How Guaranty Title Grew Through Acquisition with a Modern TPS

About

Founded in 1984, [Guaranty Closing and Title Services, Inc](https://titleservice.com/). is a leading provider of closing and title services in East Central Wisconsin. With eight locations, Guaranty is committed to protecting homebuyers and sellers against hidden title risks and delivering personalized customer service with a commitment to quality. As a growing agency, Guaranty wanted to modernize its technology to support its core values of reliability and professionalism while positioning the business for future expansion.

Challenge

**Growth Came at a High Price** As Guaranty grew, their existing technology infrastructure began to create significant operational barriers to scale. The team faced several challenges that stemmed from their legacy title production system (TPS). Each new office required costly on-premises servers, unreliable VPN connections, and “tens of thousands of dollars per year spent on cybersecurity tools, such as firewalls and email encryption,” according to Business Analyst, Aimee Lombard. **A System So Frustrating, Files Ended Up on the Floor** For every transaction, employees had to navigate both their previous TPS and stacks of paper files. This fragmentation stifled efficiency. “With SoftPro, we wasted a ton of time chasing paper files around the office, trying to understand the status of a file. It was very frustrating,” explained Lombard. “During a busy season with a lot of transaction volume, we’d have to work until midnight. It got to a point for one worker where she’d had enough. She picked up her files, threw them on the floor, and left,” added Lombard. **Support from Previous Software Partners Fell Short** The Guaranty team’s past experience with customer support from their previous TPS was frustrating. “I wouldn't call working with SoftPro a partnership in any sense of the word. It was like buying Microsoft Word—you wouldn't expect any kind of meaningful support with issues you were experiencing with the software.” Lombard recalled. “The customer support for SoftPro was almost non-existent. If you wanted additional training, it would come at a big cost,” she added.

Solution

In 2017, Guaranty grew from four to six offices as a result of an acquisition. This meant employees would either use SoftPro or RamQuest, depending on their business unit. The company had a decision to make—would Guaranty stick with existing on-premises software or move to a new web-based platform? To modernize its infrastructure and support the future growth of two new offices, Guaranty decided to make a company-wide switch to Qualia. Lombard specifically mentioned how viewing a demo of Qualia influenced her decision: “I just randomly got a call from a Qualia representative to give me a demo, and I was pretty blown away. We knew that having the flexibility of a web-based platform would allow us to expand whenever we found opportunities.” **Positioned for Confident Expansion** By choosing Qualia, Guaranty eliminated the need to set up and maintain costly and unreliable servers. The company no longer spends tens of thousands of dollars on cybersecurity tools for each new office, setting the stage for future growth. Because they switched to a web-based platform, Guaranty laid the foundation for scalable expansion. “Whether it’s an up or down market, I'm confident that Qualia will help us manage order volume efficiently,” said Lombard.

**Increased Visibility into Files, Happier Employees** “In Qualia, you have the ability to easily track workflows, and more than one person can work in a file at a time. When someone is sick, it’s easy to see where the file is at and what tasks still need completion,” explained Lombard. Instead of chasing paper, Guaranty employees were able to quickly search for files and understand an order’s status. The software provided a much-needed single source of truth for the business. **A True Partner with Superior Support & Training** For Guaranty, switching was about more than just software; it was about partnership. This stood out in stark contrast to their previous experiences: “Working with Qualia support is completely different from working with SoftPro support. When we have challenges with the software, Qualia is right there for us. Qualia has by far the best customer service out of any of the companies that we've used,” Lombard explained. After three months of training, all offices transitioned fully to Qualia Core. “We didn’t lose any employees because of the transition. There were lots of training opportunities with Qualia, and over time, people became more comfortable with the differences in the systems,” said Lombard.

Results

By switching to a modern, web-based platform, Guaranty Closing and Title Services, Inc. reduced costly infrastructure and unlocked new levels of efficiency, enabling rapid growth and improving employee satisfaction.