The Heritage Escrow Company

President

Pango Group

As COO, Joe has also played a large role in redefining the company’s budgeting process, an example of this interest in building through collaboration. Unlike many organizations that are solely focused on shareholder returns and one person making all of the decisions, Pango Group works to ensure its entire team has financial literacy so that they understand why decisions are made and can provide meaningful feedback to this process. 

Focusing on increasing productivity and supporting the team’s growth was the basis for yet another endeavor Joe initiated -  the creation of Pango LAB. 

This innovative concept is focused on training and educating humble, hungry and smart individuals interested in creating a career in the escrow industry, while also allowing current employees to be cross-trained in other areas of the business. 

This brick and mortar training facility has allowed the company to provide an entry point for individuals wanting to build a career in escrow and has provided current employees with the opportunity to expand their skill sets, ultimately allowing the company to provide a higher level of customer service and empowering employees to be more diversified in their roles.

Chief Operating Officer

As the Executive VP of Sales & Business Development, Joe transformed the way that people and process worked within the sales department. With the integration of accountability, honing in on the team’s skillset, setting attainable goals and implementing cohesive processes, he led the team to quadruple monthly revenues in a brief period.

Executive VP Sales & Business Development

Glen Oaks Escrow

100% focused on new client acquisition - increased new clients by 280% in first 24 months
Created systems of accountability for our team for reporting for Executive Team 
Customized and rolled out CRM platform to enable higher sales with team
Increased sales team revenue by 200%

EVP Sales & Marketing

Pickford Escrow - HomeServices of America a Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate

•	Grew profitability year over year by over 200% for company with 17 offices and 85 employees by increasing market share and reorganizing business for maximum efficiency.  Managed budget and P&L of $17M+ annually.
•	Wrote annual budgets and implemented business strategy leading to 20% growth in down market.
•	Restructured operational management and sales departments for maximizing employee support and efficiency resulting in annual savings of $465K.
•	Re-negotiated vendor and service contracts resulting in annual savings of $250K+.
•	Created employee recognition and all company training programs increasing employee retention by 12% and reducing escrow losses $50K.
•	Increased capture rate of current clients 11% resulting in $2M additional revenue.
•	Managed large HomeServices network accounts, growing them to $500K+ in annual revenue.

Was responsible for building out the sales team, increasing capture rates and new clients through a focused and managed sales effort

Director of Sales

RightNow Consulting

RightNow works with organizations to clearly define and align both individual and organizational goals to reap tangible results. 

My duties included:
•Provide consulting services focused on sales, sales management and divisional management: (increased revenue and number of new clients by over 400% with ROI of over 600%)
•Outsource sales management & director of sales positions for Fortune 200 companies, which have helped increase new clients and sales by an average of 135% in 6 months
•Analyze business segments and market opportunities for clients through on-going or time-bound assessments
•Create and conduct nationwide Sales University Courses, Executive Summits, and Webinars for Sales Reps, Sales Managers and Executives
•Conduct weekly and monthly coaching sessions with clients (Sales Reps, Managers, Executives) to create and execute personal and professional 90 day business plans
•Increased personal production of business units by 300% over a 12 month period (2007)

Senior Consultant

LegalMatch

•Manage a top performing sales team at a $15 million industry-leading legal client acquisition firm. 
•Hired and trained all team members under strict deadlines, with highest retention rate in company.
•Weekly one on one coaching with team members to create and execute personal and professional business plans.
•Create and lead ongoing tactical training sessions for company-wide sales department.
•Redeveloped the firm’s sales training materials, adjusting sales processes to a changing business environment. 
•Consistently in the top 5 sales professionals at LegalMatch for new attorney activation and revenue.

ABC News

•Developed and maintained local and national client relationships for San Francisco ABC Radio Group, including the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers Broadcast Networks.

Account Executive

SCORE! Education

•Trained and coached team of 20 part time and 4 full time staff toward achieving revenue and budget goals.
•Created new accountability systems to track customer service, sales, membership maintenance, and team accountability 
•Responsible for center sales effort, leading the team in lead calls and closing sales rate. (“Outstanding Sales AWARD” June 2002, “UberCoach AWARD” November 2002).

Director

Peace Corps

Regional Director - Women in Development

Science Teacher

With over 15 years of experience in the escrow (financial services) and real estate industry, I am a seasoned leader and problem-solver who can help companies bridge operational, financial, and sales gaps. As the President of The Heritage Escrow Company and the Chief Operating Officer of Pango Group, I oversee the strategic direction, performance, and culture of two successful and innovative organizations that serve thousands of clients and partners across California.

I am passionate about making an impact on people and businesses by applying a people-first model that fosters collaboration, accountability, and empowerment. I am also a builder, fixer, integrator, and tech-forward implementer who can drive profitable growth and optimize processes and systems. I have a proven track record of quadrupling monthly revenues, redefining budgeting processes, creating training and education programs, and implementing cutting-edge CRM and virtual meeting tools. I am always looking for new opportunities and challenges to leverage my skills and expertise in growth, profit, and strategic operations.

