BLOG VIEW: Vendors play an integral role in any mortgage transaction. It is common for mortgage lenders as well as title agents to work with multiple vendors as they try and close the loan. While both mortgage lenders and title companies rely heavily on vendors for third party services, vendor due diligence and management is a common challenge for all. Building and maintaining vendor relationships is a crucial skill, and managing vendor performance is critical.
Selecting a vendor for future orders based on their historical performance powered with deep analytics will be the main driver for efficiency and cost optimization.
What is a Vendor Scorecard?
A vendor scorecard is a system that allows a business to measure vendor performance and efficiency over time. The scorecard is helpful as it breaks down the categories and factors into quantifiable data for more accessible analysis. Score-carding can be used to grade vendor delivery, customer service, costs, and so much more.
The primary goal of a vendor scorecard is to monitor and manage vendor performance. It helps in vendor evaluation and enables title companies to get maximum ROI from their vendors with minimum risk.
Powerful and Functional Vendor Management Module
Powerful and functional vendor management modules help mortgage lenders and title companies to digitally connect with vendors and avoid unnecessary emails, paperwork and overhead costs. As a result, they can save hours and don’t have to deal with inconsistent offline orders. In addition, the issues with fulfilment tracking, record keeping and accounting can now take a back seat as companies get access to centralized and easy vendor management and tracking solution.
ALTA CEO Diane Tomb says, “As technology automates and digitizes certain processes of the real estate transaction, ALTA members continue to deliver a valuable service and insurance product. While quicker turnaround times are desired, getting it right and performing essential duties in the settlement process and issuance of title insurance to meet customer needs will remain paramount.” In this regard, vendor management modules with score-carding and reporting can make a huge difference.
What follows are the key features of an effective vendor management module:
Compliance Assurance
Mortgage lenders and title companies struggle to find vendors who will adhere to their company guidelines or set standards. A vendor management dashboard provides all the answers. It includes configurable tracking of all the background checks, insurance and license expiry of current and prospective vendors. If companies notice any compliance issues with the vendor, it goes back to the system and is recorded for future reference.
High Flexibility and Scalability
The vendor integration framework allows companies to add more vendors and provide additional options along with the standard reporting criteria. In addition, the highly flexible module ensures that title companies never outgrow the benefits of this solution. Plus, since the portal is cloud-based, it is highly scalable.
Ability to Auto-Assign
The vendor management portal offers options to schedule the requirements, helping companies auto-assign the requirements based on the vendor selection criteria – capacity, availability or geographic location. As a result, companies save time finding and finalizing vendors, and projects get started faster and can be completed more efficiently. It is also possible to opt for manual assigning. Having this feature can put the entire process or order allocation on autopilot.
Accurate Vendor Ranking
There are options to rank vendors automatically or manually in the portal, helping companies use the ranking system to choose the right vendor for the job. The ranking is based on factors like quality, pricing, turn time, and more. Since the portal is web-based, companies can access the rankings anytime and choose their vendors judiciously.
Streamlined Workflows
The workflow-based system helps mortgage lenders and title agents configure their own queues for processes and follow along. The vendor portal enables vendors to submit orders and upload reports on the dashboard, eliminating countless exchanges of emails. Also, the portal has full underwriter premium/endorsements and fee calculation built-in for smooth operations and accounting. Lastly, the agile release cycle ensures a quick turnaround on all projects.
Having an advanced and highly functional vendor management module helps mortgage lenders and title companies decide whether it’s the right decision to work with a particular vendor. With a completely streamlined process that works on autopilot mode, lenders and title companies need fewer people in-house to manage the projects, ensuring the best use of resources. Most companies have reported 30% or more in efficiency improvements after using such modules, and the growth and scalability will continue to rise in the coming years.
Shamit Vohra is vice president, strategic accounts, at Visionet Systems Inc.