To outsource or not to outsource. That is the question. Indeed, the question of whether to outsource your payroll or not is one that many businesses have faced and one that many businesses will continue to face for the foreseeable future. Luckily, there are plenty of big national providers who are eager to help small businesses with affordable payroll services, right? While there may be several national options available to small businesses when it comes to payroll outsourcing, not everything may be as it seems. More often than not, national providers may not provide the level of service that local businesses require, and may not be able to take the time to know your business and provide a payroll solution designed for you.
At Payday HCM, we’re very familiar with the issues small businesses face when it comes to working with national payroll providers. We receive plenty of questions from businesses about the things they should look for when searching for a payroll provider, and whether it’s better to partner with a national provider or choose an option that’s a little closer to home.
Well, in this article, we’ll be discussing just that: why Albuquerque businesses should choose a payroll provider based in Albuquerque. A local payroll provider doesn’t mean a provider that just services local businesses. Rather, a local provider is a smaller business, more closely in line with your own, that can take the time to get to know you, the challenges your business is facing, and offer a payroll solution that can handle those challenges. We spoke with Payday HCM Operations Manager Lisa Bodie on the reasons why local businesses should opt to work with a locally-based provider.
In this article, you will learn:
- When Local Businesses Work With National Providers
- How Working With an Albuquerque-Based Payroll Provider Is Different
- How Local Providers Build Relationships With Local Businesses
When Local Businesses Work With National Providers
National providers do provide cost-effective services for local businesses, but those services do come with potential drawbacks.
Why Businesses Choose to Outsource Payroll, HR
Before ever working with a payroll provider, a business first needs to decide to outsource its payroll. Whether you’re currently working with a payroll provider and are considering switching or you’ve never outsourced before, there comes a time when a business decides that outsourcing its payroll and HR is the logical next step.
“When a company is looking for a payroll provider, they are looking to alleviate some of the day-to-day work. You're looking to offload some of the work, or maybe you're a small business, and you only have a few employees, so you just want to outsource that work so that you don't have to hire someone internally and pay those additional costs,” Bodie said.
Where National Payroll Providers Fall Short
National payroll providers often offer pricing tiers and free trials that will entice small or local businesses looking for as cost-effective a solution as possible. The low cost doesn’t tell the full story: oftentimes, these low-cost solutions come with potentially high-cost drawbacks, especially when it comes to services rendered.
“You reach out to these larger national companies to get help with your day-to-day payroll and things like that, but they tend to view you just as a number,” Bodie said. “You don't get the relationship with that larger national company… It's a call center atmosphere. You may have to wait longer for responses.”
How Working With an Albuquerque-Based Payroll Provider Is Different
When you become just a number with a larger, national provider, your business loses out on top-tier service and support. Working with a locally-based provider can change that.
Your Business Becomes More Than Just a Number
In a world that becomes increasingly reliant on digital interactions, exceptional service can be hard to come by. This is especially true for local or small businesses that outsource their payroll to national providers. Working with a locally-based payroll provider can not only help meet your payroll needs but also give your business the level of service it deserves.
“That's why it is better to go with the local provider because you get that one-on-one interaction, that personal touch. You can walk into the office, or they'll come by your office. It's just a better relationship, and they're there when you need the help,” Bodie said.
Localized Service, Not Localized Software
It’s easy to think that, as with a national payroll provider, a locally-based payroll provider will also come with its own trade-offs. Mainly, a smaller provider may not have access to the same resources or the same quality of HRIS software that a larger payroll provider may have. And while the concern is certainly valid, it’s often not true.
With Payday, for example, our payroll and HR service platform is built on isolved—a powerful HRIS software platform that services over 200,000 clients and features the latest and greatest in payroll software. Working with a local provider means access to the combination of great service and capable software.
How Local Providers Build Relationships With Local Businesses
Working with a locally-based payroll provider can often feel less like business and more like visiting with family.
A Payroll Provider That Knows You and Your Business
As we said above, working with a national payroll provider can often result in your business becoming just another number. For Bodie, this is one of the key differences between national providers and a more locally-based provider: the ability to create meaningful relationships with clients that often go beyond just business.
“When I meet with clients, I'm able to learn about them individually. I get to meet them. I might know their husband or their wife; you get to know their children… You get that extra personal type of relationship. And then when you're working with them day-to-day, it's like you have a friend in the business. Rather than a business relationship, it becomes more of a personal relationship, and you have that rapport,” Bodie said.
Better Relationships, Better Business
When working with a payroll and HR service provider, relationships are everything. Building that working relationship can help your payroll provider not only with their usual day-to-day tasks, but also find ways to further help your business. Bodie said that, with that strong rapport that comes with working with a locally-based provider, the provider is able to help your business grow.
“More recently, I've met with a client, and they were losing their HR director and their HR generalist… We were able to step into that role for them and do their HR services,” Bodie said. “We're now able to look at those processes and help automate those processes, eliminate the paper, streamline everything so that you run more effectively as a business. And that’s free of charge—we just come out and see where we can help you.”
Empowering Local Businesses With Payroll and HR
When it comes time to make the leap and outsource your payroll and HR, the thought can be daunting. There is no shortage of options available to you, many of which claim to be designed for small businesses. It can be hard to sort through the noise and actually find the provider that is right for your business. When it comes to sorting between national providers and smaller, more local providers, it can be hard to know what separates the two and which might be a better choice for you. With the information provided here in this article, though, you’ll be able to approach the provider-picking process with confidence.
Deciding to outsource your payroll is one of the most important decisions a business can make. A large part of this comes down to selecting the right provider. With the right payroll partner, you can trust that your payroll will be taken care of, letting you focus on the bigger picture tasks when it comes to running your business. That being said, it can be hard to know where to start. For businesses in the Albuquerque area, there’s a large abundance of options, and it can feel difficult to know which might be the best choice for your business. Check out our article on the ten best payroll providers in Albuquerque to help your business make the right choice.
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