Documents, vendors, and customers: Automating on multiple fronts in the title industry
One of the challenges that title, escrow, and closing agents face, is that each transaction is quite unique and often encompasses complex elements that make it challenging to create a cookie cutter automation system to manage the variables.
However, there are also a host of similarities and recurring requirements that make this industry ripe for automation that can effectively reduce repetitive tasks, minimize errors, and speed up the process.
Often, when title agents think of automation, they naturally think about the production aspect of title, but one should also consider automation in terms of managing vendors and working with customers, as well.
Production
The first and most logical place to begin in automating a title agency is in the area of document generation. Automating creation and management of documents like the Closing Disclosure and title policies not only saves time, but more importantly reduces the risk of errors.
Automation ensures nothing is left out of the closing package, such as the critically important legal disclosures. Every document that is integrated into the automation process not only reduces risk for the title agency in terms of compliance, but also creates a more seamless process for the closing package verification and review.
Vendor management
Vendor management is another area of the title insurance industry that is ripe for automation. Managing your vendors can be a tedious process that consumes a lot of time and energy if you have not found a way to streamline the process. Processes that can be automated include:
- Creating and signing the contract
- Establishing pricing
- Getting the vendor into your accounts payable system
- Tracking the service delivery
- Approving and delivering payment
Automation can also improve relationships with your best vendors, because they will appreciate the efficiency you bring to their operations through your streamlined process.
In a highly regulated industry like title insurance, you can also build into your automation a way to ensure compliance, whether that is having a repository for proof you have vetted the vendor according to ALTA Best Practices standards, or that the vendor has met compliance requirements on the services they provide, such as a notary who provides remote online notary services.
Customer
Enough cannot be said about automating your communications with your customers. There are a lot of steps in the transaction process and automating those repetitive tasks and notifications can provide a lot of benefits, such as:
- Giving customers a centralized location to view progress on their own time
- Freeing up staff time with automatic updates improves productivity
- Instantaneous tracking of all document requirements reduces delays
- Increased communication points so customers have visibility into the file progress
Across the board, automation can help a title agency build a powerful and supportive environment for their employees, vendors, and customers that will improve outcomes for individual transactions, but also lead to greater business stability and growth into the future.
At VizionX, we pay close attention to the attributes of our technology offerings that provide a host of possibilities for automating many aspects of your agency’s workflows. Contact us today to learn how we can help your title business.
