Today's Conveyancer Podcast

This latest Today's Conveyancer podcast welcomes Chris Harris on to discuss the current state of the conveyancing market and the challenges firms face in harnessing technology to make transactions run smoother. Familiar to many, Chris has been in and around the conveyancing profession for a number of years as a practicing solicitor and a panel manager and in 2011 he founded Lawyer Checker before selling to Dye & Durham in 2021. His latest venture is a tool to help conveyancers better deal with enquiries. 

Enquiries has been a major issue for conveyancers in recent years, with many taking to social media to highlight the practice of raising lengthy and at times unnecessary enquiries which serve to delay the transaction. Indeed, says Chris, too many times it appears that we delay the transaction more by arguing over who is going to answer the query rather than going to get the answer in the first place. There is, he says, a fundamental lack of collaboration. 

And who is driving the increase in enquiries? Is it consumers taking a more active role in their home move and asking more questions about the property (and what role does the estate agent play in answering some of those questions). Or is it conveyancers ensuring they are covering their responsibilities with one eye on PII? 

For Chris, AI and automation could be a part of the solution. We are already seeing increasingly useful tools being developed which makes sense of data which is held in a standard format and can be transmitted between firms in a uniform way. 

Chris cites examples such auto-report builders and post completion technology which take structured information and present it back to us in a helpful and usable format. 

But there are plenty of examples in conveyancing of unstructured data; words on a page without any ability to extract and process individual points.  He points specifically to enquiries where conveyancers will often receive emails raising a list of queries with no way of standardising information contained. 

This is where AI and NLP (Natural Language Processing) might have a role to play in reading these emails, identifying the queries and creating task lists; in the fullness of time, these tools will be able to fulfil the enquiry. For example if a buyer's conveyancer raises an enquiry for a copy of the EPC, automation has the ability to read it, go off and search the EPC Register, and return the result without any intervention explains Chris. 

In a fascinating discussion Chris explains that we are only just scratching the surface of what AI has the ability to do in conveyancing and warns firms that unless they are embracing the technology coming down the line, they may get left behind.  

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

On the latest Today's Conveyancer host David Opie is joined by Karen Babington to talk about her latest business venture Valafy. Karen has a wealth of experience in the property sector starting out in sales in marketing at a regional lender before moving on to work in and with law firms and panel managers (selling her own panel Easier2Move to MyHomeMove in 2010). Until recently Karen was Commercial Director at LawyerChecker before its sales to Dye & Durham in 2021.  

Valafy says it will tell conveyancing business owners what they need to know about their business and their wider external environment in order to plan ahead.

 "As a business owner" says Karen, " what do you want to know?" 

"You want to know if you're charging at the right level; you want to know how efficient you are; you want to know if you're paying your people correctly."

The business will formally launch in April 2023 with a questionnaire and subsequent report designed to provide conveyancers with "actionable business insights." 

The questionnaire is designed to drill into detail around charges and costs to help firms achieve better profit margins, and benchmark the efficiency of the business. 

The questionnaire will inform a report which sets out to provide real-time information about their external environment to enable comparisons with peers. The first report is planned to be released  in May 2023.

Once the first conveyancing report has been completed the plan, says Karen, is to look at other areas of law, and the wider business community where this data isn't readily available. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

The Today's Conveyancer Podcast welcomes Mike Stainsby, Commercial Director at Conveyancer Insights on this week to discuss how conveyancing firms can use data and insight to drive better sales performance

With 25 years service in and around the property market Mike brings a wealth of experience to the discussion which focuses on using data and insight to enable better decision making. 

Mike's own research yields some revealing statistics for conveyancing professionals. Indeed some consumer research carried out by Conveyancer Insights identified that 27% of respondents to a survey didn't even know what conveyancing was; 

The results lead Mike to challenge firms around how they are presenting themselves online to prospective clients. Are their website consumer friendly, have they considered review platforms, what does their sales funnel and process look like. 

An extensive mystery shopping exercise revealed that just 10% of online enquiries were followed up by phone by the firm and 7% of firms didn't send a promised quote. 

Pressed on the use of tools like online quote calculators Mike points to a statistic that there are 3.8m shift workers in the UK who are frequently unavailable to make contact during standard office hours; so why aren't firms using the tools available to them to capture these interested parties?

The research also reveals that 2/3rd of firms are not tracking their quotes and conversions, and simply don't know their pipeline or conversion rates.  There is, says Mike, considerable room for improvement. 

