Patrick Stone created a different kind of title insurance company in Williston Financial Group and Mortgage Professional America marked the company’s 10th Anniversary by asking the company founder which strategies are most responsible its quick ascent to the top ranks of the nation’s title insurance companies. Reporter Clayton Jarvis asked Stone, and came away with the four strategies he’s most proud of.

Develop technology. WFG has always been a tech-driven company, but early on, Jarvis writes, it created a separate entity to develop its own tech solutions. WEST (Williston Enterprise Solutions and Technology) has been responsible for three notable releases in 2020 alone. Says Stone, it’s “allowed us to invest more people, time, money, and effort, specifically with the idea of creating greater efficiency.”

Blocks. WFG Blocks is “a suite of outsource services” within the company that would otherwise require third-party providers. These, which include HR, marketing, cybersecurity, and even health insurance providers, have reduced the operational costs of the more than 1,500 independent title companies writing their policies. And, Jarvis explains, it’s “prevented those costs from being passed on to borrowers.”

Enterprise solutions. To best serve its lenders clients WFG created a complete set of tools that work in an “integrated manner,” according to Stone, including default services and appraisal management, through its WFG Enterprise Solutions.

Culture. Stone’s core principle comes in just three words. “Communicate, collaborate, co-exist,” the “three C’s,” are how WFG approaches its lenders, loan officers and borrowers. This sets a tone that Stone believes facilitates “streamlining the often confusing and anxiety-ridden process of buying a home.”

“If buyers leave a transaction happy,” Stone tells Jarvis, “the prospect of future business from the loan officer and lender involved grows that much brighter.”