As I continue to speak to Title sales reps and Title Company owners all over the US, I get all kinds of questions and hear the stories of our fellow hard-working Title reps. I’ve seen almost every compensation plan under the sun at this point–some good, some bad, and some just outright atrocious. The latter is what I’m going to be talking about today. These are compensation plans that include the Title sales sunset provisions. Hold on to your hats.

How this Helps Title Company But Hurts You

What are sunset provisions? Well, it’s when the Title sales rep brings in a NEW customer, but only gets paid a commission on that customer over a small period of time. I have seen a scenario where the customer becomes a “house account” after 12 months, or the worst I have seen is the customer becomes a house account after 10 closings. Imagine in 2020, you could bring in a top-performing lender, and they could become a house account in less than a month! Never to be paid on their business ever again. Wow.

This is so advantageous to the Title Company, essentially stealing money from their Title reps who may not have had a full understanding of how this hurts them in the long run when beginning their jobs. How do they grow their business and make the money they are told they can make in our field? It’s walking up a hill and then sliding back down once you are halfway up.

I get it…a Title Company owner thinks that Title sales sunset provisions are a good strategy as it focuses the Title rep on bringing in new customers all the time. What they don’t take into account is all those Realtors and lenders that you no longer get paid on, still require work! A big part of the Title sales rep’s job is to make sure the business keeps rolling in from all accounts…all the time. If you stop paying a Title rep on an account, and the only way they make money is by generating new accounts only, where is the motivation to ever speak to those other accounts again? How are you going to truly grow your business? Every moment you spend maintaining those accounts, you are working essentially for free.

What Title Company Owners Don’t Get

There is a huge disconnect in our business between high-performing Title Salespeople and leadership from above. Mostly, management has never performed the role of a Title sales rep. They aren’t client-facing people, and they lack the understanding of what “us” the Title sales rep does week in and week out. They also don’t realize how these Title sales sunset provisions actually hurt them versus helping!

Sunset provisions in compensation plans create lazy Title reps. If I see each month that I’m really bringing in 50-75 orders, but I get paid a commission on only 15-20 of them, over time that is super disheartening and frustrating. If I know that all my hard work eventually leads to never getting paid on someone, why jump through the crazy hoops to land the “Smith Team” or the “Jones Team?” It’s frustrating knowing over a period of time the Title company keeps all the money and I get nothing. It creates very complacent salespeople who aren’t going to go the extra mile.

Title Company owners also wonder why are they losing their top-performing salespeople? They leave because once they figure out, that their money is being stolen and the owners don’t value them by providing them with a terrible compensation plan, they leave and take all those clients with them.

Get Rid of Title Sales Sunset Provisions

Are you the owner of a Title Company reading this article? Get rid of these ridiculous compensation plans. It not only hurts your business in the long run but causes your Title reps to be complacent and lazy, just doing enough but never what you would want. They will eventually get smart and move somewhere that won’t limit their ability to grow or they will reach out to me and I’m sure you can tell by this article what I might say to them regarding your practices.

Title Company owners should encourage, help, and lift up their Title sales reps. Pay them what they are owed for the clients THEY ORIGINATE. Remember, that accounts require nurturing and maintenance to stay with the Title company. The sales rep is the face and brand of the company out in the field. Title sales sunset provisions are not good practice for all parties involved and should go away.

Want to Consider Stewart Title?

If you have questions or want to talk about making a switch to a company that doesn’t have Title sales sunset provisions (that I’m aware of), please fill out the form below!

Work With Wade

Interested in growing your real estate business with Pruitt Title? Please fill out the form below and I will contact you shortly. Thanks, Wade "DCTitleGuy"

    I help my clients with all facets of their real estate/mortgage business on behalf of Pruitt Title in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area. Let's work together!

DCTitleWade1
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