While the nation is starting to return to something approaching normal, important lessons have been learned from the last few years. Chief among them has been the role that technology can play in helping us all to work more efficiently, even when we are working remotely.
After all, a couple of years ago plenty of people in the property industry would not have believed that you could get deals done without getting out there, conducting your advice or negotiations face to face.
Yet when the pandemic hit and we were all told to spend far more time than usual at home, avoiding mixing with those outside our households, it didn’t cause the housing industry to grind to a standstill. In fact it was the opposite, with heightened activity levels resulting in the sorts of astronomical house price growth that hasn’t been seen since before the credit crunch.
Technology can improve the experience for everyone
As a technology business, this has been really gratifying. We have long highlighted how a fresh approach, and the sensible implementation of technology can help everyone to work more efficiently.
Yet it’s vital that as an industry we don’t just stand still and instead keep pushing to find new ways that technology can improve the homebuying and selling process, not just for those of us working in it but crucially for the home movers themselves.
A good example here are the pilots we’ve recently held with technology providers and some of our solicitor panel. The idea is to provide the infrastructure to allow those solicitors to carry out their normal duties in a much faster and more efficient way. This could for example mean verifying proof of deposit without requiring the client to share reams of bank statements, or conducting rapid and comprehensive sanctions checks to ensure that everything is above board.
These additional features aren’t just ‘nice to haves’, but fundamental to the way we work at eConveyancer. The reality is that the current homebuying experience can be slow and cumbersome, leaving everyone involved frustrated.
Transactions take longer than they should, brokers are left waiting to collect their fees for too long, and the people moving are essentially in the dark about how their case is progressing. The entire experience is opaque and irritating.
Yet by introducing technology sensibly, into areas in which it can support the expertise of experienced, knowledgeable conveyancers, we can improve that.
Forward-thinking partnerships
When brokers decide which conveyancers they want to work with, it goes without saying that the core legal services will be the big driver in that decision. After all, they want to ensure that their client is properly supported, and that the conveyancer is well placed to help the case complete.
However, it’s forward-thinking firms, who have recognised the flaws inherent in the old way of doing things and who have taken steps to address those shortcomings, who are starting to win the backing of brokers.
Advisers have long memories and will remember only too well the legal firms that have let their clients down in the past. Just look at the uproar over the delays and poor service delivered by the ‘free legals’ providers in the past – we know brokers whose hearts sink when they place a case with a lender providing free legals, since they realise they will inevitably have to spend substantial amounts of time on the phone chasing up progress updates from an overworked and under-resourced conveyancer.
Equally, brokers remember the legal providers who go above and beyond, who deliver a less stressful and more straightforward moving experience to their clients. Let’s remember, it’s brokers that get the credit from their clients when their partner firms perform to a high standard.
It’s down to legal firms to demonstrate our forward-thinking credentials to brokers, to prove why we deserve to be trusted partners when recommending conveyancing services to their clients. Striving to incorporate technology which improves the moving experience for everyone can help us do that.
Karen Rodrigues is sales director at eConveyancer