"Ultimately we have to move away from those gut feel decisions and enable us as businesses to make informed decisions based on empirical evidence and fact" says Mike. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

The latest Today's Conveyancer podcast is an extended edition as part of National Conveyancing Week 2023. 

Host David Opie is joined by a panel of professionals from across the conveyancing sector to discuss the increasingly complex world of property due diligence and searches. 

• Andrew Prismall, Chair of the Association of Independent Search Agents
• James Sherwood-Rogers, Independent Chair of the Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO)
• Chris Loaring, Managing Director, Landmark Legal and founding member of the Conveyancing Information Executive (CIE)
• Laura Burkinshaw, Head of Legal Practice, Convey Law and member of Bold Legal Group
• Simon Law, Head of Legal Practice DC Law & JS Law and Chair, Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC)

In a previous podcast we have discussed the inclusion of climate change data as "the straw that breaks the camel's back" as conveyancers are expected to report on an increasing range of potential environmental and physical factors that could affect the property which they are for the mostpart untrained to do.

There is understandable push back and in this podcast we discuss the current position of practitioners and data providers, as well as explore some of the history behind property data and searches to help us understand how we've got the position we have; with searches containing upwards of 40-50 pages of content. 

The discussion focuses on the current direction of travel and explores views on technology, accessing live data rather than snippets in time and the ability to refresh information, product roadmaps for the data providers, and the issue of climate change. 

Listen in to this entertaining podcast to hear the panel's views. 

National Conveyancing Week is an initiative designed to raise the profile of the conveyancing profession in the home moving industry. From 20th-24th March 2023 a series of on and offline events will showcase the work of the profession and encourage collaboration across the home moving community. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In this latest Today’s Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie is joined by Simon Brown and Ben Marley,  CEO and Commercial Director of review specialists The ESTAS to discuss the ins and out of review platforms. 

Increasingly review and recommendation platforms dominate many of our buying decisions. Think about booking.com and TripAdvisor for holidays,  Facebook and LinkedIn for recommendations,  and of course Google reviews for many of our day-to-day consumer needs. 

And it is increasingly on the agenda for our regulators, whose efforts to create greater transparency has resulted in the requirement to provide more information around fees on our websites. Indeed falling foul of these regulatory responsibilities will land you with financial penalties. 

So why hasn't the legal sector bought in to review platforms in the same way that, for example, the estate agency sector has; where 70-80% of estate agents are now using at least one online review platform. For conveyancers, review platforms remain a "nice to have" rather than a necessity. 

Providing their insight into this conundrum Simon and Ben share some frightening statistics which should encourage practitioners to  consider the potential impact on their business.

• Only 1 in 4 verbal recommendations result in direct contact 
• 70% of a consumer’s buying decision has already been made before they contact you because of the availability of online due diligence. 

Listen in to this entertaining discussion to explore more about the real truth of review platforms. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

The Today's Conveyancer podcast welcomes Clare Yates to the latest episode to discuss the art of communication and client relationship management. Clare is a communications and sales trainer with experience in both the estate agency and conveyancing sectors, bringing cross-sector experience to the discussion. 

At a time when transaction volumes will normalise and the profession will have to go out and win work again, Clare discusses how client relationship management starts in the very first client interaction.

 Challenged on how conveyancers can set out their stall to truly differentiate their service offering Clare reminds us that every transaction is a human story, and that treating it as such should be paramount to professionals.

Whatever the situation, whether it's an exciting dream home move, a sale due to separation or divorce, or the sale of a loved one's property, conveyancers specialise in helping people people move in and move on. For so many, the initial conversation is a real deal-breaker if the conveyancer gets it wrong. 

Alongside the importance of the maintenance of this relationship ("plan our calls so that calls don't plan our day") Clare goes on to talk about her experience of working with firms to improve their communication ("no update is an update"/ "speak in a language clients understand") and how firms need to be training staff to better deal with difficult clients.   

Clare also discusses the differences between the relationship between the client and their estate agent, and the client and their conveyancer; a source of frustration for many conveyancers who are often left to pick up the pieces of broken promises made without the conveyancer's agreement, and estate agent's understanding of the nuances of the legal process.

