The “Swivel Chair” Tax: Calculating the Real Cost of Manual Data Entry
In the title and escrow industry, we talk a lot about “soft costs” – the expenses that don’t show up as a line item on a budget but drain profitability all the same. But there is one cost that is entirely visible if you simply walk through your office: the “Swivel Chair” Tax.
It happens every day. A title processor receives a contract or a new order in one system (perhaps an email or a lender portal). They physically swivel their chair—or alt-tab between monitors—to open their Title Production System (TPS). Then, they spend the next fifteen minutes reading data from screen A and typing it into screen B.
It seems like a necessary evil of the job. But in an era where efficiency defines success, this manual bridge between software is a tax on your agency’s growth.
The High Price of “Human Middleware”
When you rely on people to act as the connector between your different software platforms, you are paying a premium for data transfer.
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The Cost of Time: Routine tasks, like re-keying address fields or loan amounts, consume hours that could be spent on client-facing activities. Every minute an employee spends acting as a data conduit is a minute they aren’t solving complex title issues or building relationships.
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The Cost of Errors: Manual data entry is the primary driver of “stare-and-compare” delays. Every time information is rekeyed, the risk of human error increases. By automating data movement between systems, you eliminate these preventable mistakes—and with them, the need for redundant reviews and rework.
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The Cost of Morale: Your team was hired to solve problems and move transactions forward—not to rekey data. Fragmented systems and disconnected portals introduce unnecessary friction into the workday, draining energy, lowering engagement, and ultimately reducing productivity.
Connecting the Silos
The root of the problem isn’t your software; it’s the “silos” they live in. Your TPS, your lender’s LOS, and your bank’s core are likely excellent at what they do individually. The friction occurs in the gap between them.
This is where middleware changes the equation.
ShortTrack acts as the digital nervous system for your transaction. Instead of forcing your team to swivel between applications, ShortTrack connects them. We allow data to move securely from the source (like a lender’s LOS) directly into your TPS without a single keystroke.
From Re-Keying to Interoperability
The future of the industry is interoperability, connected systems that communicate natively and keep data synchronized in real time. ShortTrack acts as the bridge, transforming fragmented workflows into a unified ecosystem anchored by a single source of truth.
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Eliminate Redundancy: Capture data once and let it propagate across your ecosystem automatically. By removing duplicate entry throughout the title and escrow workflow, you reduce friction, prevent mistakes, and reclaim valuable operational time.
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Improve Access: Integrated systems remove bottlenecks by ensuring data is available where and when it’s needed. Instead of relying on manual updates or file handoffs, teams gain immediate access to accurate, up-to-date information.
Stop Paying the Tax
The “Swivel Chair” Tax is voluntary. You don’t have to pay it.
By placing ShortTrack in the center of your real estate transaction, you turn your disjointed tech stack into a unified ecosystem. You stop paying your most valuable employees to be data entry clerks and start empowering them to be title experts.
Ready to close the gap between your systems? Contact ShortTrack today and let’s get your data flowing.