How WFG National Title Insurance Company Achieved Industry Leadership with Profit.co’s OKR Framework

Introduction

In just 15 years, WFG National Title Insurance Company has become a top-five player in the highly regulated title insurance industry by focusing on a single guiding principle: Everything is built around the client. Whether you’re buying, selling, or advising in real estate, WFG’s mission is to make the closing process seamless and stress-free. Driven by client-centered innovation and powered by OKRs, WFG continuously refines the real estate experience, setting new standards in transparency, efficiency, and service.

Justin Tucker, EVP and Director of Strategic Initiatives at WFG National Title Insurance company

Justin Tucker has been with WFG since the beginning, joining as the fourth employee when the company was just a vision sketched on yellow legal pads. Over the past 15 years, he’s held various roles from Chief Marketing Officer to launching WFG’s core tech platform, MyHome®. Now, as EVP and Director of Strategic Initiatives, Justin leads WFG’s vision and strategy, helping the company expand to 49 states and become one of six national underwriters in the title insurance industry. With a focus on proactive protection, WFG ensures a seamless, secure experience for every real estate transaction, embodying a preventive approach to title insurance.

An Interview with Justin Tucker

Justin, “how did OKRs come into play at WFG, and what sparked the change?”

Justin, “Our industry is competitive and highly regulated, so standing out on product or price isn’t easy. When we launched in 2010, the tough market actually opened opportunities many competitors were complacent and focused inwardly. At first, we used traditional, once-a-year goal-setting, but 10 years in, growth started to flatten. Our CEO Steve Ozonian suggested we switch to OKRs for greater transparency and regular alignment.”

“With little OKR experience, I dug into resources like Measure What Matters. Now, four years in, we’re seeing a real impact. Profit.co has been instrumental in helping us to get organized and grow, both in terms of the platform and their expertise.”

Justin’s 3-Step Journey with OKRs

How did you bring the team on board and ensure alignment across levels?

“It was a learning process! Initially, we took a ‘crawl-walk-run’ approach.In year one, we kept OKRs at the top level our executive and business line leaders and managed everything through Excel and PowerPoint. It wasn’t ideal no shared space, no transparency.”

“In year two, we took OKRs to the next level and then started seriously considering systems. I demoed at least ten different platforms before we landed on Profit.co. That added the transparency and accountability we needed and let us standardize how OKRs were written and aligned across the business.”

“By year three, we expanded OKRs to include our sales and operations managers. Now, we have a solid hierarchy and structure for OKRs across the company. As a result of using OKRs, we’ve had four straight years of growth and market share gains.”

How did OKRs help WFG prioritize initiatives and adapt to constant changes in a dynamic market?

“The key word here is adapt. Our world shifts quickly, sometimes in totally unexpected ways. For example, at the start of COVID, we thought the market would drop, so we planned to manage expenses and streamline operations. But when demand skyrocketed we had more orders than we could handle and struggled to staff up quickly.”

“The dynamic nature of OKRs was invaluable here. With monthly reviews, we could constantly look for signals and adjust fast. Unlike static business plans, OKRs allow us to be flexible. If a priority needs to change, we can move an OKR up or defer it without losing momentum.”

“Our CX (customer experience) focus requires us to stay agile, simplify processes, and empower not replace relationships through technology. Thanks to OKRs, we’ve navigated both extremes: a high-demand market with restricted branch access and then a tight market with rising rates and fewer sales. OKRs enabled us to pivot effectively, and I believe our recent successes wouldn’t have been possible without them.”

How did WFG’s five cornerstone values shape your OKR journey, and how did they translate into specific objectives?

“Our values truly serve as our North Star, guiding decisions and actions based on a core belief system. Our founder Pat Stone envisioned WFG as a more client-centric company, participating in the client’s process rather than dictating it.”

WFG’s Five Cornerstone Values

• Everything we do is because of you
• Take time and cost out of the real estate process
• Communicate, Collaborate, and Coexist (The Three C’s)
• Obsess about service
• Reimagine the customer experience

“When we set OKRs, they’re not just goals but reflections of these ideals. Each OKR must ask,‘Does it help us reduce time and cost?’ ‘Does it improve communication?'”

“Are we truly reimagining the experience?’ This approach keeps us aligned with our values, ensuring we live by them, not just talk about them. It’s what makes our culture authentic and gives us a competitive edge.”

How do you balance long-term and short-term goals when setting OKRs? Please give us some examples.

