Episode Summary

Patrick Stone founded WFG in 2010 after serving as president and COO of Fidelity National Title. In this inaugural episode, he reveals how the industry wastes resources by entering the same data 80 times per transaction, why title agents must stop fighting for control and start leveraging proven technology, and how WFG’s statusing software increased market share by keeping clients informed. Stone discusses AI implementation risks, the difference between risk elimination and actuarial insurance, and why measuring customer service with NPS scores dramatically improves employee performance and client retention.

About Patrick Stone

Patrick Stone is Founder and Executive Chairman at WFG National Title Insurance Company. Featured on Episode 1 of the Title Agents Podcast with Mo Choumil, CEO of Alltech National Title.

Key Takeaways

• Most every title agent has multiple underwriter relationships and you can capitalize on the lessons they’ve learned.
• So be careful, but be open minded and take a hard look at everything going on around you.
• In a world where change is the only constant, Mo Shumil stands at the forefront, guiding title professionals to not just grow their businesses, but to master the art of innovation.
• With every episode, you’re handed the keys to unlock unparalleled growth and stay ahead of the curve.
• I’m truly honored and privileged to have such a fantastic, wonderful guest.
• It’s a pleasure to be associated with you and be on your show.
• Let me read a little bio about you just as part of honoring you and your history.

Episode Chapters

Time	Topic
00:00	Segment 1
05:00	Segment 2
10:00	Segment 3
15:00	Segment 4
20:00	Segment 5
25:00	Segment 6
30:00	Segment 7
35:00	Segment 8

Full Transcript

Most every title agent has multiple underwriter relationships and you can capitalize on the lessons they’ve learned. So be careful, but be open minded and take a hard look at everything going on around you. Don’t get stuck fighting the control battle. In a world where change is the only constant, Mo Shumil stands at the forefront, guiding title professionals to not just grow their businesses, but to master the art of innovation. With every episode, you’re handed the keys to unlock unparalleled growth and stay ahead of the curve. Get ready for a transformative journey. Hello, welcome to the Title Agents Podcast. I’m truly honored and privileged to have such a fantastic, wonderful guest. He’s a legend in our industry, Mr. Patrick Stone. Patrick, do you like to be called Patrick or Pat? Pat is fine, Mo, and I’m honored to be here. It’s a pleasure to be associated with you and be on your show. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Let me read a little bio about you just as part of honoring you and your history. Patrick Stone is the founder and executive chairman of WFG. It’s one of the six national title insurance underwriters in the United States. Born in 1947, Pat Stone served in the Vietnam War before attending Oregon State University, where he developed interests in history and art. He spent over two decades rising through the ranks at major title companies like Stewart and Fidelity before becoming the president and COO at Fidelity. In 2010, Pat founded WFG with the goal of bringing more efficiency and transparency to the title insurance industry through innovative technology like e-clothings. Under his leadership, WFG has grown rapidly to become a national player, earning top ratings for its financial strength and stability. Welcome, Pat. Thank you, Mo. Appreciate you having me. The first thing that stands out off the bat in your background, how did you go from art and history to title insurance? Well, I dabbled a little in grad school and I didn’t fit very well. I was looking for a job, saw an ad for a title examiner trainee. I had no idea what it was, but I needed a job. So I took it and got started in the business. I was a title examiner for a while. It was interesting. I posted a geographic slip plant, did a lot of courthouse researching. I think at that time, I thought it was moving a little bit too slow for me. So I went off and became a stockbroker. I did that for a couple of years and I didn’t like that at all. They hadn’t invented the word fiduciary yet. And everything went. And anyway, so then I decided I didn’t like that. But the guy I had worked for before offered me a job to come back to the title agency. This was a small title agency in Hillsborough, Oregon. And I said, okay. So I went back and he said, but I want you to get into sales. And I’m going to share this story with you because it’s a lesson that I think we all learn one way or the other. But I had gotten some great sales training on Wall Street. I spent a lot of time overcoming objections. I was good at it. But I found that what really made my career take off was my first wife, who were still friends, she said, don’t come home without an order. So I would drive around looking for a realtor offices with lights on after dark and figure if the lights on somebody’s in there working on a deal and I’d go in and I’d say, hi, and you’re working on a transaction. They say, yes, but it’s not with your firm. And I said, well, let me look at the preliminary title report. I’ll tell you if there’s anything you should worry about or address before you get to closing. And they always go, why would you do that? And I said, well, it’ll help you in case there’s something going on. I’ve been a title examiner, happy to let you know. So I started doing that. And then I started getting calls from people. But my point here is I was adding value. I was helping them. I was helping them be successful. And it got me a tremendous amount of business. I got so much business, I couldn’t handle the business I was getting. But that’s what really launched my career. So I should give you credit for the search and hold custom in the West Coast. I know that insurance is different in different parts of the country. That’s for people in the East Coast and Midwest that may not be used to search and hold. So I started with you. That’s a great value add. Yeah, there’s always some way that you can help your clients or your prospective clients be more successful. And talking about your company or we give great service doesn’t mean anything to anybody, right? If you can do something that helps them be more successful, then you’re a part of their team and they look at you in a whole different manner and you will get their business. So that evening, your wife let you in, you got an order. What a powerful incentive. So please just give us the progression in your career and how it went from there to guess what’s the next company you work for and progression to Fidelity and how you were in. Well, so I was in sales for a while and we wanted to get into the builder business and I was kind of interested in that. So I started studying the process of getting plats approved and started helping builders get subdivision plats approved and help them getting through all the administrative bureaucracy they have to deal with. So we started getting a lot of builder business. I got to be the sales manager and the agency got sold to Stuart Title. And the gentleman that was the manager ended up leaving and they made me the manager. The day I became manager of the Stuart Title operation in Portland, Oregon, interest rates were 15.6%. This was in 1983. It was a real lesson in survival. There was virtually no mortgages being done. The SNL industry was dying, basically being killed. And we looked around how we’re going to keep the lights on, how we’re going to keep this going. And the one thing that would work would be seller carryback financing. But typically, buyers and sellers were reluctant to use a contract because the buyer didn’t know the seller or the seller didn’t know the buyer. So we’ve started a seller carryback servicing department. And we promoted it that, yes, you can use a contract. We’ll make sure that all parties are treated fairly, taxes get paid, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So the seller carryback servicing department was phenomenally successful. We started making a lot of money and that helped my career take off with Stuart Title. I was with Stuart Title for almost 10 years. And then, long story short, kind of got caught in the first oil shale crash in Colorado in Denver, had owned part of the operation in Denver, and it went south really bad. So it was kind of tough. Wanted to go back to Portland, found a company to buy, but I was having a hard time getting the bank to lend me the money. So I knew Bill Foley, had met him a couple of years before. Fidelity, at that time, was doing about 90 million a year total. And I called him up and said, hey, I’ll underwrite with you if you’ll guarantee my loan. He said, well, come on down and let’s talk about it. Ended up going to work for Bill and Fidelity bought the company. And then I was the top manager of Fidelity for five years and he made me president chief operating officer. Company was doing 400 million and I left nine years later and we were doing almost 4 billion. We bought 69 companies. It was a lot of fun. How was that experience working with Bill Foley? Bill is probably one of the brightest people I’ve ever known. He really focused on the financial side, getting the money to make the acquisitions. I focused on the integration and managing of it. And then when you launched WFG in 2010? Yeah, I retired from Fidelity in early 2004. Bill wanted to move the company to Jacksonville, Florida. And I had a wife and a couple of kids and they didn’t want to go. So we decided that maybe that was a good time to retire and got into doing a lot of commercial investing. My nephew and I hav…