How Associates Title Delivers Personalized Service with Qualia Connect

About

[Associates Title](https://associatestitleinc.com/) is a title and escrow agency that operates across 22 different states. Their core philosophy is to put the customer first by being consistently available and highly communicative. The company's owners and staff are known for providing a high-touch experience to their clients and proactively providing information before it is requested. This dedication to service has established Associates Title as a trusted brand in their market.

Challenge

Associates Title has built a successful business based on personal relationships and reliable service. Still, the company recognized the need to scale its personalized approach while maintaining efficiency and security. To do this, they had to address several key challenges. **A Desire for Instant Brand Recognition** Associates Title wanted to ensure their brand was top of mind for clients and real estate agents. “We want folks in our area to view us like the Nike swoosh, where the Associates Title logo and brand is instantly recognized and trusted,” said Anne Schouppe, Marketing at Associates Title. Before Qualia Connect released its new Branding feature, Associates Title's company logo and colors couldn't be displayed. Their main company color is red, but clients were directed to a green-themed Qualia portal. “It was like seeing Christmas. When clients interacted with us, they’d see the color red on Associates Title marketing materials and the color green when they logged into Qualia Connect,” said Schouppe. This created a disconnect, and Associates Title felt clients were remembering their experience with Qualia rather than the company itself. **Security Concerns** Prior to switching to Qualia, the company was also concerned about how much private data was being exchanged via email, a practice they had to stop in order to protect their customers. “I was appalled when I first started to see how much sensitive communication went through email. I couldn't believe that was happening,” said Schouppe. Instead, Associates Title needed a professional and secure way to collect information like Social Security numbers and phone numbers. **Inefficient Manual Workflows** Associates Title has a goal of processing files within a 10-day timeframe. However, their manual communication processes were time-consuming and vulnerable to human error. An example of this was the process for adding custom requirements to the title commitment in a particular state. During a recent audit, Schouppe discovered that Associates Title had missed adding New Jersey-specific language to their title commitment on a single file. “Because we close in such a wide variety of areas, each county, state, and sometimes the city has unique requirements,” explained Anne. “Instead of relying on our people to remember every single nuance, I wanted to configure our software to automatically remember and complete that type of task for us.”

Solution

Associates Title partnered with Qualia to build a more personalized, secure, and automated closing process, resulting in consistent closing experiences that strengthen their brand and client relationships.

**Brand Recognition, Security, and Trust**. With Qualia's Branding feature, Associates Title was able to customize the Qualia Connect platform. They immediately changed the platform's color scheme to match their signature red branding and added their logo, ensuring brand recognition every time a client or real estate agent accesses a file. This personalized approach helps build trust, as people are more likely to trust a brand the more they come into contact with it. The company's logo is now featured on every branded email and document, which reinforces their commitment to a professional experience. “The more you see a brand, the more that you automatically trust the brand. It’s psychological,” said Schouppe. “Qualia Connect is so secure. And now, because it’s branded with the Associates Title logo and colors, our clients instantly trust this professional-looking site. It gives clients the confidence to enter personal information into the platform, versus sending an unsecured email.”

**Faster Closing Processes, Fewer Errors** Associates Title has used Qualia Connect to create more than 100 Smart Action automations, reducing human error within their workflows. For example, they automated the process of adding state-specific language to commitments for New Jersey files and configured the system to select the appropriate wiring instructions for each of the 22 states they serve. “Because the system automatically adds custom requirements to the commitment, our title processor no longer has to remember and complete this task manually. It's just done automatically, thanks to Qualia,” explained Schouppe. “We have a lot of workflows that are state-specific,” added Schouppe. “Automation picks it up and selects the appropriate wire instructions, puts it in the file, and sends it out to the appropriate parties. We no longer have the potential for human error where money is put in the wrong account.” They also set up a custom automation that immediately notifies their escrow and scheduling departments when a cash deal is opened, ensuring it gets processed instantly. This level of automation ensures consistency across their files, regardless of staff changes. **Personalized Communication at Scale** Associates Title is using Qualia to provide personalized communication that makes clients feel taken care of, without increasing manual effort for their employees. They’ve used automations to send professional, polished emails that tell clients what the results of a survey mean and what the next steps are. Schouppe and her team are also looking forward to implementing Qualia Texting. While email has an average open rate between 20-40%, text messages have an incredible 98% open rate. Associates Title plans to incorporate Qualia Texting into their contact strategy, and use SMS notifications instead of email for non-confidential, order-related messages. For example, Schouppe plans to configure Connect to automatically notify clients and real estate agents that a closing has happened via text. “Instead of bombarding clients with emails, non-confidential communication can be a simple text. It's not ‘open an email, read an email, delete an email, file it away.’ The client receives a simple notification that pops up,” Schouppe added.

Results

Qualia has empowered Associates Title to deliver a consistently high level of service across their operations in 22 states. By combining Branding, Smart Action automations, and secure communication to execute their marketing strategy, they have differentiated their business in a competitive market. The company now has peace of mind knowing that sensitive information is shared securely, and their team can operate more efficiently. Qualia Connect has enabled Associates Title to provide a personalized, professional, and secure experience for every single client, at scale. Schouppe summed up her experience, “It’s so much more personal and professional to have a branded platform. The over 100 automations we’ve set up allow us to provide a better experience for our clients, and we dream up at least one new automation a week. Because of Qualia Connect, I feel like we have at least five more staff processing files in the background.”