Future proofing your firm is not just about technology

At the tail-end of last year, there was some interesting research released by TwentyConvey which looked at retention rates for conveyancers in England and Wales and questioned why they might be so low.

According to the research, following an examination of close to 30,000 live sales transactions, ‘only 11% of the time did the selling conveyancer match the one who previously bought the property’.

In other words, only just over one in 10 homeowners used the same conveyancer to sell their property as they did to buy it.

Now, of course, there are some very good reasons for this, not least in terms of the natural cycle of customers needing the services of conveyancers and over what time period. TwentyConvey suggest the ‘average homeowner cycle is around 20 years’ and that would make ‘repeat business’ particularly tricky, but there will be customer for whom that cycle is far lower and more frequent.

At the same time, what other reasons might we put this down to? A simple lack of communication between transactions? Some firms might believe that once a transaction is completed, the reason to keep in contact with that client simply evaporates away. That, in my view, would be a mistake.

We’ll all be acutely aware of the widespread business maxim, the 80/20 rule, in terms of getting 80% of your business from existing customers and 20% via those new to your services.

In the conveyancing space, I would probably suggest this is going to be very difficult to achieve, because of the one-off transactional nature of the business, because of that homeowner cycle, because of the tendency not to view conveyancers as ‘my conveyancer’, as you might do for example with a financial adviser, an accountant, indeed a solicitor in general.

However, going back to those you have used before – for any service – is an invaluable source of business and income, regardless of the profession, and while TwentyConvey suggests that “every conveyancing firm, regardless of size, finds staying in touch with former clients a real challenge”, we might all believe that some are much better than others at doing this, and some will reap the rewards of having a strategy in place.

We have a number of Strategic Pillars that we follow as part of the CA and they are designed to ensure we are working on behalf of our members at all times, and we are providing them with everything they require to be successful now and in the future.

One of those pillars is ‘Future Proofing’ and this is not just about ‘the future’ in the sense of technology or AI or what might be impacting on firms in this regard, but it is also clearly about business models and whether they are able to cope with how the entire sector might shift.

I certainly place the ability to retain customers, or to improve that part of your proposition, up there in terms of helping to ‘future proof’ the business, simply because it seems like a relatively easy ‘mend’ if your levels are low.

One wonders if we shouldn’t be taking much more of a leaf out of the books of mortgage/financial advisers who over the years have become much better at keeping in touch with clients, even if – for example – their mortgage deal is not up for refinance for another two/three/five, perhaps even more, years.

Now, you might rightly argue, that advice firms have more to offer than just mortgage advice and they keep in contact during that time in order to make the client aware of other potential advice needs, such as protection or general insurance, etc.

However, while that might be the case, conveyancing firms can also adopt a strategy which not only outlines the conveyancing services available, but any others that they may offer/other referrals they can deliver, plus of course, there is nothing stopping you from keeping your clients informed about market activity/news/arrangements, as long as they have agreed to this.

Ultimately, what we seem to need are compelling reasons for the customer to get back in touch with the firm. Regular communication with them over a period of time will support that, but for example, I also wonder if conveyancers held digital property logbooks on each property – like they used to hold deed packages – would owners then get in touch with them when they were thinking about selling?

Now that logbooks look to include far more data than deeds packages, your client should want to interact with it for the entire ownership of the property to remortgage, make a planning application, let the property, find the instructions for their smart home device or check a guarantee or warranty.

Again, to reiterate, the conveyancer would need to have sent regular reminders/communications to the homeowner in the intervening time, perhaps outlining how they can add to the logbook if they want to alter the property or if they have installed certain smart systems, or indeed any new additions which a prospective/new owner would need to know about.

The point here is about regular contact and a tangible service that can result in the customer retaining their knowledge of what you have done for them, and what you might be able to offer in the future. Remember, it’s also not just them that you are communicating with, but every potential referral or lead that might emanate from them.

At any given point, they might have friends and family who need the same service, and if you are in touch with them, then they’re much more likely to put those they know in touch with you. Make sure you give them every reason to do so.

 

Beth Rudolf is Director of Delivery at the Conveyancing Association (CA)

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