“Balancing both is essential. Our CEO is famous for asking. ‘Who are we, who do we want to be, and how do we get there?’ For us, OKRs are the roadmap for ‘how we get there.’ We have larger, strategic ‘boulders’ that might take two to three years to achieve, and shorter-term ‘heartbeats’ that give us momentum along the way. We traditionally set OKRs a year out, revisiting them each quarter, but for our longer-term goals, we define them as value statements rather than OKRs, checking in yearly on progress.”

Examples of Short-term and Long-term Goals

• Short-term Goal (Heartbeat): Increase Market Share

  “While we can’t control market conditions, we can influence our share. We set clear, measurable market share objectives across business lines and track them monthly and quarterly to ensure we’re on the right trajectory.”

• Long-Term Goal (Boulder): Build and Grow the MyHome® Platform

  “MyHome is a consumer portal that allows clients to track their real estate transactions, much like tracking a package on Amazon or an Uber ride. This long-term goal has OKRs focused on product development milestones, user adoption rates, and feature enhancements. These shorter-term OKRs contribute to the bigger vision, making our customer experience more transparent and connected.”

Employee engagement can be a challenge when implementing OKRs. How did you tackle this at WFG?

“Justin,“Honestly, we had to take that first step, even if it wasn’t perfect. The saying, ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,’ applies here. We began with a simple setup, knowing we could improve and refine it over time. Starting small allowed us to gather feedback and adapt quickly.”

• Getting Executive Buy-in

  “Getting executive buy-in was key. With leadership endorsing the vision and aligning with the company’s goals, it made it easier to motivate the teams and demonstrate that OKRs were a strategic priority.”

• Moving to OKRs

  “Moving to OKRs from traditional planning can be a big shift, especially for people used to detailed business plans. We partnered with OKR experts, like the team at Profit.co, to hold interactive training sessions. This helped department heads and other leaders reframe their goals into OKR format, focusing on clear, qualitative objectives and measurable results.”

• Creating Transparency

  “Transparency was huge. We quickly realized isolated tools like PowerPoint and Excel weren’t effective for OKRs. Switching to a shared OKR platform allowed teams to see each other’s goals and progress, improving visibility and increasing accountability across the board.”

• Gamifying the Process

  “Using the OKR tool from Profit.co, we ‘gamified’ the process. Employees received monthly notifications to update their OKRs, and the platform displayed visual progress indicators, which made it rewarding to see the ‘needle’ move. It’s like tracking steps on a fitness app people are motivated when they see progress in real-time.”

• Regular Reporting

  “We regularly report OKR progress to the entire company, which creates a sense of public accountability. When everyone can see how each department or individual contributes to broader goals, it reinforces their work’s importance and keeps OKRs in mind.”

  “Engagement and process improvements will grow over time. We learned and iterated each cycle, making the system more sophisticated and aligned with our goals. OKRs aren’t static; they evolve as you and your team grow.”

How did OKRs help transparency at WFG?

“Transparency wasn’t typical in our industry. OKRs changed that by making each department’s priorities visible. For example, our corporate teams now share their top OKRs, so market teams understand that resource limitations are about priorities, not lack of support. Transparency created empathy between teams, helping them see how each department’s goals contribute to the bigger vision. Now, we have far less friction and stronger collaboration.”

How do you differentiate between committed and aspirational (stretch) OKRs at WFG?

“Great question! In our planning, we use ‘pillar OKRs’ and ‘unique OKRs.’ Pillar OKRs are standard goals across all our markets, like targets for market share, recruiting, and productivity. Each market also has unique OKRs tailored to their specific needs.”

“We handle committed versus aspirational OKRs within the OKRs themselves. For instance, a market might have a committed growth goal of 2%, with a stretch goal set at 2.5%. This way, the stretch component is integrated into the committed OKRs.”

“At the top level, we set broader aspirational OKRs big, ambitious goals that are challenging but drive innovation. For example, we’re working on a post-closing initiative to keep connected with customers long after a transaction, which is complex and highly aspirational. This approach allows flexibility for stretch goals within committed OKRs at the team level while keeping ambitious goals at the top.”

How did OKRs help WFG maintain agility and track progress throughout the year?

“That’s one of my favorite parts of our OKR strategy. With our old business planning, we’d create long documents, tuck them away, and hope for the best by year’s end. Now, OKRs give us a clear cadence. Every month, team members check in on their OKRs, and we hold an all-hands meeting to review progress. On the corporate side, we also have a smaller ‘Red, Yellow, Green’ meeting, where key stakeholders share updates on their top OKRs.”

“This monthly check-in lets us see what’s ‘green’ (on track), ‘yellow’ (at risk), or ‘red’ (in trouble). If something’s in the red, we decide whether to reallocate resources, adjust priorities, or defer goals. This regular touchpoint is invaluable; it keeps us flexible and allows us to make timely adjustments instead of waiting until the end of the year to evaluate success. This cadence is where the magic happens it keeps us connected, adaptable, and on course.”