9 Core Sales Beliefs 
 
1 - Always tell the truth. No matter what... 
 
2 - Don’t talk about your (product, service, etc…) right off the bat… it kills deals 
 
3 - Be human. Understand that you are talking to someone who has a whole host of things going on and your product or service may be your first priority but it may not be theirs. 
 
4 - Pick up the phone. This should be your default, over-reliance on email or messaging will lull you into a false sense of productivity. (plus it’s more effective) 
 
5 - Lead and prospects are different. Prospects are qualified leads that have a clear match to your product or service. Leads are just a name, a face, and a phone number. 
 
6 - Focus on the value you can provide, not the price. In the absence of value, price becomes an issue. 
 
7 - Using a service or product and the decision to refer to the use of a service or product is very different. Referrals to you are putting the person’s reputation at stake. Make sure you are worth it. 
 
8 - A prospect’s decision-making process is just that: a process. This means the VAST majority of the time the decision will happen over many conversations.  
 
9 - Be kind. No matter what… 
 
What's your favorite?

Joe Curtis

President @ The Heritage Escrow Co. | Business Development Expert

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Lightbulb moment during a recent leadership meeting!  
 
A striking distinction between Change and Transition was introduced.  
 
Change, it turns out, is situational - an external event that we confront.  
 
On the other hand, Transition is the subtle, internal process of adaptation in response to that external change. 
 
We dove deeper and identified two varieties of change: Cyclical and Structural.  
 
This perspective reframed how I perceive change - not simply as an external force, but as a gateway to internal transition.  
 
I loved this perspective. 
 
How do you view change and transition? Share your experiences and insights below - I would love to hear them!  

"When you play all the way to the whistle you don't have to worry about the clock." 
- Ryan Holiday from The Obstacle is the Way 
 
In Rugby, refs play advantage even when a whistle could be blown.  It allows for play to continue if the non-offending team can take advantage.  
 
How many times have we see players stop when they've seen an error waiting for the ref to blow the whistle - only to see the other team take the advantage and even score? 
 
Play to the whistle.  
 
Stop expecting the whistle.  Even when you perceive something that could stop the game.  
 
Go all the way.  
 
How many time do we see this in sales or business?    
 
We are expecting something to happen and it doesn't, so we stop.  
 
We perceive something that we think impacts our ability to move forward but our action (or inaction) ends up having the biggest impact on the... deal, sale, meeting, game... 
 
Play all the way to the whistle.  
 
#lessonsfromrugby 
#rugby 
#dontstop 
 
 
 
 
   

How can inaction impact the outcome of a deal?

How can playing all the way to the whistle help in sales?

I spend the last month deconstructing our top producing reps and creating a hiring process around it.  
 
First I started by Identifying the KEY characteristics in our top reps: 
 
(https://lnkd.in/g8VnnUsr) 
 
Then created questions that drill down those characteristics in an interview:  
 
(https://lnkd.in/gM9zrtdU) 
 
Last built a scorecard to compare candidate against other candidates and our key characteristics: 
 
https://lnkd.in/gVufEZ6U 
 
Ping me if you'd like a copy of the scorecard!

Traction by Gino Wickman has been on my must read list for 10+ years.  
 
Everyone that gone through the leadership program at Pango Group has had exposure to it.   
 
In fact - we self implemented a "Pango Version" of EOS years ago and it was a key contributor to the success of our business that helped balance a people focused business with systems that helped us scale.  
 
I just graduated the EOS Integrator Master Class with over 80 other leaders serious about impacting their business.  
 
It was a great course, great people, and great reminder to keep moving us towards unlocking our own potential.  
 
#keeplearning 
#EOS 
#traction 
#pangogroup 
 


Why is unlocking our own potential important?

11 Tools for Sales Leaders - Just dropped. 

They cover: 
-Prospecting
-Sales Meetings-
-Sales Rep Onboarding
-Interviewing
-Goals/Planning

Link to the post is here and in the comments: https://lnkd.in/gHx3fUbd - 

Picture of me contemplating which run to hit next - for fun.

LinkedIn is suppose to be valuable AND fun right? 

What is covered in the goals/planning section?

What are the key strategies for sales rep onboarding?

I've been waiting to post a market update for SoCal 🗂️ until there was some positive indicators out there...  
 
Well finally we see some green 📊 - resales openings are up, cancellations are down, interest rates are basically flat.  
 
Across SoCal 🔍 inventory is rising and you can tell we're getting into spring 🌼 with double digit increases in new listings across all counties.  
 
I wonder if houses 🏡 will get more affordable.  
 
Yep - still an issue in my view 👓.  
 
What are you seeing out there?👀 


Three things that will Tank your Sales Team. 

1 - lack of accountability AND follow up
2 - unrealistic or changing expectations
3 - no clearly defined sales process

Read more like this is my free newsletter: 1+1=3

How can subscribing to the author's newsletter help me?

