Within the six components of the WFG Blocks program is the Expense Management Block, powered by the WEST Purchasing Group (WPG), a Division of WEST, a Williston Financial Group company.
Title insurance agents want to operate in the most profitable manner possible. This can be a struggle, especially when economic conditions cause markets to fluctuate. For this reason, of the six blocks that comprise the WFG Blocks program for title agents, the Expense Management Block is often the first Block agents choose.
“The WFG Expense Management Block quickly demonstrates its value in terms of the savings it provides to title agents, including significant savings on nationally recognized brands,” said Jaime Johnson, Vice President and Director of the WFG Blocks program. “Our clients work hard to run profitable businesses. We are here to help them save on operating expenses so they can invest those savings back into their businesses.”
WEST Purchasing Group (WFG), a Division of WEST, a Williston Financial Group company, was established in 2017 to help WFG National Title Insurance Company and its policy issuing title agents with expense cost reduction.
On behalf of the Expense Management Block, WEST Purchasing Group has negotiated discounts with national providers on a wide range of essential office products and services, including:
- Document management
- Office products
- Rental cars
- Job placement ads
- Gifts
- Outsourced printing
- Personnel services (temps)
- Payroll services
- Information technology
"WFG's Expense Management Block has a simple mission," said WEST Purchasing Group Vice President Marty Davis. "That mission is to help the title insurance agent operate more profitably and recoup money that can go back into growing their business.
"Membership is free, with no minimum purchasing requirements," Davis continued. "If a program interests an agent, we collaborate with our supplier then put the agent in direct contact with the supplier.”
Free benefit-cost analysis
As part of the service WEST Purchasing Group will provide free cost analysis for prospective members.
"Interested agents can show us office supply invoices for the last two or three months,” Davis said. "At no cost, we look at the SKU numbers of all the products purchased and compare like-for-like the products under their current pricing versus what they would pay through the Expense Management Block program."
"To anyone interested I highly encourage you to let us do a savings analysis," Johnson added. "It's been our experience that choosing the Blocks Expense Management program is an easy decision to make once you compare the recent invoices with the new pricing. Without comparing the new pricing with recent invoices we can guess about potential savings. With the comparison we can be certain. From recent experience with shredding services, we have seen savings of up to 80 percent."
Throughout the course of the engagement, WEST Purchasing Group continues to validate the pricing every six months to a year, depending on the size of the member and the product category.
"We see the invoices from all of our suppliers and are able to compare pricing with the contract pricing,” Davis said. "If there's a difference and they've paid more than the pricing that was originally contracted for, we go to the supplier and ask for credits back to the agent. We do not take any portion of the savings. It's 100 percent the agent's."
One agency in the Northeast saved in excess of $200,000 annually after transitioning from a variety of local shredding companies to a national shredding program through WPG.
Northwest Title in Ohio has had similar success.
"We've adopted a lot," said CEO Scott Stevenson. "We've saved many thousands of dollars by changing our shredding company. It is surprising all the ways that we're able to tap into and save actual dollars. But beyond the savings you have through the sharing of expenses in the WEST Purchasing Group, there are tremendous benefits available through the other Blocks programs as well."
"We analyze, we validate, we provide savings, and again, the only cost to the member is time," Davis said.
Expanding the circle
Since its initial launch, the Blocks Expense Management program has expanded to allow the family and friends – including clients – of WFG agents to join and benefit.
Johnson stressed the added value of the ‘Friends and Family’ component.
"We've transitioned over the past year and a half, to offering our services to the friends and family of our title agents so they can introduce their clients to the WEST Purchasing Group site,” Johnson said. "It's a great value add that WFG is giving to its title agents who can pass it on to their clients."
"It's really a win-win-win," Davis added. "From a supplier's perspective, we’re bringing new business to them that they would not have otherwise received. And, from the perspective of WFG and the title agent, both are benefiting from an economy of scale, otherwise not available to them working independently. For us, the added volume provides more negotiating power for the next go-round."
For more information about the WFG Blocks program, download the new white paper “Creating a True Partnership Between Title Agencies and Underwriters” at https://wfgagent.com/blocks-2021-whitepaper, contact your local WFG Agency Representative or visit wfgblocks.com.
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About Williston Financial Group
Williston Financial Group (Portland, Ore.) is the parent company of WFG National Title Insurance Company, WFG Lender Services, WFG Default Services, Valutrust Solutions, LLC, WEST, and other title, settlement and technology solutions providers. It is one of the fastest growing national title insurance and settlement services providers in the mortgage and real estate services industry.