In the month of love and storms, a brilliant union is announced.
This time last year, The Law Society announced that a number of leading organisations in the conveyancing profession had agreed to work together – known as “The Conveyancing Task Force” – to agree and discuss the reform and improvement of the conveyancing process for the benefit of consumers and lawyers alike.
Over the course of two years, the task force worked together to create terms of reference to help provide a way of working. It is no secret that the pandemic ameliorated the need for law firms to seek digital solutions as part of the transaction and onboarding process.
Two stalwarts of the profession, Eddie Goldsmith and Richard Mathias, have worked together to bring the perfect solution for the 21st century – finally! Here, they both chat about how their collaboration came to fruition.
Eddie – first of all, what was it that made you want to develop YouConvey?
As a conveyancer for over 40 years, I have naturally come across a lot of people in the conveyancing industry. Conveyancers, who are all hard-working folk, and of course suppliers to the industry – be it search providers or title indemnity companies – all play an equally important role. I have made friends with many (I do not think I have fallen out with too many), so when I decided to set up a new conveyancing service, it was natural for me to return to my roots and engage with both colleague conveyancers and suppliers.
What research did you do when looking for a partner to work with?
What I probably did not realise until I started on my process mapping journey was the number of companies now offering a multitude of innovative products to conveyancers to make their lives easier.
When I started out as a conveyancer, no one talked about onboarding clients. We opened a file and sent the clients a letter – no terms of business, no formal quote, and certainly no request for identification.
The letter was just to acknowledge that we were acting for them and to tell them we would be in touch when we needed to.
The world is so different now. No practising conveyancer (who wants to continue in practice) merely opens a file these days.
The demand on conveyancers is such now that they need to onboard clients – ensuring that they read and confirm the terms of business and go through a rigorous Identification Verification process to meet the Money Laundering Regulations. This is even before the price transparency requirements that mean firms now need to offer a sophisticated quoting engine which can deal with the complexities of Stamp Duty Land Tax. (Are you keeping up?!)
I understood that it was clear that my new company, YouConvey, needed to engage with a suitable onboarding partner. I wanted to be able to work with a team that could help me provide quotes for introducers and then offer a comprehensive onboarding process which was fit for 21st Century conveyancing clients, whilst also fitting the profile of YouConvey.
How did you arrive at deciding Minerva was the onboarding partner for YouConvey?
As I have already stated, there are a number of such companies, and I took time to speak to them all. What soon became apparent was that Law Firm Services’ Minerva solution was the best fit for my requirements.
Like many, I know Richard Mathias well, and I was delighted that he was so helpful and willing to take on board my unique requirements.
Richard and Mark Hemmings have been absolutely first class in their endeavours to accommodate my long list of wishes.
It was great to have a team so dedicated to making things work – I had a launch date of 7th February, Implementation Consultant Harry worked a long weekend to ensure everything was in place and ready.
Nothing in life is perfect, and if there is anything I have learnt in business it is that sometimes you have to give and take to get what you want. I am happy to say that the relationship between YouConvey and Minerva is up and running and, whilst I appreciate we are not their usual type of customer, they have gone and continue to go above and beyond to create our unique YouConvey onboarding solution.
The entire experience has been first class – I am excited that we now have this partnership between YouConvey and Minerva.
Richard – praise indeed for Minerva and LFS – especially in the week that Minerva is shortlisted for an award! You must be pleased to be able to collaborate with YouConvey?
I have been working with and for conveyancers for over 30 years, and I have known Eddie for about 18 of those. We wish you all the best with YouConvey.
It gives me great pride that, together with the fantastic team at LFS, we have built and delivered a solution that is held in such high regard by one the most respected professionals within the conveyancing industry.
When we were developing Minerva, our aim was to help law firms of all shapes and sizes and improve the customer journey when engaging legal services. We knew that it was in urgent need of reform, the banks and financial institutions were doing it, consumers were becoming more accustomed to, and expectant of, an easy to access service. Law firms and legal services were falling behind. We acted, and there is no doubt we have succeeded in that task.
Onboarding in conveyancing is far more than just ID or completing a pdf form online. It is part of a collaboration between agent, law firm and client, and Minerva helps deliver that in a timely and cost-effective manner. We are thrilled to be able to help YouConvey deliver exactly this and in turn a brilliant experience for every party involved in the transaction.
So, there is no need to kiss any more frogs, people – you know exactly where to find Prince Charming…
This article was submitted to be published by Law Firm Services as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
