Why’s your Why tied to your Success?
Why did you get up and drive into work today? You know you didn’t wake up one day when you were a child and tell our mom and dad that you wanted to be a title insurance producer. More likely you probably picked a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer or a fire fighter. So, what did bring you into this crazy world we work in and what has kept you here? Many of us started out doing title as a job we fell into to pay the bills. For others, it was a family member or friend that introduced them to this industry and as they learned it became more interesting. What’s your story but more importantly why do you keep doing it every day.
Ever wonder why such teams like Apple and Southwest are so much more successful than their competition? Their successes are tied directly back to their owner’s passion and conviction to fixing a pain. In these well-known examples and so many more like them it’s the owner’s passion that’s clearly stated and shared with the team that translates into their mission and defines how each team member functions in their roles. These passions very clearly measure these businesses successes.
You see, for these two companies it’s not about making computers or flying people across the country it’s about the owner’s passion to make a difference and fix a problem you have.
For Apple, Steve Jobs and his buddies wanted to make computers so simple and affordable that every household could own one. Apple’s founder Steve Jobs’ conviction was “a computer didn’t have to be shared between four or five people in a lab — it could be used by just one person.” Now think about that for a second, everyone should be able to afford and own a computer… and it was his “conviction”!
For Southwest, it was about making the flying process simple, fun and affordable. Southwest’s purpose is “to connect People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel” How simple is that?! They fly people around the world like all the other airlines do but their owner is passionate about connecting their customers with what matters to them through affordable, friendly flights and they do just that every day.
So, what does this mean to us, title company owners?
First answer these two questions for me, but more importantly for you:
Why did you started doing title?
Why do you continue to do closings every day?
Your drive and determination to do what you do comes from somewhere and to ignite your team and your business you need to know the real answer to those two questions. This is your passion but more importantly your why, your reason for getting up in the morning, the reason you drove to the office today and every day and your reason for putting up with the tough choices you have to make on a daily basis.
A title company is a business that most people don’t even know exists. Even if they do know we exist they have no idea what we do. When the contract is being written for their new home they’re told they need to choose their company and they don’t have any clue why they need to choose and why that choice matters. I hear all the time when I hire a new employee that hasn’t ever worked in our industry, “I had no idea this is what a title company does and I’ve bought several homes!” Then when they see all that goes into closing they’re shocked at all the processes. So, we need to be better at explaining our value and stop relying on others to do it for us.
We have such an important role in the home buying process and no one understands what our role involves. As we all know our daily business can be very challenging not only dealing with all the issues that arise, all the individual personalities, the emotions and fixing problems that arise. On top of this the hardest part I think is to deal with the business source we rely on most which is rarely loyal and can be unreliable.
With these factors in play it’s really important to connect with your passion for why you do this every day. What do you love about title, closing or the process? What part of the process is so important to you to fix, workout or make better? Your Why is the reason and source for your marketing, the creation of your processes for your team and the mission statement for your business. Your why is not because of the money, it’s not because of the security, it’s not because of the people that work for you. Your why or passion is a much bigger and deeper reason. Let’s get to that.
For me, my why is and has always been for the people that sit at our table, pay our fees and that we protect with title insurance. I have a must do passion for protecting them and educating every single person on the planet about why they need to understand the value and purpose of a title company. For me my why is not to take care of the Real Estate agent or Mortgage Lenders we work with. Our industry overall has been forever driven by the business relationships we create with Realtors and Lenders and unfortunately, they aren’t the ones we protect and for me that was the wrong reason.
It became very apparent that I wasn’t focused on my why when I realized several of the young people I know and are very close with were starting to buy homes and I wasn’t doing the closings! why was this happening?!
I realized I had lost sight of my purpose, my why I do this and fell into the same old marketing practices we all do because “that’s just the way it’s done”. I was chasing the same old business instead of following my passion and when the market changed that business source didn’t stay consistent and wasn’t reliable. When you don’t follow your passion, it is hard to stay fresh and driven. What I found as the market changed and my business sources were challenged was that the reason I get up in the morning, my why wasn’t being served at all. I was reminded that the people that I cared about most had NO idea what I do every day.
In fact, at one point I realized even my young adult son who grew up with me in the business for his whole life had no idea what I do every day. Not only was I not doing closings for those close to me but my son said to me last year “mom I have no idea what you do either but I just know when I buy a house you should take care of everything”, thank goodness, he was my son and at least got that part. I was crushed but not upset with him but instead with myself. What was I doing wrong? Why can’t I explain my passion and how do I explain why what I do should be so important to them?
Well crazy as this story sounds that’s what happens to all of us every day. We don’t make the time to understand what our purpose is or examine why we get up every day and do what we do. When we don’t recognize and focus on why we do it we can’t very well explain to others.
Therefore, when we don’t understand and follow our passion are team and our business don’t have any direction. When we lead a team without passion we put policies in place that have no definition behind them. In order to be a team that your customers want to gravitate to, your team needs to understand why you started your company, your passion and what this all means to you. They need to have a clear vision and purpose for every single task they perform. When your team understands and exudes your passion your business has a purpose for why it exists and your team adopts and shares this passion with their every move and conversation.
In my case my team knows every move they make is about the consumer and no one else. Their job is to concentrate on making everything we do simple for the customer to understand and be part of. In my office, we make sure that every word we use is plain language isn’t title speak. Finally, we are passionate about education. We provide lots and lots of resources for our customers to understand about closing and the insurance we provide.
Now once you figure out what it is that charges you up about why you’re a title insurance agent then you need to create a plan to get your team on board. Each one you and your team do every single day must be revolve around your passion. Your passion will make your business unstoppable not because it is something out of the ordinary but because you care so much you will stop at nothing to make it come together every single day.
When building a team around your passion you should think about the complete process. You will need to incorporate your why into how your team says certain words when they answer the phone. Your team must know exactly what you expect every time they talk to anyone about a file. They must know what the exact steps are for closing a file with your passion as their first thought. All of these steps when you draw them out will define what your business is about and how your team will function around that why. Think about the processes at Disney, everything they do is geared towards making it the happiest place on earth. That’s what you see in everything they do. That too should be how your team does every step of everything they do surrounded by your passion and your why.
So, your passion involves doing things differently it doesn’t mean it wont work it just means you see a pain that you want to fix. Stay the course, like Apple and Southwest!
We all are Title Insurance Agents but we don’t all have the same reasoning for doing it and each person and their passion is unique. We don’t all have to be the same to be successful, we need to understand why we do it and we have to do what we do for a reason not follow the same old system. Do you want to stand out in an industry where no one in the country understands what a title company is? Connect with your WHY today and let it drive your team, every nuance of your business and your happiness!
To learn more about increasing your closings by connecting with your “why” you can download a free marketing guide at: Bit.ly/titlecompanymarketing
Connie Fuksa
Connie Fuksa is an energetic speaker and facilitator who is on a mission to raise awareness of the value and purpose of title agencies so home buyers can make more informed buying decisions.
As the head of her own title company for nearly 30 years, Connie knows the challenges of the industry, but also sees the opportunities. She is pioneering a new way of doing business by empowering other title companies to grow passionate teams and better communicate with home buyers.
Connie also produces a regular broadcast that provides advice and information direct to home buyers and new home owners.
Outside of her work, Connie rides Harleys and loves to garden. She’s been married to her cheerleader and the one person that constantly makes her heart smile for over 20 years and she is proud momma to a son who’s a Navy sailor and two very active dogs.
