One Metric to Rule Them All

How One Number Generated Millions in Revenue

Back in the early 2000s, when I practiced real estate law, I had one metric that I tracked every day, which drove millions of dollars in business. 

Want to know what this critical metric was? Read on. 

In the Beginning

Our practice primarily facilitated real estate closings for both purchases and home refinances. In the real estate practice, you would receive title requests or title orders. This was one of the first steps in the real estate closing process. 

Realtors and mortgage brokers would fax those title orders to our office. (Yes, I said fax. This was way back in the day.) Then, we would send one of our title abstractors to perform a title search on that property.

It was the early 2000's, and at that time, we were in the middle of a massive refinance boom, so mortgage brokers were our most significant source of business. I learned very quickly that the most critical number I needed to track was the number of title orders I was receiving.

Early in my career, I managed the home office of the largest multi-state real estate law firm in our state, and each day I had my assistant keep a running total of the number of title search requests we received. I obsessed over that number. It was the one metric that most I cared about.

Why Was That Number So Important?

I focused on that number because it was the leading indicator of our performance for the next month. I could, within 5 percent, tell you how many deals we would close over the next 30 days based on how many orders we received in the previous 30 days. We would close about 65 to 70 percent of the title orders we received. 

There were always about 25 to 30 percent of title searches that did not turn into real estate closing simply because a certain percentage would fall through for various reasons.

The title request was one of the first things that happened in a real estate closing, especially on refinance transactions. Once a mortgage broker had approved an application for a loan, they would send us the title request.  We would then confirm how many mortgages were attached to the property and check for any liens or judgments that would have to be paid off at closing or any other title issues.

In the office I managed, my assistant kept a running total. Every time a new order came in, she would put it on a tick list. I would come by her desk several times a day and check the list. If I checked the total at 10 a.m., and we were ahead of our daily goal, I knew I would probably be on target for the day. However, if I checked it later in the day, say around 3 or 4 p.m., and we were behind, I needed to investigate to see if there was a reason why our daily orders were down.

If I ever saw that number dipping halfway through the month, and I could see that number falling below what I wanted it to be, that meant I needed to get my car, drive around, and stop by some mortgage brokers' offices to drum up more business.

It gave me a chance to find out if there was an issue with our service and address it if needed. Most of the time, there wasn't anything wrong. It was just that they didn't have as many deals that month or that they were just backed up and hadn't had the chance to order very many title requests yet. On many occasions, a mortgage broker would say something like, "Yeah, I've got 10 title orders sitting on my desk that I need to send you today." I would promptly offer to just take the orders with me back to the office.

One Metric Can Make All the Difference

That one metric was what drove my entire decision-making process of what I was going to focus on that day.

When I became a junior partner at the firm, I oversaw several other offices. I managed our attorneys, paralegals, and title abstractors across the state. 

I had a laser focus on growth, and I would have the managing attorneys for each office across the state fax two numbers to me at the end of every day: 

1. How many new title search orders they had received, and 

2. How many real estate closings their office performed that day.

If I had an office where I started seeing a dip in orders, I would call up the managing attorney say, "Listen, your numbers are down about 20 percent from last month. Over the next day or two, I need you to get in your car and see all of your top clients. Make sure they are happy and drum up some business." 

Attorneys usually don't like "selling," so they weren't always happy to get that call. However, it almost always got the desired effect.

Other metrics such as the number of real estate closings performed, closings scheduled, or even financial performance were all secondary to the number of title orders we received. That's because every other metric was driven by the number of orders we received.

What Numbers Can You Measure In Your Business?

Focusing on a very narrow target generates the intensity and purpose needed to succeed in business.  By being obsessed with that one metric, we generated millions of dollars worth of business. I would argue that nearly every business can narrow its focus down to its simplest form, and then measure it. It's just a matter of figuring out what your one metric is.

What's your focus? What one metric can you track to help you make better decisions about how to grow your business?