Powering Long-Term Growth With Connectivity and Standardization

Making predictions for your business is always a challenging endeavor. When evaluating current strategies and goals, it can be difficult to identify the right ways to optimize your business for the long term. Uncertain market conditions combined with analysis paralysis can lead to businesses not investing in anything and continuing business as usual—a risk in itself. Identifying the right investment opportunities for your unique needs can help your business evolve and prosper in many market conditions.

Connecting your team on a single platform

As title agencies look to grow regionally and nationally, one office location is typically not enough. Setting up offices in different states and regions enables teams to attract customers with a variety of different needs. For example, my company, Bspoke Title Holdings, has managed up to 17 title agencies across Texas at a time. But with multiple offices, how do you ensure that your employees can collaborate and share information effectively and securely? This is where investing in the right technology is crucial. 

Years ago, setting up this kind of infrastructure was cumbersome and expensive. Although employees were technically able to communicate with each other, it was in no way efficient. Challenges—like multiple logins and passwords, on-premise servers, and time-consuming updates—made companies hesitant to invest in this technology. Due to the high price tag and developer needs associated with implementing and maintaining this technology, it was often only accessible to the largest title companies. But, over the past several years, advancements in title technology have made communication easier while also making it more accessible for title companies of all sizes. 

With the technology available to the title industry today, it’s no longer a question of if you should invest in communication tools, but which one? Businesses that choose not to invest in this technology are missing out on the competitive advantage of aligning their team and creating greater internal efficiency. Among my team, in particular, I’ve noticed that our communication platform has given employees more support as they work through their tasks. Instead of needing to struggle through an edge case or complicated transaction, they can ask their colleagues for help and rely on each other for their expertise—whether they’re in the same office or not.

How workflow standardization enables long-term growth

Another improvement we’ve implemented across offices is workflow standardization. Standardization for my team means that about 90% of our workflows across our various offices are the same. The remaining 10% of workflows account for regional nuances that require different processes. 

Although standardizing workflows was an upfront effort, it rewarded us by operating more consistently and efficiently. Specifically, it’s helped us reduce costs, minimize error, and create better processes for our employees and clients. Standardization has been particularly impactful on our examinations and policy creation processes. By standardizing these processes, we were able to facilitate smoother collaboration among closing parties and provide faster turnaround times. 

For title agencies looking to focus on standardization in 2023, I recommend nailing the employee adoption component. Changing processes can lead to employee pushback if you don’t have a solid transition plan. It can take some time for employees to adopt a new system or workflow, but as soon as they understand that it helps them finish their tasks faster and go home a little earlier, they truly see the value of these improvements. Successful employee adoption of new processes can have a ripple effect on your entire operation. For one, it benefits employees by helping them be more efficient at their tasks, contributing to faster transactions and happier employees. Additionally, since employees are all following the same processes, your organization will be more consistent with how tasks are being completed. In turn, these improvements can result in a better client experience. 

In the end, it comes down to investing in your employees. Training them on new skills and giving them the tools to do their jobs more effectively improves your company from within. It also creates a culture of collaboration, creativity, and continuous learning that sets your company up for long-term success.