There are three key components to successfully navigating an increase in title work, and with recent economic indicators pointing to a more dynamic 2025, it may be the perfect time to take a hard look at your managers, technology and processes to determine if you are prepared to gear up for the New Year.
Managers
Managing your managers is as important as anything you will ever do in your agency. This means modeling the type of leadership you expect from them as well as providing the education and training they need to get better at what they do.
Sometimes agency owners can be guilty of looking past their managers to the staff who are in the trenches all day churning out the work. You may be great at setting up regular training programs for the general staff, cross-training for greater efficiency, and providing education and mentoring opportunities. But do you do the same for your managers?
While your staff needs to understand the mechanics of the business to do their jobs effectively, your managers need to have effective leadership, organizational and motivational skills to keep the engine running at top speed.
As a company executive, make sure your managers are provided with equivalent opportunities to learn and progress in their leadership roles as your team has at honing their skills at title, escrow, sales or marketing.
This is also the perfect time to check in with your managers to find out what resources they think they are going to need for 2025. Every department is going to be quite different in what they require, so this is by no means a cookie cutter process. For some it will be more manpower, but for others it may be innovative technology or a revamping of processes.
The most effective company executives are often the best listeners, and as you are thinking through your business plan for next year, make sure you gather as much information and perspective from your managers as possible to lay the appropriate groundwork for success.
Technology
Technology is a critical factor when contemplating future growth in the title insurance industry. Technology continues to make leaps and bounds in ways that help agency managers cut costs; reduce the length of time it takes to process title, prepare escrow and close a transaction; and improve overall services for your customers.
To prepare for an uptick in business, now is an advantageous time to do a complete audit of your technology platform and determine what improvements and additions can help you effectively streamline your service delivery for faster turn times.
Processes
Processes can sometimes break down or grow cumbersome over time as the type of business you are handling changes or new staff or technology are buttoned on to old ways of doing things. Quite frankly, when business is slow, you may not notice the hiccups. But when the wave of title orders starts to rise, it puts pressure on processes that may not be integrated properly due to other changes you have made in the company.
Before the ball drops on Times Square to mark the end of 2024, set aside some time for staff and management to make a thorough review of processes and consider making changes now to reposition your company to manage the type of business that is likely to come your way in 2025.
We can help you optimize your planning for 2025! At Closing Suite and FAN, we can provide access to packaged business capabilities as building blocks to compose unique and differentiating digital initiatives to provide our title agents with agility, innovation and reduced time to market for all their initiatives. Contact us today to learn more!