At the 2018 Florida Land Title Association Annual Convention, we had the honor of sponsoring the 2017-2018 ATLA President Steve Day’s session about ALTA’s strategic plans and priorities to move our industry forward. If you weren’t there to see his presentation live, we recapped his insights below:

Over four years ago the ALTA board decided that in order to bring the best value possible to the title industry, they would need to stop thinking 12 months out and look forward 5-10 years. During Steve’s presentation at FLTA 2018 he spoke about three major themes that are helping to guide ALTA’s plans for the future:

  • Culture
  • Innovation in Customer Experience
  • Security

Culture

Like every major company and association, ALTA needed to establish and maintain a set of values. For inspiration, they took a look at successful companies like Disney that have clear, established, and simple values that became the platform for their company culture.

Currently, the optics of the title industry in terms of customer experience aren’t the best, but Steve had some great pointers for title agents to change this perception: take a lesson from Zappos, a company that prioritizes culture. When Zappos considers a potential hire, they ensure that they meet two requirements:

  1. They have the technical ability and skill to do their job
  2. How well that person fits in with their company culture

Steve encouraged title companies to do the same thing, and to look to engage people in their office and set an identity around their own company values.

Take a look at ALTA’s values. Do they align with your office and culture?

  1. We Lead. We are the authority in real estate transactions. We innovate on behalf of our customers.
  2. We Deliver. Our customers trust us to do the right thing, the right way—before, during and after the transaction. We sweat the small stuff to assure that land transfer is accurate, swift and secure.
  3. We Protect. We protect the property rights of those we serve. We reduce risk so our customers have peace of mind.

Innovation in Customer Experience

As the industry changes, title companies are becoming less of a B2B industry where title companies are only working closely with realtors and lenders, and moving in a business to consumer direction. Steve encouraged the audience to take this as an opportunity to tell the title industry’s story.

When ALTA thought about innovation and the customer experience, they focused on a few specific points:

  • When customers see ALTA Best Practices, what will that mean to them as they gain more say in who their title professional is?
  • “Innovating around the box,” strive to make incremental changes on actions we already take to be innovative.
  • As an industry we need to take a step forward. Many in the title industry have been so for years if not decades, and they are now selling to a large number of first time home buying millennials, many of whom will initiate their home search using their cell phones or a tablet.  

“We should be looking to be innovative on behalf of the customer”

– Steve Day, 2017-2018 ALTA President

 

Security

Between October 2013 and December 2016, $5.3 billion was diverted across the financial sphere. In spite of these actions, we struggle with getting regulators to work with us and ensure banks are required to match names on the wire to the account name. Additionally, beyond external fraud, one of the greatest weaknesses in terms of security falls to employees inside our office. So, how can we prevent this?

How can I protect my business?

  • Assume a breach will happen and plan for it
  • Conduct a breach assessment of your office
  • Take reasonable preventative measures
  • Provide training to staff
  • Develop a response plan
  • Stay abreast of the latest trends/threats

ALTA is constantly growing and evolving to best suit its members’ needs, and is taking the steps to be ready for the future. As an ALTA Elite Provider, Qualia aims to help support the advancement of these initiatives and our industry through our technology, education and programming.

 

About the Presenter
Steve Day is the President of National Agency Operations for Fidelity National Title Group and was the President of ALTA from 2017-2018. Learn more about his experience and vision for ALTA.