Founder and Executive Chairman Patrick Stone's vision of an industry-leading event for title agents is realized in Florida.
In mid-March, current and prospective WFG National Title Insurance Company agents gathered in Orlando, Florida for the two-day Spark22 event.
Their attendance helped fulfill a decade-long goal by WFG Founder and Executive Chairman Patrick F. Stone and longtime company executives.
Held March 15 and 16 after two years of COVID-cancelled attempts, this seventh annual event was energized by the agents' pent-up longing to connect with colleagues in person and, more importantly, to gain new marketing strategies.
"This year we realized Pat's original vision," said Gene Rebadow, WFG EVP, Agency Operations. "Nearly 10 years ago he challenged our team to think differently, to change the focus. CE classes are important he said, but we need to help title agents increase their market share and be successful. Each year our team has strived to push the boundaries and produce an event like no other in the title and settlement services industry. This year we welcomed more than 500 title agents both in person and via live stream, and their collective response to the content presented and the insight and tools they took home with them definitely made it an industry highlight.”
"We’ve listened to our clients and our concept is simple,” said Baron Buss, EVP, Agency Operations. “Spark is a fun and illuminating forum, providing agents and prospects with relevant content for their businesses. We tailor the event to industry thought leaders, owners, operators and marketing professionals. The speakers, content, support and production are as special as the event and its attendees. In my career I’ve not seen a more pertinent event for title agents.”
Three powerhouse keynote speakers took the main stage during Spark22, including SparkTank Media Founder & CEO Jeff Lobb, who has been an instrumental member of the Spark event team for many years, along with WEST’s VP of Strategic Growth Justin Stutz and WFG EVP, Director of Strategic Initiatives Justin Tucker. These visionary speakers challenged the audience and led them down a path of innovation and best practices for sales, marketing, and technology. BombBomb's Steve Pacinelli and Ethan Beute, both longtime WFG collaborators and Spark presenters, also hosted a workshop-style session that featured principles in their bestselling book “Human-Centered Communication.”
Along with Stone, Rebadow and Buss, other WFG Executives participating were Marty Frame, President of WEST, a Williston Financial Group company; Bruce Phillips, CISSP / SVP & Chief Information Security Officer with WEST; and Marketing Technology Director (MTD) Sam Trimble.
Starting with the state of the economy
Stone and Dr. Bill Conerly, the respected economist who co-hosts WFG's "Quarterly Economic Forecast " webinar with Stone, opened the conference with an unflinching forecast of where they see the economy in general and title, real estate and lending heading.
"The key takeaways were that refis are off 60 percent and purchases off ten percent," Rebadow said. "But they balanced that with the fact that six million purchase transactions are projected to happen this year. That means opportunity is there."
"Pat spoke about the Digitization of the Real Estate Process: the past, present and future of transactions. He also discussed the importance of integrations with business partners and measuring productivity," Buss said. "Bill Conerly spoke all matters economy and together they led a Q&A that took the audience into many matters, like geo-political impact, NAR, under-population, buyer sentiment, and other matters that the room wanted and needed to hear."
Over the remaining day and a half, practical takeaways were provided, focusing largely on core sales and marketing strategies. The two "specialty luncheons" allowed WFG leadership to connect directly with attorneys on the first day and owners and company leaders the second day. This breakout format was geared to let them share their questions and concerns among peers.
"Of all the issues raised," Rebadow said, "cybersecurity was foremost on the attendees’ minds. Fortunately, we had Bruce Phillips there for the launch of his new video podcast, Cyber 411.”
The newly launched video podcast will take place monthly and tackle key areas of concern, including how to identify and prevent waterhole attacks, wire fraud and ransomware attacks.
Focusing on marketing and sales
The event organizers worked to ensure that Spark22 provided new marketing strategies geared to address the immediate challenges agents face.
"We showed the agents why they need to change what they're doing," Lobb said. "Change is going to happen very quickly in title. Not necessarily in the process, but in the way they must market their business. They need to become partners with their clients, just as WFG continues to partner with its clients to ensure both continue to grow."
Speakers addressed shaping the agency narratives, to "tell their story differently," as well as using WFG's successful Blocks program as an example of expanding an agency's toolbox of resources to help partner with clients.
In addition to the content, a crucial element of the event's success was the access to WFG personnel. Buss, Rebadow, Lobb, and WFG’s regional and sales managers, as well as WFG’s featured speakers, including Patrick Stone, were circulating among the attendees engaging in conversations.
"It dawned on me at the elevator while heading to my room at 10 pm that I hadn't stopped talking to guests all day and evening, not even to eat, which truly says something as to the amazing engagement of those at the event," said Buss.
"I think the availability of WFG leadership throughout the conference was key," Lobb said. "People told me that they had never been to an event where they can actually talk to the executives, let alone have dinner and a drink with them. That is the culture of Spark, and it took time to develop that."
The takeaways
"This was my first SPARK event and as a newcomer to the title industry, I found it gave a great perspective and great information to be efficient, effective and remain relevant in the title space," said Josette Colver, Senior Director Sales, Marketing & Education at Texas Title in Dallas.
"There were a lot of actionable things the attendees gained that they can now go implement," agreed Lobb.
“I took away so many new business strategies that I can’t wait to start implementing into our marketing and sales teams,” said Jodi Brust of American Dream Abstract, Inc. in East Patchogue, New York.
Brust added that she personally learned a lot on how to "let go and delegate more to my already established and amazing dream team."
In addition to the practical takeaways, however, there was a feeling of being invigorated and positive.
"After the general session, I was ready to get on the phone to call customers," said David M. Zawadzki, Vice President of Business Development at Proper Title in Chicago. "This industry is truly about relationships, and it was great getting the opportunity to build some because of the event."
Even Spark22 keynote speaker, Sales Coach and bestselling author Mike Weinberg was compelled to send congratulations.
"I. Was. Blown. Away … by the enthusiasm and excitement at Spark22," he wrote in an email. "What a first-class event filled with energized people looking to up their game and bring even more value to the markets they serve. Tip of the cap to WFG and their amazing clients. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that much fun leading sessions and it was an honor to contribute to such an impactful event!”
Colver, Brust, Zawadzki and others who took time to send in their comments all concluded by saying they would definitely attend Spark23.
Reflecting on the program’s success, Stone said, "As a national underwriter, we have many valuable internal resources that are unavailable to most agents. The idea behind Spark was to empower our agents by openly sharing our knowledge and resources with them. By providing our agents and prospective agents with training and education around sales and technology, we can make them more successful, and if they’re more successful, WFG is more successful. It’s a win-win.”
”Over the years Spark has evolved in sophistication, providing a forum for honest and forthright exchange and meaningful and enlightening conversation with successful business people from all over the country," Stone concluded.
To keep the inspiration that was sparked during the event burning, WFG's Marketing Technology Directors and WFG's sales reps will stay engaged with the agents who attended.
"The key will be following up to make sure that our agents' needs are met, through WFG’s Marketing Technology Directors," said Rebadow. "Otherwise, they'll lose the momentum and the advantage they've gained. That's the difference that will ensure Spark is an industry highlight in years to come."
Another element in Spark's evolution that is coming in 2022 is smaller regional Spark events, beginning in Detroit on May 11. Plans are to add four to five more cities by year's end.
For more information about Spark events, visit www.wfgspark.com or email [email protected].