Summer 2010: It has been more than a decade since the title insurance industry embraced outsourcing as a strategy for managing the ebb and flow of production. Since that time our industry has been forever altered. Outsourcing has become a mainstay for title operations both large and small.

Though it has helped title companies deal with the imperative of controlling costs while dealing with fluctuating volumes, outsourcing has presented new challenges. For a typical county operation, outsourcing may reduce the production workload, but it can create added complexity for production managers.

Outsourcing may not wholly eliminate the need for local production, since complex orders and high-liability orders, such as commercial and industrial transactions, are not typically outsourced. Thus, an operations manager is now additionally challenged with overseeing a parallel production process that can be located in a different time zone. All JudgmeJthe responsibilities associated with managing title production – training, production and quality control and problem resolution – are doubled with time zone and cultural differences adding new complications.

Outsourcing That is Close to Clients' Operations

Property Insight has long provided its customers support services, from title searching and examination to document retrieval and reconveyance tracking. Over the years it has learned that the foundation for a successful outsourcing relationship is solving your customer’s problems, not adding to them. As an outsourcing partner you have to “own the order” and complete it with the same commitment to accuracy and timeliness as your customer. Over time a foundation of trust is established and the customer views the outsourcing team as an extension of its own production department.

Property Insight has applied these principles to Title Production Services, its on-shore production service whose mission it is to help customers avail themselves of the expertise and manpower available from Property Insight. Title searchers and examiners, led by experienced managers with knowledge of title data, automated plant systems and local business practices, provide skilled labor and expertise to support customers’ order production.

Close Communication is a Must

Title Production Services provides on-shore oversight, coordination and title order production, usually within the same time zone as the customer. Because of the relatively close proximity and accessibility by telephone, Title Production Services is often seen as an extension of a customer’s in-house production organization.

“We are always in close communication with our Title Production Services customers, primarily because we speak their language,” said Clem Monterosa, Vice President of Operations for Property Insight’s Western Region. “We know what it takes to complete an order and we understand the urgency around title production.”

Not “One Size Fits All”

While Title production Services offers a standard menu of products, the relationship and the level of customer support the customer receives are always driven by customer requirements. Flexibility is essential to winning the trust of county operations because customers are constantly being challenged to control spending while maintaining service levels. Property Insight is there to help them meet those challenges by applying all that it knows about the business.