The 3 Most Common Title Agent Questions Answered.

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The 3 Most Common Title Agent Questions Answered ...


Chicago and Commonwealth Land Title is the largest title operation in the state of Georgia for 2 reasons: We have the best agent partners in the business, and the knowledge and expertise of our CTICGA team is unmatched. Vice President & Agency Account Executive Missy Robinson, J.D. is no exception.

As a former Chicago Title Agent and closing Attorney with 10+ years experience under her belt (8 of which in private practice) and 4 years’ experience with ChicagoMissy Robinson Headshot Title, there are very few questions she hasn't come across and guided agents through troubleshooting; the most common of which being:
  1. How many closings should my paralegals be able to handle?
  2. How do I know if I’m running my office efficiently?
  3. What is everyone else doing?

Here, Robinson outlines the 3 most common questions she fields regularly, along with her proven solutions for helping you run your own practice more efficiently.

Robinson: When I had my own law firm, I had the exact same questions that can be summed up with one larger question overall: How is everyone else operating?  Attorneys spend 3 years focusing on learning how to think critically, researching cases to defend arguments and learning how to  properly draft legal pleadings. Unfortunately however, law school doesn’t teach attorneys how to run and efficiently manage a business, leaving most of us the challenge of having to figure it out for ourselves as we go. 

As long as the bills are paid and staff is happy, then business is good, right?  Wrong.  It’s true that paying the bills and keeping staff happy are important, but have you ever actually looked to determine the profitability of your firm? Do you know if it’s possible to be more profitable in your current business, optimize your staff’s working hours or better yet, bring in even more business?   The answer to all of these questions is yes absolutely and as your title partner, it’s my job to help get you there. 

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How Many Closings Should Your Paralegal Be Able to Handle Each Month ?

In an ideal closing firm, the general rule is that each paralegal should be able to handle 15 open orders with 12 of those orders closing each month.  So if you have one paralegal, he/she should be able to handle 180 title orders and 144 closings a year during a standard 40 hour work week.  Of course, we do not live in an ideal world, so if you have ever asked me this question my answer is always “it depends”.  To really determine if your office is operating at the most efficient level possible, you need to look at several factors such as how your paralegals are set up  (departments or are they A to Z),  and what technologies you are (or aren’t) providing to them and if they are maximizing those tech capabilities. You should also ask yourself if there exists any redundancies in their job that can be removed as well as whether you are putting additional tasks on your paralegal outside of their original job title? 

If your paralegal(s) are not operating anywhere near this recommended number of closings and yet are working insane overtime hours, then there is a problem somewhere in the workflow of your law firm.  And though we realize that workflow is not a one size fits all solution given that no two firms are the same, we offer a consultative solution to overhauling your workflow for increased efficiencies. The workflow process is a solution that Chicago Title can offer where we come in and sit down with you and your staff to really find out what goes on in their day to day work.  As outsiders looking in, we can more easily spot inefficiencies that you may not even be aware existed.  Improving your office workflow and helping your staff work smarter (and not harder!) will not only help increase your bottom line but also retain your valuable employees.     

Is your firm profitable?

I am not asking whether or not you pay your bills each month but instead challenging whether or not your firm is actually worth something. Real estate can be a very competitive and expensive field, with JVs, MSAs, reduced attorney fees, not to mention the cost of schmoozing Realtors. Have you ever really stopped to determine whether or not what you are currently doing is profitable? Are you measuring the return you are getting on the investment of valuable resources like your time, energy and money?  If not, then why are you taking on the stress, liability and giving up your personal life in the first place?

Every healthy law firm needs to understand their profit margin to answer these questions, and determining your firm’s profit margin it’s a simple mathematical equation.  You need to divide firm’s income (revenue-expenses) by revenue then multiply it by 100.  So what should your profit margin goal be? The ideal closing firm operates at a 15% profit margin.  If you are above 15%, congratulations you are a rock star.  If you are below, it’s time to look at where your money is actually going?  This is another area opportunity for your Chicago Title rep to assist you in getting you to your ideal profitability, and we can do so while still being sensitive to your firm’s financial information.  We understand that this is an area that is personal and you may not want us in your operating account business; therefore, we have created excel spreadsheets that allow you to easily track your money and profitability monthly so you can really understand your operational costs.  Once you understand where your money is going each month, we can find new potential ways to help you reduce costs and increase revenue to help you reach your profitability goals annually.

If you would like more information on the workflow process or discuss ways and ideas to make you more money, please reach out to your Chicago Title and Commonwealth Land Title agency representative.  We are here to help U Thrive!

For more valuable tips from the CTICGA team, check out our last 3 CLE Hour and CE hour event!

A New Virtual CLE Event series (1)

This recorded UThrive CLE covered the following topics: 

  • RON demo presented by Notarize
  • Dirty Two Dozen Title Defects presented by CTIC/ CLTIC
  • 3 Hours CLE for Attorneys and CE for Realtors

If you missed our first Live UThrive digital CLE and CE event, it's not too late for you to get your CLE credit hours! Register here to gain access to view the recorded event!

 

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