Having opened its doors in what company founder ken Lingenfelter called "Interesting" times, Metropolitan Title Co.
knew it had to be different from the very beginning. The year was 1979 inflation was running rampant; interest rates shot overnight to 20 percent; and home sales dropped to virtually nothing. Yet through a unique
strategy focused in equal parts on investing in employees and growth by acquisition, the Ticor agency not only survived, but thrived. It was in those volatile times that Lingenfelter founded Metropolitan's
predecessor company in Howell, Mich. In order to make the most of a challenging environment, the company focused on marketing research to reach as many customers as it could. The success of this strategy fueled the
company's growth from three staff members in a 500-square-foot facility, into an organization with nearly 1,000 employees in 60 offices. With an impressive 35,000 square-foot headquarter, Metropolitan is well on its way to
becoming a truly regional title company.
Beginning with its earliest acquisition in 1981 of a branch of Burton Abstract & Title Co. (where a young Ken Lingenfelter once worked as a courier), the company launched
its growth strategy. Other acquisitions follow, and increasingly more counties were served as a result. With the purchase of Grand Rapids Metropolitan Title in 1987, the present-day company of Metropolitan Title Co. was
formed, also under Lingenfelter's direction as owner and president. Recently, the acquisition of South Bend Ind.-based York Title has allowed the company to expand into Indiana.
Unique culture
Just as progressive as its growth strategy is Metropolitan's view on how to treat its employees. The company boasts a large Human Resources department, through which some form of training formal or
informal is offered daily. Said Tammy Yeagle, Vice President, Metropolitan Title, "As we upgrade our technology systems, we're committed to providing appropriate training. We want to do the best job possible in
thinking things through, planning and training our people." Yeagle's background has proven especially valuable in this effort; during her tenure with the company, she has served in many roles and has an in-depth understanding
of the title process.
"We're much more employee-conscious than the average company," Lingenfelter explained. "We recognize our employees through the typical avenues, such as incentives and profit sharing, but also
through events that are more unique." Each month, the company does something special to honor its staff, whether it's bringing an ice cream truck to the parking lot or awarding employees with dinner or movie packages.
"Our employees are the basis of what we are," he said, "and we want to make sure they know that."
The company has seen a definite return on its positive work environment in the form of employee longevity. "We
more than get back what we invest in our employees," Lingenfelter said. "Our organization is nearly 20 years old, and a lot of our people have been with us that long as well."
Company wide communication
In addition to rewarding its employees, Metropolitan employs a truly novel approach in communicating with them. Each year on Presidents' Day, the company closes all offices throughout the organization and holds a
company wide meeting, for which it even provides bus transportation. Held in Lansing, Mich., the meeting serves as a venue to update staff members on the industry and technology initiatives, and also to publicly recognize
those offices that are performing well. At last year's meeting, for example, the company unveiled its goal of becoming a regional resource by announcing its expansion into a second state. Said Lingenfelter of the event,
"This is a solid day of interaction between management and employees."
Embracing technology
While employees are Metropolitan's greatest assets, technology has enabled the agency's staff to meet the
changing needs of its customers with efficiency and quality service. From the beginning, technology has been an important component of Metropolitan's success. Metropolitan was one of Ticor's first agents to implement is
TI-STAR system, a title production and settlement system that was created in the mid-'80s. The agency currently uses TI_STAR for all of its Chicago Title Family business. "We embraced TI_STAR early on and have enhanced
the program, with the help of the Chicago Title Family's Chatsworth, Calif., Information Services employees, to perform additional functions," said Lingenfelter.
In addition to TI_STAR, the agency currently utilizes
10 other technology systems to produce its products, manage data and handle accounting and settlement services among its 60 diverse offices. According to Lingenfelter and Yeagle, Metropolitan is in the process of implementing
a plan that will enable the use of one system Sierra Office to meet all of its needs.
Sierra Office is Ticor's PC-and Windows-based title production system. Metropolitan has been closely involved with the
system since 1994, when initial development began. Sierra Office allows agents to customize the program to meet their specific needs. "We have taken on Sierra Office with a vengeance. We believe it will provide us
with the flexibility we need to replace our 11 existing systems," said Lingenfelter.
Metropolitan's conversion project also has allowed the agency to look closely at all aspects of its business. "This has been
a great opportunity to look at work flow in all areas of our company and to make changes that will improve how we do business," said Lingenfelter. "We are making Sierra Office into our own personal system. The open
environment will allow us to use off-the-shelf software to reach into Sierra Office and pull out all sorts of data that will help us manage our business by looking at production, work flow, customers and so on," he added.
Yeagle explained that converting to one system is no quick and easy process. "Our offices vary in size from three or four employees to 150. It will take time for us to properly install the system so that
it functions correctly in each office environment. We also need to train employees on the new system," she said. "But the process is well under way. We currently are deploying Sierra Office in some areas and have
a plan for bringing it into our other offices," she added.
A true partnership
Assisting Metropolitan throughout this process is the Chicago Title Family's IS team, based in Chatsworth. The group
is headed by Mike Odorizzi, Vice President, Ticor Title; and John Webster, Vice President, Ticor Title, who oversees the day-to-day needs of Metropolitan and other Sierra Office users. "We have a great relationship with these
employees," said Lingenfelter. "When we first decided to use Sierra Office, the IS team from Chatsworth came out and interviewed each of our department managers. Since we were the first agency to test and use Sierra
Office, our agency's imprint is on the program. IS listened to our needs and concerns, and helped shape the program into a system that could meet our needs," he said.
Assistance from IS is ongoing. Yeagle
and Lingenfelter have a weekly conference call with the Chatsworth IS team, and Yeagle is a member of a Sierra Office User Committee, a group that meets twice a year to discuss system upgrades and user needs and concerns. A
steering committee, on which both Tammy and Ken also serve as members, meets every other month. "Many of the enhancements that have been made to Sierra Office are a result of these committees," said Yeagle. "They're a
great opportunity for us to give feedback to IS about the system."
Metropolitan also has a strong technology staff of its own. The agency's Technical Center, based in Holland, Mich., houses its IS department of
20 employees and the agency's Help Desk, which provides technical assistance to any of the 1,000 employees within the company. Automation research and development also are under way at the Technical Center. The staff
continually looks at ways to enhance productivity through the agency's Wide Area Network (WAN), e-mail, imaging and phone technology.
While Metropolitan's future will continue to include its focus on technology,
Lingenfelter emphasized that the agency's success is closely tied to its high quality employees. For Metropolitan Title, the winning combination of staff, strong business planning and a commitment to technology has allowed
the agency to succeed and grow by leaps and bounds
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