Open article: 3 Things That Will Tank Your Sales Team by open.substack.com • 2 min read

The use of the word accountability has been declining since 2007. 
 
I've been researching accountability in sales  teams and came across this interesting graph on the use of the word accountability since 1950. (Source Google).  
 
Lack of accountability and follow through is one of the main factors that can tank a sales team (or any organization). 
 
Why do you think the use of the word accountability has been declining in recent years? 
 
 
 


Why has the use of accountability been declining?

How can accountability affect sales teams?

Hypothesis: Goal setting is a skill. One that can be developed and improved over time.

I'm exploring the power of 90 day plans in goal setting in my news letter tomorrow.  

Subscribe for free to check it out.  https://lnkd.in/d7P-Wfte

Hypothesis: Goal setting is a skill.  One that can be developed and improved over time.

5 Skills sales leaders need to be good at accountability 
 
I've spent the last couple months thinking about this topic of accountability.  
 
Thinking through my own journey as a sales person and as a sales leader that has done this well and not so well - I'm starting to uncover a few things I've had to focus on to be good that this.  
 
Skill 1 - Ability to discuss uncomfortable topics with grace and kindness. 
 
Skill 2 - Understand data and how activities and behavior lead to results in a quantifiable way. 
 
Skill 3 - Tracking and measurement - use or designs systems that help reps track and measure progress against goals 
 
Skill 4 - Coaching - ability to identify what a rep need to work on and help that rep develop skills to improve.  
 
Skill 5 - Discipline to follow up over time, not just when the rep is ramping up. 
 
What's missing? 
 
#sales 
#leadership

11 sales tools.  
 
I just reviewed my Substack writing over the last 47 weeks and am publishing all 11 sales tools I've created tomorrow.  
 
They cover tools for interviewing, sales rep onboarding, sales meeting, goal setting and more. 
 
Find in my my free newsletter 1+1=3: https://lnkd.in/d7P-Wfte 
 
Designed for anyone who's a student of sales and believes that through leadership and teamwork the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Hence, 1+1=3. 
 
If you find it valuable please subscribe or share with someone you thing might benefit!

How can sales reps be onboarded effectively?

What are some tips for successful sales interviews?

7 Pitfalls Sales Leaders face when trying to effective at holding reps accountable. 
 
1 - It takes work, daily work 
 
2 - Keeping balance between monitoring and micro managing. 
 
3 - Solely focused only on the end result or lagging indicator - typically revenue. 
 
4 - Consistency - start strong then falls off over time (see #1). 
 
5 - Treats all reps the same. 
 
6 - Doesn't communicate the why behind their follow up and accountability. 
 
7 - Makes it about their (the Sales Leader's) goals and not the reps.  
 
What's the hardest one?

What are some common pitfalls sales leaders face?

How can sales leaders avoid treating all reps the same?

I think the most appropriate comment is:  Amen!

Profitability as Proxy for a Healthy Business Model: In 2023, the largest, publicly-listed real estate companies had another unprofitable year with over $1.1 billion in losses.

Profitability is an important metric – it’s a proxy for a healthy business model that has product market fit, is financially viable, and can generate returns for shareholders.

Profitability is not the same as cash flow; unprofitable businesses are not necessarily losing money or at risk of going bankrupt. But it is a valid measure to consider when evaluating the merits of a particular business model – eventually, a business needs to make money.

Open article: Profitability as Proxy for a Healthy Business Model — Mike DelPrete - Real Estate Tech Strategist by mikedp.com • 1 min read

Profitability as Proxy for a Healthy Business Model — Mike DelPrete - Real Estate Tech Strategist

If you could pick the top things that would tank a sales team - what would you pick?  
 
1 - Managing everyone the same. 
 
2 - Not having a mechanism to manage your pipeline (read this as lack of basic tools to do your job - i.e., CRM etc...). 
 
3 - Lack of training. 
 
4 - An incentive program that doesn’t promote the activities and results you want? 
 
5 - No accountability or follow through 
 
6 - Unrealistic goals 
 
7 - No clearly defined sales process 
 
What takes the cake?   

How can a CRM tool help manage a sales pipeline?

San Diego Peeps - I have a few opportunities in Sales that are coming up.  

If you know someone hungry, humble and smart we'd love to talk with them. 

Please reach out. 

Lucas Pepi

What are the duties of a sales professional?

90 day plans are magic 
 
There are three components of the 90 day plan:  
 
1 - Results I wanted to get after the 90 days was up.  I was in sales so commission was a big one for me, but it can be any measurable result 
 
2 - What I was going do DO to get the results.  Can’t get in shape if you don’t go to the gym.  These are the habits I needed to do or create to get the results I wanted.  
 
3 - Who were the people I would work with to get the results?  This could be prospects, could be my manager or mentor; who in this period would I lean into to help me get the results I wanted or hold me accountable to the habits I committed to.  
 
More details and a link to the 90 day plan is in this post I just released:

Open article: Goal Setting is a Skill by open.substack.com • 2 min read

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