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 Service, not food, will keep you in the door

Naoma Doriguzzi, a loan officer with Wachovia in Virginia Beach, Va., said it’s all about the service. She said she works exclusively with a title company because she gets a good response once an order is placed — and if there’s a problem it’s handled right away.

“Service, not the food helps,” she said.

Kathy McGraw, owner/broker of California-based CELLing Realty, is amazed how title companies only go after large franchises.

“They don’t even bother with us mom and pops,” she said. “I don’t have any coming to my door.”

McGraw said the title company she works with has a persistent representative that helps agents when problems arise. She said, for her, it comes down to the quality of reps and escrow officers, “not the title guy.”

Chad Baird, a real estate agent with Re/Max Spirit in Dayton, Ohio, said a title company that wants his business needs to give personal attention.

He was introduced to Kristen Schilder of the Talon Group more than two years ago. Baird said she helped him understand what took place at a title company and discussed the process, the resources they had available and general advice. Baird the title company helped explain what the $75 for an abstract meant. “They didn’t respond with the ‘it’s a standard closing cost,’” he said.

“The introduction gets their foot in the door,” Baird said. “Their service keeps me coming back to them.”

He maintains his relationship with Talon even though it’s not the preferred title company in his office.

Baird, who does a lot of investor contract work, said there are several things a title company should do to keep his business and what others look for when shopping for a new one:

1. Can you do double closings?

2. I need the same processor for certain investor clients. I don't want to call and ask, I want to e-mail and ask questions.

3. My clients are out of state, we need the ability to close via e-mail.

4. You will likely be working with the sellers title company and will need to coordinate the duties and play nice with each other. Some contracts are won on the promise of seven-day closings, can it be done?

5. Can the title company hold earnest money in their trust account?

Baird noted it’s been helpful to have been introduced to the people processing his orders.

“When we talk or e-mail, we now have a personal connection,” he said. “I've dropped off checks and contracts before and found nobody at their desks. into the lunchroom and they were all in their eating. They know me, I know them, I ended up sitting down and staying for another half hour just talking. It’s a very friendly atmosphere.”