting a client, who should I contact on your team?
These are things you should know. The right partner will welcome the conversation and explain in detail how they protect advisor relationships. They’ll even put it in writing.
The wrong partner will hem and haw and tell you not to worry, that they have your back and you can just come to them for anything.
Look for Alignment with the Advisor Model
The best payroll partnerships are built around a simple idea: payroll should strengthen the broker’s role as the trusted advisor.
When payroll, HR, and benefits systems work well together, the broker’s job becomes much easier. When those systems are disorganized or disconnected, the problems eventually find their way back to the broker and can lead to unhappy clients.
There’s also another factor worth thinking about. Many insurance brokers are also small business owners, just like the majority of their clients. They work in their communities, build relationships locally, and take pride in supporting other entrepreneurs they trust.
Yet when it comes to payroll, many advisors end up referring their clients to very large providers whose priorities are often driven by revenue targets and shareholder growth rather than local relationships. Smaller providers often align better with local brokers than the big box ones.
At the end of the day, a good HCM partner should make the broker look good for introducing them to the client, not create more work. That means things like:
- Clean benefits integrations that reduce enrollment and deduction issues
- A service team that responds quickly when brokers need help supporting a client
- Direct access to experienced people within the company who can resolve issues, not just a salesperson or their manager
- Clear recognition of the broker relationship within the company
- Respect for the advisor relationship and the role the broker plays with the client
- A willingness to loop the broker in when conversations expand beyond payroll
Payroll touches nearly every part of your client’s employee experience. When it works well, everyone benefits.
Service Still Matters
Technology in the HCM space has improved dramatically. Employee self-service portals, benefits administration systems, and AI tools have made platforms more powerful than ever.
Even with all the technology available today, employers still need a little handholding from time to time.
When something goes wrong with payroll, it usually needs to be fixed right away. That is when your partner’s service model matters.
One of the biggest complaints employers have about large payroll companies is that it can take a while to get to the right person when they need help. They often end up sitting in support queues, getting transferred from person to person, or leaving messages that never get returned.
The best payroll partners combine strong technology with real human support. Having a payroll specialist assigned to the account who is familiar with the client’s payroll setup can make a big difference when questions come up. Because payroll is still a human business.
Think Long Term
The payroll partner a broker brings into a client relationship will usually be there for a long time.
Employers don’t switch payroll systems very often. Once a system is in place, it tends to stay there for a while.
That’s why it pays to think carefully about who you choose to work with for your clients.
The right payroll partner can make the broker’s job easier and strengthen the relationship with the client. The wrong partner can slowly create problems that the broker ends up cleaning up or even cause them to lose the client.
Alignment Matters
When payroll companies truly respect the advisor relationship, and brokers expect the same kind of partnership from their HCM provider that they would from any other trusted advisor, everyone wins. Especially our shared client.
Click here for a direct conversation about alignment, services, and book protection strategies.
Steve Evans is the Co-founder of Premier HCM with over 25 years of payroll sales and leadership experience, and he launched the company to elevate service in an industry that too often forgets what real support looks like. He partners with small to mid-sized businesses that want more than just software, delivering proactive guidance, clear answers, and a deep understanding of client needs through an integrated platform for payroll, HR, time, onboarding, and benefits backed by hands-on service from seasoned professionals. Evans believes strong relationships and practical solutions matter as much as technology and is passionate about helping organizations simplify payroll, improve compliance, and build lasting partnerships.