Unfortunately, title companies cannot count on their primary technology vendors to provide a solution that will help them become more efficient during a downturn. Without incremental technology, agencies will see their profits erode.
Efficiency is a step function and each step along the path to a more efficient process brings with it advantages, some that are unexpected. Replacing the agency’s core system is not a good solution. It costs too much, takes too long and leaves the title company in the exact same position when it’s done.
So what does a real solution have to look like? Here’s what we have heard from the industry:
It must solve the agency’s current efficiency problem
Today, the most significant problem we’re seeing in the market is lack of efficiency at a time when title companies can afford nothing less than a smooth, fast and cost-effective transaction. Any technology that doesn’t hit this problem head on is not likely a good investment at this time.
In our conversations, the number one area where title companies are dealing with inefficiency is in dealing with paper in the digitization process. Lenders want an electronic process but much of the documentation is still coming in on paper documents. Existing core systems are not doing a good enough job of capturing these documents accurately, harvesting the data and then putting it in the right place in the title agent’s transaction management platform.
Today, title agencies still have too many people staring at documents, either on the page or on the second monitor after it’s been scanned and trying to determine where the information goes. It takes too long, leads to errors and rework that cost time and money and does not provide a satisfying experience for the title company staff, lenders, borrowers or their real estate agents.
It must free up people for more valuable work
Some systems promise efficiency and deliver some speed but still require too many human resources to be on hand to deal with issues that occur because the technology doesn’t employ new technologies that can deliver accuracy.
If the agency must keep people standing by to make sure the technology can do the job, it won’t allow them to move those team members into positions that will allow the agency to grow by acquiring new clients (sales) or grow organically by providing better service (customer service).
These people will be locked in operations, stuck in the back office where they can have little positive impact on their organization. At best, they will be able to minimize the negative impacts of the technology’s failings.
It must offer incremental automation for the agency’s core platform.
It doesn’t benefit the agency if the efficiency gains they win with new incremental automation are lost in the efforts to get the data into the agency’s core system. There has to be a tight integration between new tools and the agency’s legacy software.
It must be easy to implement and use
We’ve already addressed the fact that title executives are in no hurry to engage in long, costly implementation efforts. Any efficiency gains must be delivered by software that’s fast and easy to integrate and easy to use. Training should come with it to ensure adoption and it should be easy to configure to the needs of the agency.
Modern software has advanced to the point that users can customize many aspects of the tool without knowing any code. These no-code applications save implementation time and allow the software to stretch and grow with the agency over time, responding to new challenges as they arise.
Forcing users, the agency’s IT department or the developer to go back into the code to make the software work adds unnecessary cost and complexity to the implementation.
The solution must be affordable and add value to the company immediately
All of the above requirements would still not be enough to get a title company to invest in a new technology if the price was too high or if the time required to achieve a position return on investment was too long.
This paper is the result of our own research into the requirements of the US title insurance industry. Having learned all of this from companies actually working and suffering in the industry today, we set out to create a real solution.
If you’re working to ensure continued profitability and looking for a way to reduce friction, add efficiency, save time and money and improve overall customer satisfaction, you need to learn more. Call us today to schedule a demo at a time and of a duration that fits your schedule. To find out more about why we built this solution, Download our White Paper.