How do you tie these short-term objectives to WFG’s long-term vision?

“We use market share as a prime example. While we set a yearly goal for market share, we break it down into smaller, quarterly targets. So if our annual goal is to gain 1% market share, each quarter’s target is 0.25%. This way, we’re tracking progress in manageable steps. Quarterly OKRs prevent the goal from feeling abstract and help us stay on course with our long-term vision, adjusting as needed along the way.”

What’s your process for ‘reflect and reset’ OKRs?

“’Reflect and reset’ captures it perfectly. We review each OKR that wasn’t achieved and challenge our initial assumptions. First, we ensure that the OKRs were realistic and identify any roadblocks that might have affected progress. Then we ask, ‘Did something else take priority? Was there a misjudgment in what we thought would happen? Should this OKR be deferred or revised?’”

“This process opens up a dialogue with the OKR owner and key stakeholders to understand what happened. We then decide, ‘Do we reset this OKR for the next quarter, revise it, or even drop it?’ This reflection ensures that we’re not just setting OKRs, but actively learning and adjusting to improve alignment and execution in each new cycle.”

What was your check-in frequency for OKRs? Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?

“We do monthly check-ins. Many of our KPIs, like market share, financials, and productivity metrics, update monthly, so this cadence aligns well for reviewing progress and making adjustments as needed.”

How do monthly check-ins and visual tracking help keep everyone on track and reduce surprises at the end of the quarter?

“A big part of our process is the monthly check-in, where we review our OKRs and KPI progress. Along with these meetings, we use Profit.co’s ‘cockpit’ feature, which gives a clear snapshot of our OKR progress across the entire company. I compile this into a monthly deck sent to all stakeholders, showing how many objectives and key results are completed, on track, at risk, or in trouble.”

“This broad perspective helps us become aware of issues early, allowing us to address them promptly. It also allows us to catch potential issues early so we can address them proactively rather than reacting at the quarter’s end. It’s been a game-changer for keeping everyone engaged and focused.”

How do you ensure the visibility of OKR achievements across individual, team, and company levels, and how do you keep the importance of these goals top-of-mind?

“Justin,”Visibility and consistent communication are key. We use Profit.co’s visualization tools to track progress, which provides everyone with a clear view of individual, team, and company achievements. Additionally, we maintain a regular cadence of monthly check-ins, all-hands meetings, and a monthly recap of company-wide OKR progress. By making OKRs a monthly priority, we emphasize their importance, ensuring they stay top-of-mind and driving engagement across the company. Regularly highlighting OKR progress keeps everyone aligned and focused on our shared goals.”

What challenges did you face using spreadsheets and manual tools for OKR tracking, and how did you go about selecting a tool to overcome these challenges?

“Justin, “Honestly, I realized right away that using PowerPoint, Word, and spreadsheets for OKR tracking wasn’t going to cut it.”

Here’s what we were up against:

• No Shared Space: “Since these weren’t shared spaces, we’d have different versions going around. I’d be working on one PowerPoint, someone else would update another, and we’d end up with mismatches. Then, if someone messed up the template, I’d have to clean it up. It was overwhelming.”

• It Was Hard to Pull Data Together: “Whenever our CEO wanted an overarching update, I’d have to dig through multiple files to put everything together. It was a hassle, and I remember thinking, ‘I’m not doing this again next year.’”

• Limited Customization: “We track specific metrics, like ‘open files per employee’ or ‘closed files per employee,’ and we use our own terminology, like aiming for ‘Diamond’ and ‘Platinum’ clients. We needed a system to let us speak in our language and easily track our unique KPIs.”

Choosing a Tool:

“I made it one of my OKRs to find a system to manage all this. Here’s what I focused on.”

• Customization and Flexibility: “We needed something that could handle our industry-specific terms and metrics so it felt like a natural fit for us.”
• Ease of Use: “The system had to be simple to use. I didn’t want something so complex that people would stop using it over time.”
• Simple Reporting: “We needed a one-click option to create presentations. That way, we could quickly generate reports for investors or communicate with our teams without pulling data from 10 different places.”
• Implementation and Testing: “We went with Profit.co. It was not only flexible but also the easiest system we found. I pulled together a small beta team to test it and see if they liked it, and their feedback was positive.”

“Profit.co made it simple for us to stay on top of our OKRs and avoid the burnout of managing everything manually. If I could go back, I’d start with a system from day one instead of trying to do it all manually.”

