After spending two to three hours on the phone trying to get your payroll question answered, you might feel exhausted, spent, and downright frustrated. “Is this the norm with payroll companies?” you ask yourself. The quick answer to this question is NO. Recently we conducted a study with our clients to determine why they chose HR Ledger as a payroll solution over our competition and the results showed us what you should be expecting from your payroll provider.

1. Customer Service

When you call a payroll provider, spending hours on the phone trying to talk to someone is wasted time. Customer service should be the most important concern for any payroll provider. Consider asking what an average hold wait time is when dealing with a payroll provider. Typically the sales process will have extremely prompt responses, but when you actually get into the payroll customer service, if you find long wait times you may have the wrong provider. Your payroll provider should have a customer service team that understands that your time is valuable and provides an easy solution by having real people pick up the phone right when you call.

2. Knowledgeable Staff

After you finally get a person on the phone, you can’t afford to deal with the time and frustration of finding out that they don’t have the answer to your question and you are being transferred yet again. While we understand that finding the right person can be challenging, making sure the person fielding the call has the correct account information and answers ensures you have a quick AND efficient call. The payroll team providing you assistance should have access to your account and be able to answer questions at least two to three levels deep.

3. Referral from a Trusted Source

While deciding purely based off brand strength can be beneficial in some cases, receiving a referral from a trusted source can provide you further information into the company that you wouldn’t see just from their website. Consider asking some of the tougher questions to ensure they are really providing you with a good referral. Ask questions about wait times, sales and customer service processes, and even their knowledge about your specific payroll needs.

4. Personal Service

The key to a great relationship is personal service. You want a payroll company that is going to be looking over your account constantly, not just when you call in or submit payroll. These payroll companies will be proactive and provide information to you prior to it becoming an issue. These will also be the companies that you know your account representative by first name and it is the same person helping you time and time again.

5. Decreases Workload

A payroll company should not put more work on you! Spending additional hours trying to add information, reconcile your payroll, or compile tax reports on your own is not what you need. Consider asking what is included in your payroll costs upfront before you purchase. Do some additional research as well to figure out your tax filings requirements and ensure this is also included in what you are paying.

At HR Ledger we hear stories from misinformed clients coming to us to “save them” from other payroll providers constantly. We conducted this survey to help understand what you find important in your payroll provider. With HR Ledger, we can handle your needs with a friendly and knowledgeable staff dedicated to your success. Don’t settle for what you think is the norm in payroll. Try HR Ledger and enjoy peace of mind.