Locks and keys

Since Robert Klein founded Safeguard Properties in 1990, the mortgage industry has undergone significant changes. Today, with more than 600 employees and a network of thousands of contractors, Safeguard is the nation’s largest privately held mortgage field services company, and each month, it inspects and maintains more than 1 million defaulted and foreclosed properties nationwide for banks, mortgage servicers and investors.

Klein, the National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year winner in the services category as well as a regional winner, shared his thoughts with Smart Business about how he communicates with his team and keeps his company on the industry’s cutting edge.

Q. Your business operates nationwide, which doesn’t allow for easy face-to-face meetings with your team. What is your philosophy of people management?

A. For one thing, we don’t use voice mail during the workday. If someone isn’t in the office, their call is directed to a colleague who picks up the phone on their behalf and takes care of a client’s issue. And we have a receptionist who actually talks to callers. When someone calls Safeguard during business hours, we want them to be greeted by a real person, not a machine. … In this high-tech world, we believe a personal touch distinguishes our service.

Safeguard’s motto is ‘Customer service = resolution.’ We live it every day. It is embedded in our training, which every Safeguard employee and every contractor who works for us receives. When a client has a problem, it is our job to resolve it. That is why we come to work every day.

Q. Innovation is critical in order to keep from being commoditized. How do you innovate?

A. Our use of technology has allowed us to innovate on many levels. Because our work is performed in the field not behind a desk, we utilize handheld technology to provide real-time updates on the status of more than 1 million property inspections and 250,000 work orders that our contractors perform every month. This includes uploads of more than 25 million digital photographs monthly documenting work performed, which accompany electronic written updates and invoicing. Our clients have 24-7 real-time access to status reports on all of their properties under Safeguard’s management.

Another innovation has been our unique REO property model. REO stands for ‘real estate owned’ by the lender or investor after foreclosure. As a result of the mortgage crisis, more REO properties have come onto the market and remain on the market longer. Safeguard created a new model for maintaining these properties that separates the marketing and management functions, enhances their market value, reduces their time on the market and helps maintain the integrity of neighborhoods in communities hardest hit by foreclosures.

Q. What impact has this had?

A. This model has changed the way the industry services REO properties and has been adopted by large government agencies, such as Fannie Mae and HUD.

We also use technology to create as many opportunities as we can to listen, to exchange ideas, to resolve issues in a spirit of collaboration and cooperation. This includes industry conference calls, webinars and other ‘virtual meeting’ communications. There is a reason why we were born with two ears and one mouth. We need to listen twice as much as we talk. Innovation doesn’t come from sitting in a room alone and thinking up good ideas. It comes from interacting with people throughout our industry, listening to what a customer needs and finding a way to deliver it quickly, efficiently and with the highest quality.

How to reach: Safeguard Properties, (216) 739-2900 or www.safeguardproperties.com

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® awards recognize the men and women who put everything on the line to turn ideas into viable enterprises. Now in its 24th year, the awards honor those who build the market-leading companies that make our communities, our country and, indeed, the world a better place.

Being a recipient of this prestigious business award means you’re at the top of your game and puts you in the company of such entrepreneurs as Tom Adams of Rosetta Stone, Michael Dell of Dell Inc. and Pierre Omidyar of eBay Inc.

An Entrepreneur Of The Year® nominee must be an owner/manager of a private or public company with primary responsibility for the recent performance of the company and an active member of top management. The nominee’s company must be at least two years old.

Successful entrepreneurs, whether company founders or current leaders, have a knack for taking businesses to the next level. They employ creative ways to find the capital and resources they need to reach their goals as well as build and grow businesses.

If this sounds like you, consider applying to be a 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year®.

Nominations are now being accepted and are available at www.ey.com/us/eoy, for downloadable forms or electronic submissions or by calling (800) 755-AWARD.

Recognizing entrepreneurial excellence