How did using Profit.co make your monthly review meetings more data-driven and effective?

Justin, “Using Profit.co has completely transformed our monthly reviews. Now, everyone exports their OKR hierarchy into PowerPoint for review, giving us a clear, consolidated view. But even more valuable is the real-time access I have daily. I can open Profit.co, jump into anyone’s OKRs, and instantly see their progress. This shared space with up-to-date check-ins and historical data lets me have direct, data-driven conversations about their needs, adjustments, or support. This level of insight simply wouldn’t be possible with PowerPoint and Word docs alone.”

What freedom do WFG managers have to suggest OKR revisions? Is it entirely top-down, or can they push back?

Justin, “At WFG, our OKR process is both top-down and bottom-up. We recognize that managers are experts in their areas, so we value communication, collaboration, and coexistence; in keeping with our core values. Managers can suggest the best approach to their OKRs, shaping how we achieve overarching goals like market share, recruitment, and productivity.”

“We have ‘pillar’ OKRs – – essential objectives everyone needs to meet. However, we also have ‘unique’ OKRs, where managers create goals based on their market needs. This balance lets them apply local insights, like tailoring objectives differently for Portland versus Orange County, while staying aligned with WFG’s broader strategy. It’s collaborative, ensuring both accountability and flexibility.”

How do you encourage regular check-ins for OKRs when people might feel it’s taking time away from their core work?

Justin, “It’s a common challenge. We wanted check-ins to be easy and valuable, not another burdensome. Profit.co’s platform helped us with this because it’s so visual and user-friendly. I’d remind people that providing updates is essential and ask if they’d prefer a long email or simply sliding a few progress bars and adding brief notes. This way, updates are concise and create a record we can refer to.”

“We also keep OKRs manageable: Typically, each person has three to five objectives, each with three to five key results. So, updating should take about 15 minutes. I encourage them to do it thoroughly to have meaningful conversations afterward.”

“Check-ins aren’t just about accountability, they’re a chance to celebrate wins. With these updates, we can recognize achievements, express gratitude, and show appreciation. It’s just as important as the accountability aspect.”

Have you integrated OKRs and goals into your employee performance management process at WFG?

“Justin, “We haven’t started using Profit.co’s built-in review feature yet, but OKRs are already closely tied to our performance management through discretionary bonuses. This means employees have clear goals tied to potential bonuses, and if a shift in priorities means an OKR cannot be completed, we won’t penalize them for that.”

“OKRs also play a huge role in employee fulfillment. You often hear employees say they lack clear communication or feedback or are unsure of what’s expected of them. OKRs solve this by providing clear, measurable goals so employees know exactly what success looks like. It works both ways. It helps leaders manage progress effectively and gives employees the clarity they need to feel satisfied and motivated in their roles.”

How did WFG meet its long-term objectives, like building brand or customer trust?

“Justin, “Profit.co is a big part of our toolkit, but it’s not the only system we use. We have continuous feedback loops, like a feedback management system, tracking metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), and customer satisfaction scores. The brand is what others perceive it to be, so we rely on ongoing customer feedback to ensure we’re aligned with their expectations.”

“OKRs help us reach long-term goals by breaking them down into manageable, short-term steps. Say we have an ambitious brand goal, we can create incremental objectives that help us build toward it, bit by bit.”

What are the top three ways OKRs have contributed to WFG’s success, helping the company achieve impressive milestones like operating in 49 states and becoming a top-six player?

Justin, “OKRs brought three essential things to WFG that were game-changers:

1. Organization: “OKRs helped us get our operations organized, moving from scattered silos to a cohesive structure. This framework allowed us to see and manage everything in a unified way.”

2. Transparency: “With OKRs, each department could view and understand what other parts of the organization were focusing on, making it clear how their own objectives lined up with WFG’s bigger vision. This alignment was key for collaboration and focus.”

3. Data-Driven Progress: “OKRs equipped us with concrete data to measure whether or not We were hitting our targets or needed to make adjustments. This level of insight ensured we could course-correct as needed and stay on track toward our goals.”

“These three pillars – – organization, transparency, and data – – were crucial to our growth and progress. Without them, reaching our milestones would have been far more challenging.”

Conclusion

WFG National Title Insurance Company’s journey with OKRs and Profit.co highlights the transformative power of structured goal-setting in a complex, highly regulated industry. By focusing on client-centered values, transparency, and agile adaptation, WFG has achieved impressive growth and alignment across teams. Through the effective use of OKRs, they’ve created a culture of accountability, data-driven decisions, and continuous improvement, allowing WFG to thrive in a rapidly changing market.