That was very well said, Scott. And, thank you for clarifying the comment about SOT.
I would add one more thing... abstractors should NOT be promising turn-around times. I'm sure they ONLY reason they do is because they blindly sign the vendor agreement prepared by the vendors. There are many factors that impact turn-around time. (i.e. fluctuations in volume of business, complexities of the search, illness of an abstractor, etc.) These clients somehow think that we keep searches in inventory just waiting for someone to order them. Obviously, we can't do the search until the order is received and nobody can predict what factors may be present months after a Vendor Agreement is signed.
Turn-around times are estimates, or averages. Much like the "distribution curve" that Mr. Robinson uses to describe "many [abstractors] in SOT are below average," turn-around time should be evaluated on a similar curve. If the abstractor estimates a turn-around time, most of his searches should be completed in that time frame. However, there will be some outliers - some will be early and some will be late, but most should be in the stated time frame. But, those clients that use Vendor Agreements that seek to hold the abstractor to absolutes want to penalize the abstractor for a late search regardless of how many are completed on-time, or early.
The problem isn't with the abstractor - its with the Vendor Agreements. Regardless of the actual turn-around time, the abstractor should be entitled to their full fee. They did the work and they should be paid for it. If there are too many late orders, then there may be a problem with the abstractor and the client should find someone else. If the abstractor is doing a good job and providing a reliable search which is on time in most cases, then why would the client want to penalize them? More importantly, why would an abstractor want to work with a client like that - as my most recent blog post states, we don't sign such agreements (see I Don't Think So... But Thanks For Asking).
Best,
Robert A. Franco
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