The urgency to “get it right” has never been greater. The housing market remains volatile, fraud attempts are becoming more sophisticated and customer expectations for digital convenience continue to rise. At the same time, title companies are under pressure to keep costs under control. Technology can transform your business—but only if title professionals approach the process with discipline, collaboration and a cleareyed sense of what’s really needed.
“It’s not about chasing shiny objects,” said Toni Carroll NTP, vice president of fiduciary banking at Capital Bank. “It’s about finding solutions that solve actual problems in your workflow. Margins are thinner, the risks are higher and everyone wants things done faster. Technology can help—but only if you choose it wisely.”
Start With the Why
Before scheduling demos or comparing features, experts agree companies must first understand their own business priorities.
“Too often, people start by asking, ‘What can this product do?’” noted Terri Hanson, CEO and president of VizionX. “The better question is, ‘What problem are we trying to solve?’”
For Andrea Somers, operations manager for Network Transaction Solutions, that process starts by engaging staff across departments. Escrow officers, closers, post-closing staff and IT teams each have unique pain points. Unless you gather those perspectives up front, she warned, you risk investing in tools that don’t address the day-to-day realities of your business.
She recalled a recent exercise where her team mapped out every step to closing a file.
“We literally put sticky notes all along a wall,” Somers said. “Data entry, escrow, funding, recording—every step. Then we asked, ‘Where are the friction points? Where are the redundancies?’ It became obvious that one pain point was in order entry processing. That helped us zero in on tools that could automate and track that task, instead of getting distracted by bells and whistles we didn’t really need.”
Watch for Red Flags
Experts also caution against falling in love with flashy sales pitches. A slick demo doesn’t necessarily mean a product will deliver.
“Be wary of vendors who overpromise,” Somers advised. “It’s one thing to say they integrate with your software, but it’s critical to understand how that integration actually works. In some cases, data may only flow one way. For example, data might flow out but not back in, which can limit the usefulness of the integration. If a vendor can’t walk you through the technical details, proceed with caution.”
She shared a cautionary tale from earlier in her career, when a vendor promised seamless integration with the company’s production system.
“We signed the contract, only to find out later that ‘integration’ meant exporting a CSV file once a day. That wasn’t what we needed. It was a painful and expensive lesson about asking detailed technical questions up front,” Somers said.
Another warning sign includes vague answers about service and support. Hanson stressed that buying software is not a one-time transaction—it’s an ongoing relationship. Companies need to know how quickly the vendor responds to tickets, what training is provided and whether the vendor has a proven history in the title industry.
“You’re not just buying code,” Hanson said. “You’re buying into a partnership. Make sure it’s a partner you can trust.”
RFPs, Demos and Comparisons
Once business needs are defined, companies can begin the formal vendor selection process. The panelists shared several best practices:
- Requests for Proposals (RFPs): A structured RFP helps level the playing field. Vendors answer the same set of questions, making it easier to compare solutions apples to apples.
- Demos With Context: Don’t let vendors run generic demos. Provide them with sample files, use cases or transaction types specific to your company. “Make them show you how their tool works in your world,” Carroll advised.
- Comparison Matrices: Summarize vendor responses in a side-by-side grid that highlights costs, features, integration capabilities and support.
As an example, one title company provided a vendor with a mock purchase file involving a tricky HOA payoff. The company’s staff asked the vendor to show how their system would handle this situation. While one vendor stumbled, another demonstrated a clear process that saved time. The exercise made the title company’s decision easy.
This disciplined approach helps prevent decisions based on gut feelings or personal biases.