This past spring, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched a public inquiry into why mortgage closing costs have gone up in recent years, opining that expensive closing costs can result in lower down payments and higher mortgage costs overtime.
It isn’t the first time that regulators have been perplexed in trying to understand the reason and value behind the services that are attendant to buying a home. In addition to the value of the services themselves, it is rarely appreciated that the cost of doing this work has escalated with the need for liability insurance, cyberfraud insurance, technological complexity, and government regulatory requirements.
Those issues aside, there is a lot an agency can do to educate clients, customers and the general population about the value of the services they offer. Here are three strategies to consider.
Educate through story telling
Saying title insurance protects a customer’s ownership rights doesn’t have the impact that detailing how it protects them – with specificity.
The Farmers Insurance commercials are a classic example. They are effective because they tell a specific story, like the Wedding March commercial in which the DJ music goes awry, and he talks about not sacrificing quality when it matters. Or the one in which a dog is stealing a piece of pizza from the stove, and accidently turns on the burner, igniting the pizza box. These are real things that have happened to real people. When you are promoting your agency, crafting similar real stories is more effective than just saying, “We protect your rights.”
Tell stories on your podcast or as a guest on someone else’s platform. Give examples on Instagram. Post specific coverage scenarios on Facebook. Or, use Alanna Campaigns to tell your story!
Demonstrate through service
There’s an old adage about giving a speech which recommends you tell the audience what you are going to tell them, you tell it to them, and then you summarize what you just told them.
This is an easy one to apply to title insurance services. From the outset, let your customers know all of the services you will provide, step by step. And then highlight each completed task when those services have been delivered. At the end, you can also summarize all the actions that were completed.
Portraying the full range of your services as more, so much more than just a checkbox on the Closing Disclosure helps your customers see the value of your work
This is where Alanna is so helpful, because you can send automated text messages and emails to all parties to the transaction keeping them updated on the progress of the transaction – consistent messaging that reminds them of the effort you are making on their behalf.
Amplify through the extras
Title agents have the capacity to do so much more than conduct a title search, provide insurance, and close the deal. Amplify your value in the minds of your customer by communicating to them the wide range of services you provide, for instance your ability to handle foreign owned real estate closings, sales involving probate, power of attorney closings, remote closings, mobile and manufactured home transactions, and more.
This is yet another way Alanna can be help elevate your profile, through our post transaction marketing program where you can highlight specific areas of expertise within your agency. Call us today to learn more about the full scope of our services.