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From Closer to Entrepreneur. Can You Beat the Odds?

Alex Samant — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 13:00:00 +0000

Here at TitleCapture, we work with a huge number of title agencies across the nation. We see many successful entrepreneurs daily, who started out as title agents or closers.

The journeys, the transformations, they had to go through, are truly inspiring. But they’re also an indication that failure is staring you in the face constantly. And it’s up to you to avoid it.

Audit yourself. Take your time. See what stage in your career you’re at and what it takes to make the next move. There are only 3 stages or roles you can play throughout your career, so let’s take a look at them.

The DOER. The Title Agent / Closer Role.

Let me clarify something from the get-go. Just because we are placing this role at the bottom of the pyramid, it doesn’t mean it’s the worst. This pyramid is not a good vs. bad, strong vs. weak classification. This is simply showing the roles you may play as you move forward.

So this is the role you will play in the beginning. The DOERS are the professionals who know how to do a specific thing. Whether you’re a title agent, escrow officer, title examiner, you execute and you are good at what you do. The game here is to be the best at what you do, to direct your attention towards the closing, the documents needed, specific scenarios, etc.

The DOERS always have work. Just like a designer or a programmer, when you’re good at what you do, you will always find an employer that will hire you so this role is actually the safest role of all three.

Most people are totally content with playing this role all their life and it’s very easy to understand why. You have peace of mind. Everything you do is in YOUR control and all you have to focus on is what you actually have to execute or create.

The MANAGER. The leap from execution to managing people.

So you’ve been a DOER for a long time. Many employers choose to pick their best officer and make that person a branch manager. What these employers fail to see most of the time is that being a manager requires a totally different skill set than being a title agent, closer, escrow officer, etc.

So if you want to play this role you need to have people skills first and foremost. Because now it’s not you who executes, it’s the people you lead that execute.

And you have to make sure they execute. And for an effective leadership role, you have to have huge emotional intelligence. You need to know each person you’re managing, be aware of their emotions and adjust your approach based on that. You also need to be aware of your emotions and control yourself. You need to teach and lead by example.

There is a huge challenge because the DOER is usually a perfectionist that wants nothing short of perfect and may end up having a tendency to do things himself because the people that he/she manages are not up to his outrageous expectations. So be aware.

Also, time management, communication skills, these among others are other skills a manager has to either have innate (ideal) or learn.

Last but not least, being good with technology and employing that to make your title agents’ lives easier is paramount. That’s why many title agencies choose TitleCapture when it comes to estimates, whether it’s the Title Agency App or the website Title Quote Calculator.

Enter the ENTREPRENEUR. The worst role of the three.

The Entrepreneur is the rebel. Out of the three roles, this person pays himself or herself. They eat what they kill and the risk of the business failing is high. It takes a toll on family life, there is no work/life balance (at least in the beginning) and the percentage of entrepreneurs that are successful is very low.

So then, what is the big get with entrepreneurship? The promise of freedom (later on) and high potential earnings (for the successful ones). On top of that, the ability to actually change the industry and inspire others.

When you decide you want to start your own title agency, or create a service or product for this industry, please realize that you will have to be able to both execute and manage. Now on top of that, you will also need to have a keen vision and a disproportionate amount of people skills, marketing and branding experience (in doing, not just reading books), compliance and legal knowledge, accounting, and the list can go on.

Being able to craft and coherent and addictive client experience is the trait of top entrepreneurs. Large agencies across the nation are turning to our Title Agency App, Title Quote Calculator or Website Builder to make sure their customer experience is top notch.

Let’s be objective about it. The odds are STACKED against you. That doesn’t mean you can’t take a stab at being an entrepreneur, but try to go through each role, one at a time, because learning is actually DOING. It’s practical.

Waking up one day thinking you’re going to be an entrepreneur (because society says that’s the thing to do) without being prepared for it, is a recipe for disaster for you and your loved ones.

However, if you decide to take it slow, stick around. We have a few good, down-to-earth ideas and suggestions.

The post From Closer to Entrepreneur. Can You Beat the Odds? first appeared on titlecapture.com.