With a raft of anecdotes drawn from her experience as a trainer with estate agents and conveyancers, Clare brings a healthy dose of realism and practicality to the discussion. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

This week's Today's Conveyancer podcast features a topical discussion about the growing complexity of conveyancing, and the expectations consumers, estate agents, lenders and brokers as to the role of the conveyancer. 

Is it fair, or right, that we face calls to add to the wealth of due diligence we already undertake? How can we be expected to be legal experts one minute, environmental scientists the next, and climate change soothsayers all in the same day?

This "mission creep" is evident in, for example, the increasingly non-legal special conditions in mortgage instructions; should it be the solicitor's responsibility to provide a buildings insurance certificate, or credit cards are paid off before completion?

Tackling the issue is Philip Armstrong, Managing Partner of Armstrong Solicitors. Philip contends that to expect conveyancers to understand all the complexities of the home move is unrealistic, and not unlike something like a medical procedure, there are various moving parts each with their own specialist required to ensure the safety of the patient. 

In Philip's view home movers need at least 2 specialists in their corner to advise on the transaction. The conveyancing practitioner for the legal and reserved work, and a surveyor for the building/structural/environmental risks.

As Philip says

However, according to a RICS report in 2020, only 22% of purchasers instruct their own survey.

Listen in to this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast to hear this thought-provoking and important discussion in full.

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

The latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast welcomes industry expert Kate Faulkner OBE to deliver her verdict on the current state of the property market, the ills of the home moving process, ROPA, Up front information and the work being done by the Home Buying and Selling Group to improve the experience for all.

Since starting her career in food Kate has since become a respected commentator and consumer champion in the property industry. She has launched a property portal, worked in relocation, part exchange and new build and now runs a communications agency, helping consumers with their property projects. 

Kate delivers a typically honest appraisal of the current state of the market ("the truth is, we don't know"), regulation of estate agency ("I am shouting from the rooftops we have to regulate estate agents. Everybody around the agents is regulated in some form or another, so we need to tick that box) and progress on some of the initiatives launched by the Home Buying and Selling Group ("we need mandation to make further progress")

But she is buoyant about the progress to date and fervently believes that change is coming. Discussing the work done previously she says she doesn't believe in missed opportunities, rather that the timing wasn't right. 

"We’re in the right time (now), we’ve got the right people, we are making changes to the home buying a selling process that we couldn’t do before. You learn why it didn’t happen and you put it right."

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast host David Opie is joined by Richard Hinton. Known to many for his years in marketing and business development in the legal services sector, both in house and as a supplier, Richard discusses the “vacuum of market intelligence” that conveyancers face when it comes to using data to drive their businesses forward.

Despite a blip during Covid where the number of firms increased to cope with demands, the home moving industry continues to see a contraction in the number of practices undertaking conveyancing work. The larger firms are getting larger as smaller ones exit no doubt because of the increasing risk and PI premiums.

"It's ironic," says Richard, "lawyers train to eradicate risk and rely on certainty, and yet as leaders of conveyancing businesses, we're making decisions on conjecture and gut feel. "

Conveyancers need to be able to use data to drill into their relative position in their geographic. They need to be able to understand what their opportunities are. If they are thinking about a new marketing campaign or a new office what is the competition and what is the strength of the referral market, particularly estate agents as an example. 

Data is also a powerful sales tool; enabling firms to demonstrate their expertise in a particular type of property, tenure, or location; and highlighting transaction speeds and turnarounds. 

Powered by TwentyCi who have extensive experience in the estate agency market, TwentyConvey has been launched to provide more quantitative and qualitative insight into the property market. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast host David Opie is joined by Martin MacDuff, founder of Redbrick Solutions, to discuss case management systems, practice management systems and technology.

Are conveyancers more reliant on case management workflows than ever before? With experienced conveyancers leaving the industry, how much do we have a "computer says no" culture and how much does case management facilitate that? 

Or does case management help by segmenting conveyancing work efficiently so that each stage is completed by subject specialists?

Alongside this, and the consolidation of the market over the past couple of years, Martin discusses his thoughts on cloud vs on premise solutions and which works best for firms depending on their own infrastructure and requirements. 

Questioned on the level of investment firms should be thinking about when it comes to technology, Martin suggests that between 3-5% of turnover is best practice across their technology requirements. 

Despite the proliferation of technology, transactions continue to take longer. Martin acknowledges that case management has done much to improve the process internally for firms, but there is work to be done to provide a truly "digital conveyancing " process. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack