Why Galbreath Costner Chose Qualia as Their Enterprise Title Solution

About

[Galbreath Costner](https://nelsongalbreath.com/), a law firm based in Greenville, South Carolina, specializes in builder, residential, and commercial real estate transactions. They operate in several different markets across the Carolinas and Georgia and initially switched to Qualia in 2022. In 2024, Galbreath Costner was in the midst of a merger with another firm that used SoftPro as their title production software (TPS). The combined firms wanted to move forward with a single solution to meet their needs, so they needed to choose between the two systems, both of which were deeply entrenched in the different business units. Since they had both software solutions in-house, Galbreath Costner was in the unique position of being able to compare the software head-to-head—and ultimately chose Qualia.

Challenge

Galbreath Costner wanted a future-facing technology partner to help them achieve their goals of optimizing their workflows and positioning their business for growth, particularly for the 1,000+ builder transactions they closed each month. They wanted to implement a modern technology that allowed their team to focus on providing the best possible customer service to their clients. **Infrequent Technology Updates** As Dan Portone, Chief Operating Officer and Partner at Galbreath Costner, considered choosing between SoftPro and Qualia, he knew that the firm needed to select a forward-thinking technology partner who prioritized continuous improvements like software updates, automations, and artificial intelligence (AI). “We kept running into features that Qualia has that we really wished SoftPro had—like auto-generated emails that could be sent at certain times—and didn’t feel like they were taking active steps to close those gaps in automation and artificial intelligence,” said Portone. “In our experience, SoftPro did a few updates a year, some years more than others, and they outsourced AI to other software vendors rather than building it into the title production system,” he added. **Disconnected Systems** Employees at Galbreath Costner worked across multiple systems, including automated clearing software for reconciliations, various client communication portals, a wire verification tool, and an AI-specific software tool, none of which were built into their core system of record. “It’s just a lot of different places that people had to go to and different tools they had to learn how to use,” said Portone. He added, “We wanted to consolidate all of that into one intuitive system.” **Poor User Experiences** Galbreath Costner needed the ability for multiple employees to work in the same file simultaneously, especially during the time-constrained post-closing stage, in order to avoid user frustrations and closing delays.

Solution

**Onboarding and Support Resources for a Successful Transition** “Onboarding with Qualia was a good experience,” said Portone. “It took us about four months from contract signing to getting all employees moved over. Of course, as with any software change, there were some bumps in the road. That’s going to happen any time you make a major operational change. In instances where we did encounter challenges, Qualia was right there to help us build out our workflows and work through the issue.” Reliable customer support, training modules in Qualia University, and support articles in the Knowledge Base helped users navigate the software transition with ease. Said Portone, “We didn’t wait for weeks to hear back from customer support. It’s been great.” **Weekly Product Updates** Continuous product updates give Portone confidence that Galbreath Costner chose the right technology partner to help them maintain their competitive edge and future-proof their business. “Qualia updates its software weekly with new features. I log in every Tuesday morning to read the release notes and see what’s new,” said Portone. “I like the fact that I have a close relationship with the product team, and they’re great at listening to feedback and building the features that are most important to customers.”

**Consolidation of Systems from Five to One** The migration to Qualia streamlined processes across the business, reducing the reliance on maintaining multiple systems. Instead of navigating multiple tools, Galbreath Costner employees now work primarily in Qualia. “As we’re integrating all the different built-in tools and features, we’re seeing significant improvements in time savings,” said Portone. What’s more, by transitioning software, Galbreath Costner was able to consolidate their tech stack from multiple systems down to one, reducing their overall costs.

**Over 160 Hours Saved Per Month** Said Portone, “Our goal was to create easy workflows that new employees could plug into, without needing to remember specific tasks or manually create specific documents.” Using Qualia Smart Actions and workflows, Galbreath Costner was able to set up automated emails, document sharing, and task triggers. This made it easier for employees to onboard and consistently follow standard procedures. In particular, the firm has seen significant efficiency gains as a result of implementing Qualia Shield and working with a [Qualia Bank Partner](https://www.qualia.com/banks/). By eliminating the need to rekey wire instructions from their TPS to the bank portal, employees in the funding department save 10 minutes per file, which adds up to over 160 hours per month. “We’ve gained massive amounts of efficiency with the banking integration,” said Portone. “That has been life-changing for our funding and wire team.”

Results

By embracing a comprehensive and user-friendly title production system, Galbreath Costner is not only improving internal workflows but also enhancing service delivery to their clients. The company’s time savings using the bank integration alone saves them 160 hours, the equivalent of a full-time employee. The improved efficiency translates to faster and smoother transactions, positioning Galbreath Costner as a leader in real estate closings. Galbreath Costner remains committed to optimizing productivity and refining their workflows with Qualia. As they continue to take advantage of Qualia’s capabilities, they are well-positioned to adapt to future demands and technological advancements in the real estate industry. Portone's endorsement encapsulates the firm's experience, saying “Qualia is definitely the easiest title production system that I've had the experience of working in. If you’re a small title company or a large title company, Qualia is going to be really hard to beat out-of-the-box.”