Historically, scalability in the title insurance industry meant two things:
1) you work more hours in the busy months and fewer hours in the slow months, and
2) you hire more people in years when the market is on fire, and you fire them when a real estate recession hits.
Today, title agencies have far more options for scaling up and down thanks to the availability of digital resources and the onset of task specialization and pooled resources.
Putting these resources in place now optimizes your ability to scale up and down as the market shifts, both through normal seasonal variations and in times of economic boom or bust.
There are three primary benefits of creating scalability within your systems. Cost containment, business growth, and superior customer experience.
When curtailing costs, title agencies often cut staff to reduce the most expensive line item in their business. One way to keep your experienced core staff in place is to rely on pooled resources for some tasks to build more flexibility in the ebb and flow of your business.
For instance, we can deploy scalable workflow, automation, and RPA solutions to help you better utilize core staff skills and avoid the hire/layoff cycle.
In the title business, the sudden – and sometimes unexpected – cessation of title orders is why business owners turn to scalable pooled resources, but the truth is that those same resources can also lead to increasing growth opportunities.
Everyone in the business knows how difficult it is to hire in a boom market. Unable to put experienced staff in place quickly, agencies end up having a tough time taking advantage of a very busy and lucrative market. Using pooled resources takes the edge of the problem by allowing you to swiftly scale up certain aspects of your business, taking the heat off existing staff and giving you time to hire and train the new talent you need.
When we think of scalability, we think primarily of managing the workload. But intrinsic to getting the work completed efficiently is the ability to provide superior customer service. Any title agency who has ever been backed up with title orders and closing appointments knows just how difficult it is to meet customer expectations when everything is falling behind and no one has time to answer the phone.
Using pooled resources, outsourcing some tasks, streamlining your processes and upgrading your technology are all ways you can make your company scalable and more effective at delivering the kind of service your customers need as together, you navigate the inevitable twists and turns of the real estate transaction.
Tapping into pooled resources won’t solve all of your challenges. Agency owners need to closely monitor the real estate and mortgage situation to prepare for the inevitable ebb and flow of business and manage accordingly.
However, companies that weave contingency plans into their business plans that allow them to scale up quickly when the inevitable wave of orders hits are the agencies that are going to achieve the greatest measure of success.
Success requires long-term planning. We help you move beyond volume bottlenecks and staffing fluctuations with powerful ideas and tools that work most effectively in the title insurance industry. Call us today to learn more about our solutions.
