Successful title agencies want to know why they are successful. Agencies who are performing poorly want to know what is not clicking for them.
In both cases the best way to figure out why you are headed in one direction or another is to look at your key performance indicators (KPIs).
This could include metrics such as your revenue, the level of customer satisfaction, website traffic (a great metric for your marketing team), sales growth, and employee turnover.
And while you are doing this annual analysis for your own metrics, consider measuring KPIs for each vendor as well.
When you contracted with a third-party provider, you hopefully set out the parameters of the relationship, the deliverables and so forth. Tracking the performance metrics agreed to from the beginning can help you evaluate the effectiveness of the vendor as well as provide you with the data you need to provide feedback, which should be at least an annual process with your key vendors.
Three KPIs title agents should be looking at – given the nature of the title business – are timely delivery of service, accuracy and order capacity.
Timely service delivery
Title agents are keenly aware of the time sensitivity of the work they do for their clients. As you evaluate your vendors, one of the KPIs you will want to pay particular attention to is if they are meeting their promised objectives in terms of service delivery. For instance, you should be tracking the punctuality of your notaries, the efficiency of tax service, the timeliness of lien search reports.
Your ability to process a file is dependent on timeliness and accuracy of all of the data you receive from your third-party providers. Tracking this data can help you improve your processes and also plan more effectively for the future.
Accuracy
Enough cannot be said about tracking accuracy in all of the services you outsource as a title agent.
· Missing a lien can result in a costly claim or lawsuit
· Getting the tax obligation wrong can result in financial harm to the new owner
· A notary who makes errors in the closing can cost you time and money to correct
Errors that are identified in a vendor’s work should be reported and tracked. To do this, you have to have a system in place where staff can easily log issues. Your staff may be frustrated with a particular vendor, but without the data to support those complaints, you have no way of rectifying the situation with the vendor.
This is especially true when it comes to regulatory requirements such as audits or escheatment on the financial side of your business. This is where Positively Balanced can be a powerful partner for you to keep you on track with the audit data and escheatment practices that are so vital to your business.
Order capacity
Title agency business rises and falls in intensity from season to season and from year to year. This means that the demands you place on your vendors is going to rise and fall as well. This becomes even more critical when you are trying to grow your business, expand into a new market or get involved in a merger or acquisition with another company.
Carefully tracking your vendors’ ability to manage the volume of orders throughout the year can not only help you assess their current capacity but can also provide the data you need to forecast for the future as you seek to expand your business.
Remember, tracking KPIs for your company or your vendors is not about blaming people for any perceived failures. It’s all about using the information to improve performance on both sides.
Stay tuned for the second in our two-part series on tracking vendor KPIs, where we take a look at risk assessment KPIs for your third-party providers.
At Positively Balanced, our industry-leading escrow account management and reconciliation services offer an unparalleled level of data security, real-time transaction monitoring, fraud detection, audit readiness, and professional independence. Call us today to learn more!
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