This past spring, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched a public inquiry into why mortgage closing costs have gone up in recent years, opining that expensive closing costs can result in lower down payments and higher mortgage costs overtime. It isn’t the first time that regulators have been perplexed in trying to understand the reason and […]

The outside salesperson in most companies, particularly in the title insurance industry, has the most contact with the actual customer and often has the best insight into what the customer needs as well as what frustrations they experience in the course of a real estate transaction. The challenge is how to get the voice of

We cannot read a customer’s mind, any more than we can read our partner’s mind, but that expectation – however unrealistic – is often part of both personal and business relationships. One way to overcome this distortion with a customer is through customer profiling – that is by gathering data about the customer, as well

Customer profiling can be a foundational way to improve many aspects of a title agency’s business, from fine-tuning your marketing language to recalibrating your customer communications. What is customer profiling? Customer profiling is the process of gathering all data on a customer into one location that can then be mined to inform business decisions, refocus

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in May launched a public inquiry into why mortgage closing costs are increasing, opining that “the escalating fees are draining down payments and pushing homeownership out of reach.” What is actually putting homeownership out of reach is a complicated stew of low housing inventory that is driving up prices,

You may not have aspired to being a teacher when you were growing up, but as a title, escrow or closing agent, you may find that the ability to teach is a must-have skill in your toolbox. Most first-time homebuyers focus first on choosing a home they love and second on acquiring a mortgage. These

It’s difficult to imagine another industry that works with and is paid for by a client – the homebuyer – but has to create a marketing strategy that completely bypasses the buyer of their service to sell instead to the referrer, in this case, the real estate agent or lender. For consumer products, advertising and

Most title agents send thank you notes to their real estate and lender clients, but there are many more ways to show your appreciation to your clients to ensure that you stay top of mind when that next transaction comes through. In the days and weeks following the successful conclusion of a transaction, your agency

Title agents who enjoy long-term stability and success do so not because they are any more skilled than the agency down the road, but because they see the big picture and believe wholeheartedly that they have a vital role to play in the transfer of real estate. Because they hold this belief, they act on

Reaching out to a previous customer who you have not heard from in a while may feel a little daunting. “What do I say? How can I convince them? What do I have to offer that is unique?” Let’s just state the obvious. You are unique. There is no agency quite like yours. Mining that