In its ongoing effort to drive down costs, LandAmerica Financial has introduced a lean operating structure for its title insurance, escrow and closing services in Colorado. The new business model, which the company describes as "revolutionary," aims to provide better service by technologically enabling its account managers to work out of home and provide more face-to-face service.

The traditional model relied upon outside sales reps and office-based escrow officers. Under the "New Frontier" initiative, LandAmerica combines the two functions into the role of account manager, centralizes data-driven functions into fulfillment centers or "hubs," and decentralizes the locations from which the account managers work.

"The new model provides customers with increased personal interaction with title and closing professionals and a single point of contact for answers to questions and resolution of issues," stated the company in a press release.

Said Lynn M. Riedel, an executive vice president for residential services: "Today's challenging real estate environment demands a lean yet responsive structure. We spent more than a year planning and perfecting this new model based on what our customers told us they want and need. We've standardized processes, simplified pricing and empowered account managers to be more responsive and available. We believe this customer-focused approach is a forward-thinking and aggressive response to our rapidly changing industry."

Account managers will work remotely from offices in their homes, connected to LandAmerica through a host of technology-enabled tools. Closings will be performed at various locations convenient for customers, including existing LandAmerica closing offices, Realtor offices and leased executive suites. "We are going where our customers are," says Riedel, "and we'll perform closings wherever it suits them."

Bacon's bottom line: LandAmerica did not explicitly say that the new model, to be implemented in Colorado, will serve as a template for the rest of the company. But, assuming that it is successful, one would expect the company to adopt the practices nationally. By shifting to a "mobile workforce" model, LandAmerica should be able to save money by shrinking its real estate requirements, to improve customer service, and potentially to cut headcount. The mobile-workforce strategy is one that all service-oriented companies should be considering.