It used to be the case in the title and escrow industry that agents only needed to close on time and accurately. But, over the past few years, there’s been a big shift in the way consumers view title and escrow.
Today, it's not just about closing on time and accurately. Now, realtors, lenders, and consumers expect something more.
Closing on time and accurately is simply providing a service, but what is your title or escrow company doing to separate yourself from all the other title and escrow companies?
How are you caring for your clients?
No matter the industry, there is a difference between companies that go through the motions and those that evoke emotions from their consumers--emotions that encourage them to continue to use that company or refer people to it.
The difference between service and care:
Service |
Care |
| Reactive | Proactive |
| Solves a problem: “What do you need?” |
Anticipates a problem: “Here is what you will need.” |
| Taxi Cab or Basic Haircut | Uber or Spa/Salon Treatment |
When you go to a barber to get a simple haircut, you get just a haircut. That’s service. There’s nothing wrong with getting a haircut, but the barber doesn’t offer you anything extra that makes you feel cared for.
Compare that experience to going to a nice salon or spa where they give you a head and neck massage after shampooing and conditioning your hair. You didn’t know you needed that massage until you went to the fancy salon. And now you realize that every haircut you get should be accompanied with a massage.
The care that the salon offered transformed a haircut from being just a commodity into something special.
The companies that care for their customers rather than just offering them services or commodities--are the companies that customers will refer others to, those are the companies that will gain loyal customers who sing their praises.
Taking that principle, what can you do to care for your realtors, customers, and lenders? What are you doing to make your customer experience memorable?
How do you set your title and escrow company apart from the competition?
3 things you can do today to transition from service to care:
- 1) Communicate to realtors about the status of their files at the end of each week
- 2) Send a note of appreciation to all sellers/buyers the first time you work with them
- 3) Send realtors text message updates
Communicate with Realtors
At the end of each week, you can send “Friday Updates” to the realtors you work with, letting them know where you’re at with their files and the closing process. These are no more than 5-sentence emails that can be templated, like CloseSimple allows you to do. It does not require a lot of work on your end and it goes a long way with realtors.
Need help with communication?
Grab our 5 most used emails and text messages:
Send a Note of Appreciation
When a realtor gives you a new order for a seller/buyer that you’ll be working with for the first time, send that seller/buyer an introductory email…but also include in the email a note about how much you like working with the realtor that connected you to them.
Showing appreciation for the realtor can pay dividends on closing day. Here is a sample email you could send:
Hi John and Mary,
It’s great to meet you. My name is Sarah. I work with XYZ title. I just wanted to let you know that I will personally be handling your closing. Your realtor, Josh, referred you to us and we love working with Josh. In fact, anyone he refers to us we like to make sure to give top-quality care because he deserves it and anybody he sends to us also deserves it.
Talk to you soon!
Best regards,
Sarah Jones
Send Text Message Updates
Send text message updates to realtors to let them know you emailed them something important. These could even be one-way text messages like CloseSimple allows you to send. Just letting them know that something was sent to their email and you need them to look at it can save you and them a lot of hassle.
Realtors love being in the know because when the consumer asks them questions, realtors then turn to your title or escrow company to answer those questions. So, why not be proactive and send helpful updates to the realtor about their files before they even ask?
The team at your title and escrow company might already be sending text messages from their personal cell phones, but that can be inefficient and insecure. The CloseSimple text messaging platform can take your communication to the next level and help move you from service to care without making your closers and processors take their work phones home with them to text realtors all night.
Interested in text messaging and automating your communication? Learn more about CloseSimple, to find out ways to change your communication style from service to care.
