Most people would think I'm crazy because I'm writing a blog on getting the best deal with your current Professional Employer Organization (PEO) — it kind of goes against my business model.

But I'm not crazy. Here’s why: just because you know how to do something doesn’t mean doing it yourself is the cheapest or even best option. But I’ll let you decide whether you or a professional — like us — should be the one lowering your current rates.

Here’s how you do it yourself:

1. First, you need to get a very clear picture of what you are paying for — everything you use the PEO for. This includes your medical cost, administration fees, SUTA, Workers Comp costs, and whatever else you're paying for. Request a list of their fees and match it to your invoices just to be sure.

2. You will need to make a list of PEOs whose prices you can check your current fees against. A good place to start would be NAPEO PEO Directory. Make sure the PEOs on the list fit your business model (office work, construction work, non-profit, etc.)

3. Contact each of the PEOs on your list, and request the paperwork they will need to be completed and submit it all back to each PEO.

4. Fill out each PEO’s paperwork, gather your documents, and submit everything to them.

5. Each PEO will come back with a proposal — and you’ll need to meet with each PEO to get their proposal.

6. Take each proposal, pull out the numbers, compare the medical plans, check the networks and all the fees against what you are currently paying.

7. If you find a better deal, contact your PEO, and ask them to match or beat your best offer.

8. You have a 50/50 shot at getting your fees lowered.

Here’s another option. Use Dinsmore/Steele:

1. Complete our 8-minute online form. Submit your documents right from your computer.

2. We come back in a few days with the best PEO options for you and their proposals. Numbers are already teased out for you to see.

3. We contact your current PEO for you and use our volume to leverage better pricing from them. If you say no, we move you to another PEO.

4. Either way you win, and best of all our service is FREE.

No one likes being told what to do, so we'll let you decide if you like doing things yourself or if you want to get back to actually running your business and let someone else do admin stuff (that's option # 2).

Become the boss of your PEO by working with Dinsmore/Steele. You can start our form right here — or schedule a quick ten-minute call if you have any more questions.