Let Your CLOSERS Take The Lead!

Alex Samant — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 13:00:00 +0000

It’s 2022 and the business world is a very different place than 10 or 15 years ago. What has changed the most? The ability to craft a relationship with your customer. The myriad of communication channels and the mobile device. The democratization of media. That’s what’s changed. Basically everything. I really believe that this is the most important social shift since the invention of the printing press.

In 2022 it’s all about the customer. His/her experience is what drives revenue for you but is also what draws other people into you. It’s what drives loyalty and the more loyal your agents and customer are, the more you’ll thrive.

You, the agency owner, really need to sit down, take a piece of paper and draw out each one’s journey with your agency, from the point where they have no idea who you are, to the point where they go out and recommend you to everyone they know.

Before you do that, read below. It will give you the best sense of direction you’ve ever got.

It’s All About Your Closers. Let Them Take the Lead.

You’re in services. I’d love to know I have my “guy” or “girl” at XYZ take care of all my needs. Not only that, but in 2016, as a customer I demand a lot more information from this person and I need it fast. So I can’t deal with just a front. Just a customer support person that tells me “Let me talk to the team / the closer, and I’ll get back to you with more information”. Nooo! I want people who know what they’re talking about. Someone to consult me. Someone i can pop a question to and boom, i have my answer, that I can fully trust it’s accurate and on point.

This is why, I don’t believe closers are just closers, hidden behind a stack of files, and then you have your marketing reps or marketing department doing all the communication.

Let’s explore this idea, because at this point I know you’re thinking i want to ruin your operations. And I kinda do, but in a constructive way. Just try this whole thing with ONE person and see what happens.

Let’s consider John. He’s your “closer”. What people really want to hear is how John @ XYZ Title has been helping first time homebuyers, veterans, single moms, elderly couples, Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and so on, finally close on their dream home. And by people, I mean agents and their customers.

So it’s about John. Front and center. John and the customer. Not so much about XYZ Title.

So John, the “closer” needs to go on social media. John needs to post photos of his work and his clients, that he feels proud of. John needs to be able to answer questions from potential Realtors and lenders or maybe even questions coming from potential homebuyers / sellers. John has to have a relationship from A to Z. John doesn’t need a marketing department. He is marketing. He has all the tools he needs to be marketing. And then he also does the job and is totally responsible for its outcome.

John becomes the frontman. John becomes that person the customer or agent feels like he has their back. Entirely.
Of course, John will now need assistants to clear a lot of the grunt work, whether that work concerns his social media activities, or answering emails, sending / receiving documents from lenders, etc.

John will have HIS team. The team that enables John to put on the show.

Title Agency Owners, Don’t Be Scared of John

Many title agency owners at this point may thing “Holy crap, what does my agency mean now that John takes the leading role and does all the work?”. The answer is: Everything. Look, if John wants to leave, he’ll leave either way and he’s going to take HIS agents with him.

The agency is the container where Johns and Janes perform. How they perform is the agency’s job. And your job as a title agency is to make sure you keep your Johns and Janes.

How they perform is a function of logistics and culture.

Logistics is easy. Office space, compliance, technology, subscriptions to services, all this is the agency’s job. And it has to be done in a way that John and Jane are grateful and depend on what you do for them. To be honest, it would be very hard for them, with all this regulation today, to really go rogue.

Look, even TitleCapture, our app is all about agents assigned to a title agency rep. That rep is definitely John. Our app is all about allowing John to provide a great experience pre-close.

Culture is a different beast.

Culture comes from the top and it trickles down. If you’re the title agency owner or CEO, you can’t be absent. When it comes to work ethics, goals, you have to be a true leader. Your agency needs to be consistent when it comes to behavior. And you can’t put rules in place when it comes to how your Johns and Janes need to behave.

But you can be their role model! You CAN be that person they need to emulate. And they need that, trust me. They need it more than money.

And this is exactly why, you, the agency owner, need to BE a John or Jane first and foremost.

The post Let Your CLOSERS Take The Lead! first appeared on titlecapture.com.