Some things are hard, like I really don’t like going to the dentist, although I do it. The same can apply to business. Often, we can stay in the present, grappling with today’s ‘list of to-dos’, and avoid allocating time with the larger levers of business (seeing the dentist ??). 

So here are 3 hard conversations, that should be had. Please… copy this blog post and paste it into your own document - use these questions to clarify your roadmap.


Read on...

Answer what you can now, and then tackle the rest later. If you don’t like the answers, then get help – reach out to me.

Let’s talk about 3 conversations you need to have:

 1.Your DATA – Health, Hygiene, Protection, Utility – what’s the status for your company?

a.     Where is it stored? Do you have redundant backups?

b.     What are you doing with completed orders? Are these indexed?

c.     How are YOU reusing your data?  What does accessing old searches, records, documents, images look like?

d.     How are OTHERS reusing your data/searches? Have you allowed others to USE your work via the EULA – are you being paid for this?

e.     Who else sees your data? 

Protecting your data from loss and misuse should be a priority. 

Secondly, if you aren’t easily accessing and reusing data (prior search docs, plats, CCRs), you are doing rework, that’s costly.
Furthermore, make sure your data is presented in the friendliest, fastest way.

2.     2. Your AIs and AUTOMATIONS – Speed, Accuracy, Cost, Maintenance

a.     Have you removed manual steps / such as rekeying with your software?

b.     What is your curative rate, have you reduced this?

c.     How fast is your turn around time – can you easily break this out by client, vendor, county, etc.?

d.     Are you using software that is a credible and expanding technology? Or a simple one-and-done with little/no support?

Leveraging tech will be critical to keep your business competitive, and tech advances are gaining speed. Doing the things ‘the way we’ve always done it’ is not the answer.

Yet, picking off just one section of the workflow to automate, or shallow automations will only take you so far – a system that automates throughout your entire workflow will maximize your investment.

3.  Integrations – locking in business, namely APIs with TPS (Title Production Software)

a.     Are you having conversations with your clients? Are clients asking you to integrate? What is their TPS?

b.     Who is interested and how much is this worth to them?

c.     Do you have a means to integrate – is your software ‘integrate-able’? for software-to-software transmission, namely API.

d.     How much time will you save from receiving, status updates and sending orders if it’s all system-to-system?

e.     Are clients reverting their business to vendors that are integrated?

f.       How much business will you keep or get more when it picks up by integration?

Those businesses avoiding integration, will be left behind, maybe not in 2023, but when things pick up, they will feel the pressures (lost business, new clients not coming on, additional manual steps, and higher integration costs). 

Clients do not want to spend more money (labor namely) to work with you, especially when more vendor options are just a click away (via their software) and more economical – we can anticipate long-standing client-vendor relationships to be tested. 

Smart business means doing big moves while slow. Integrate now and ‘lock-in’ those clients, when they are happy, and you have bandwidth to make the change.  

In Summary –

Avoiding these 3 conversations, puts you at risk. Take the time to have these 3 conversations and be intentional with your responses. Know where you stand.  What is or isn’t setting you up for long term success?

What I find is many business owners, know they need to make a change, but don’t know how. It can be so much easier to knock off a to-do off the list than ‘go to the dentist’.  

Technology may be an area that one may not be ‘up on’ … so lean into your  technology partner. 

My company loves to serve customers as a technology partner, Real Document Solutions – RDS.  RDS is the first of its kind, a Search Production Software (SPS). Let's chat and talk about the results of your 3  conversations!

Denise Williams 

Real Document Solutions – your trusted technology partner, providing SaaS in Search Production Software (SPS) for the title abstract document retrieval and title industries.

Follow me on LinkedIn. If you have a TechTalk topic you’d like to suggest, please email me at Denise@RDSteam.us 

Thank you.  Copywrite – Denise Williams – All Rights Reserved.