Before I dive into a broader industry pulse, I do want to say that we’re thinking of all of our friends in Texas. It’s hard enough to keep up with everything right now without the added pressures of trying to keep closings going without electricity, heat, or even clean water. Hopefully with warmer temps (at least by Minnesota standards) this week brings some relief to you!
That being said, the past 15 months in the title space have been a crescendo like “nothing we have seen before.”
Sure, Bill and I have only been around for 7 years (the Title Industry equivalent to rookie status), but it’s still pretty wild to look around and see what’s happening. One customer recently told me that a year ago they were “up an alarming amount year over year… and today we’re 30% above that!” This customer has also hired over 85 people in the past 12 months. 85.
What a run.
On the flip side, Escrow Officers, Title Examiners, Processors, and really everyone involved in keeping this industry humming woke up this morning tired. Exhausted really. Because this has already been an ultra marathon, and there is no sign of it lightening up.
Again, what a run.
At CloseSimple, we have this concept of “changing the game.” It’s the idea that if you find yourself banging your head against a wall day after day after day, then you’ve got to shift the way you’re thinking about a problem, or even a seemingly immovable stack of work sitting on our desk. When we find ourselves in these situations, we challenge our team - and ourselves - to think outside the box, and change the game.
We’ve taken a similar approach in our conversations with current and potential clients. We believe it’s time to change the game for Escrow Officer and Processors running escrow desks across the country. If we don’t start figuring out how to take something, even if it’s something small, off an escrow team’s plate, it’s hard to know how long this run can be sustained. Because the work’s not slowing down. And the Realtors, Lenders, and consumers aren’t backing off their demands - their demands are growing.
In the coming weeks and months, we’re going to be providing monthly resources through our newsletter (sign up here) and blog posts to help you change the game in your business. Resources that will give you ideas for taking work off your teams’ plates by reducing redundant tasks through automation, and ideas and concepts to keep your customers at bay so you can DO THE WORK.
As they say, with massive growth, comes massive opportunity… if you can change the game. So I encourage you to hang in there, keep up the good work, and meet the challenge with optimism.
And of course, we are always here to help!