Capitalise on the downturn, we won’t be quiet for long
Last week I was delighted to join Joe Pepper and David Opie in conversation about new industry research conducted and analysed by tmgroup. This survey does an excellent job of taking the temperature of the conveyancing industry and provides a useful tool for all business leaders to inform and shape their strategy and business goals over the coming months. I would encourage everyone to read the full report when it’s out in January.
While it’s great to see companies like tmgroup leading the way in collecting and sharing industry insight, I was saddened to see that the initial findings don’t make for entirety positive reading. One-third of the 800 respondents reported their intention to leave the conveyancing industry. Look around your office and imagine a third of your staff gone. That’s a deeply concerning statistic and one that I am spending a lot of time reflecting on as I develop my own 2023 business objectives.
It’s widely accepted that next year will be challenging for the property industry as the housing market is trundling at a much slower pace. We are, in many ways, helpless when it comes to driving the housing market, but there are many other areas in which we can take control and make a difference with this quieter time.
Staff training and development
Could one of the reasons that staff are looking to leave the industry be because they’re not fulfilled in their current role and don’t get the time to progress? When to-do list gets long, training usually falls to the bottom, leaving little or no time for professional development. Going into the New Year, with a quieter period predicted, presents the perfect opportunity to review staff goals and where possible, support this next phase of career progression. Whether that be an online course, branching out into a different area of the business or honing a new skill set, investing in staff and raising morale is crucial right now.
Marketing
Marketing is another area that falls down the list when times are busy. And now, more than ever, we need the most value from marketing spend. Some questions to ask your marketing team – are you focusing the budget in the right places? Are you getting the maximum return on investment? Is your marketing function delivering data to help inform decisions on your website and social media strategy? These are all questions I am asking of my own team as we look to 2023. We have a high bounce-rate on the Aconveyancing website, so I am challenging the team to find ways to keep visitors engaged on the site rather than leaving the page.
We have the time now to maximise the areas of the business which we can control. As a useful tool, the Today’s Conveyancer team recently issued guidance on the Credibility Indicators on your company website. This is a great place to start when running through a checklist of what is working for your online presence.
Technology
I am also applying the same thinking to technology, using this time to reflect on the evolution of current business practices. How can I integrate tech solutions to simplify workflows and take the pressure of staff in key areas, without costing the business a fortune or negatively disrupting established procedures? The integration of technology doesn’t need to be daunting, business owners just need the headspace to understand the value-add. With the right guidance, introducing tech solutions and giving staff the space to implement these into their daily routine (which does always take time), will pay dividends in the long-run.
Fees
When faced with the prospect of a downturn and everything that comes with it, lowering fees is an option that comes to mind for business owners. No one wants to make redundancies, but competition can become fiercer than usual. In the podcast, Ian encouraged me to “be brave” and avoid cutting fees or taking panel work in the downturn. I want to extend that advice to all business leaders, let’s collectively be brave, have each others backs and we will come out the other side a stronger and more positive workforce.
Making the most of this predicted downtime, investing in staff and preparing for the future will stand us all in good stead and hopefully convince the one third of conveyancers who are considering another career to stay with it. One thing I know for sure, make the most of it because we won’t be quiet for long.
Natalie Moore, Director at Aconveyancing.
