How We Build Abstracts for Landmen, Not Just Abstractors
For a long time, the standard workflow in abstracting looked like this: a client orders an abstract or runsheet. The abstractor produces it and delivers a package of documents. The client receives it, then hands it to someone on their team to organize the information into spreadsheets, create an index, and bookmark the documents so that a landman or attorney can actually work with the material.
That second step, the reformatting, added hours of work and additional cost to every single project. The information was accurate, but it wasn't usable in the form it arrived. Someone always had to touch it again before it could serve its purpose.
We decided to eliminate that step entirely.
The Problem with the Old Format
The traditional deliverable in this industry was a Word document index with numbered pages. If you were reviewing an abstract, you'd look at the index, see a document described on a particular line, then flip to the corresponding page number to find it. For a short file, that was manageable. For a complex lease with dozens of documents, it was slow and tedious.
The bigger issue was what happened after delivery. The client would receive the product, and then someone on their team had to reformat the entire thing into something the landman or attorney could work with efficiently. That meant building a new index in a spreadsheet, organizing the documents to correspond with it, and creating a system for moving through the file quickly. On a large project, that reformatting work could take hours per abstract or runsheet.
Clients were paying for the abstracting work itself, and then paying again in internal staff time to make the product functional.
Clients were paying for the abstracting work itself, and then paying again in internal staff time to make the product functional. That double-work dynamic was standard across the industry, and most people accepted it as just how things worked.
What We Changed
We rebuilt our deliverable format from the perspective of the people who actually use the product: landmen and attorneys.
A landman or attorney can pull up the index on one screen and the documents on the other, then move through the entire file by clicking through the bookmarks. The whole process works with a mouse.
Every abstract and runsheet we deliver now comes as a PDF with a corresponding spreadsheet index. The documents within the PDF are bookmarked, and those bookmarks correspond directly to the entries on the index. A landman or attorney can pull up the index on one screen and the documents on the other, then move through the entire file by clicking through the bookmarks. The whole process works with a mouse.
If you're reviewing a chain of title and want to see the actual assignment document where Party A transferred their interest to Party B, you find it on the index and click the corresponding bookmark. The document opens immediately. No flipping through pages, no searching through an unorganized stack of copies, no asking someone else to find it for you.
This format means there's no reformatting required on the client's end. When the deliverable arrives, it's ready to use. No one has to hand it to another team member to build an index or organize the documents. The product works for the end user from the moment it's delivered.
We didn't raise our prices to make this change. The deliverable costs the same as it did before. The difference is that clients no longer have to spend additional time and money making it usable.
Why Consistency Matters as Much as Format
Changing the format was only part of the solution. The other part was making sure every deliverable comes out the same way, every time.
When clients receive a product from us, there should never be a question about why this one looks different from the last one they ordered. The index structure, the bookmark organization, the chronological arrangement of documents, the way information is presented on the index, all of it follows the same approach on every order.
That consistency comes from having clearly defined roles in our production process. Each step in building an abstract or runsheet is assigned to a specific person, and that person handles that step on every order. Documents are always organized chronologically. The index always follows the same structure. Bookmarks always correspond to the index in the same way.
They learn the format once and then they know exactly how to work with every deliverable we send them. There's no learning curve on the second order, the third order, or the fiftieth.
This might sound like a small thing, but it matters for clients who order from us regularly. They learn the format once and then they know exactly how to work with every deliverable we send them. There's no learning curve on the second order, the third order, or the fiftieth.
Building for Scalability Without Sacrificing Quality
As our workload has grown, we've invested heavily in making sure our processes can scale without compromising the quality or consistency of the product.
The key to that scalability is that no single person is a bottleneck. We've structured our production process so that multiple team members are trained on every step involved in building an abstract or runsheet. If volume increases, we can bring additional capacity into the workflow without disrupting the quality of what gets delivered.
This matters for clients with large or time-sensitive projects. When someone calls and asks if we're busy, the answer is usually yes. We're always working on something. The follow-up is that we can still get their project out the door, because our processes are designed to absorb additional volume without everything grinding to a halt.
That kind of scalability only works when the underlying processes are clearly defined and consistently executed. If every team member handled things differently, adding more people would just add more variation. Because our approach is standardized, scaling up means doing more of the same thing that already works.
What This Means for Your Projects
When you order an abstract or runsheet from us, you get a deliverable that's ready for your landman or attorney to use immediately. No reformatting. No additional processing. No handing it off to someone else to make it functional.
The practical impact of all of this is straightforward. When you order an abstract or runsheet from us, you get a deliverable that's ready for your landman or attorney to use immediately. No reformatting. No additional processing. No handing it off to someone else to make it functional.
Your team can start reviewing the chain of title, verifying ownership, identifying issues, and making decisions the same day the product arrives. That speed matters when you're working against project deadlines, closing timelines, or acquisition windows.
The consistency means your team doesn't have to adjust to a different format on every order. They know exactly what they're getting and exactly how to work with it. That predictability reduces errors and saves time across every project.
Abstracting is all we do. We cover state and federal land records across New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. When you're ready to talk about your next project, give us a call.