The market for residential property conveyancing has been red-hot, fuelled by pent-up demand due to Covid lockdowns and Stamp Duty holidays. The result has been a well-documented crisis in the industry, desks piled high with cases, overworked conveyancers, and real hold-ups for customers wanting to move.
“It’s been a race to the bottom in the industry, in terms of service”
While the industry is typically categorised by a ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ approach, this has done little more than fuel a race to the bottom, according to Warren Kaye, Solicitor and Head of Residential Property at Prosperity Law, who joined the firm in November 2021.
“There’s a need for quality in the conveyancing market. For too long, conveyancers have been pushed to deliver the volume without attention paid to the quality of service for the consumer. At Prosperity Law, I want to do things differently,” says Warren.
Quality, customer service-led conveyancing
“Profit margins are always small in conveyancing when you consider the marketing acquisition costs and commissions to estate agents. Usually, firms will offset this by increasing volume, but unfortunately, this often results in less experienced staff doing the job or those with experience being burdened with more and more admin. That’s the opposite of what we want.”
Warren has worked in large-volume conveyancing for 25 years before joining Prosperity Law, experiencing the pressures of the industry and the stress that lack of service in conveyancing causes consumers.
“Conveyancing is seen as a distress purchase – customers use a solicitor because they have to, not because they want to. That’s why service is so important. If a customer wants to ask a question, to put their mind at rest, or just because they’re interested in what the masses of documentation means for them and their ongoing ownership, they should be able to. Typically, they can’t get this level of service easily – but we want to provide it – and our newly modelled property team will be able to deliver.”
It’s all about reputation building – or should be…
The nature of the local relationships between estate agents or mortgage brokers and their clients rests upon every aspect of their service going well, including conveyancing. The lack of quality service available at the moment risks their clients being referred to lawyers who may consider them to be a small fish in a big pond, and they must worry about placing their hard-earned reputations in the hands of lawyers who may lose sight of that relationship, and “I firmly believe that they are looking for better, more reliable, customer-focused conveyancing that they can confidently recommend and who won’t let them and their client down.
We are not here to provide the cheapest possible service. We are here to provide a quality service that some, not all, customers will recognise the value in paying a little more for. We pay the same commissions to agents on completion, but it will be a happier house mover who recommends them, and us, to others. We’re in this for the long-term.”
Remodelling of the property team
So, how did Warren go about setting the foundation for his vision of quality, service-led conveyancing?
“In the first instance, it was about stopping the influx of extra cases. That’s a surefire way to get service standards dropping through the floor. I want conveyancers to have enough cases for their day to be interesting, not so many that they are swamped by calls and emails so that they can’t service their customers. Service is everything.”
But does this mean taking on more conveyancers?
“It means taking on experienced, communicative conveyancers who know the importance of putting service first,” says Warren. “We are still a small team, but the team we are building is highly skilled and has years in the industry. They know how to talk to customers and respond with the reassurance and proactivity they need.”
A strong foundation for growth
The market is cooling now, particularly with the rise in interest rates. Warren says his model will set the foundations needed for growth going forward.
“There is still a large market out there, but the market is becoming less heated. It’s never going to be, for us, a case of taking as much work as possible. Ethical standards are such that work should not be taken on if a reasonable level of service cannot be maintained. Our aim is much higher than this, and by establishing our vision for a quality service now, with an experienced team who are our greatest asset, we have a solid foundation for the future.”
A clearer way forward
“We’ve got through the backlog and set expectations to suppliers on volumes, keeping a close hand on incoming work. We won’t be driven by complaints about delays, we will be driven by the motivation of offering great service to their clients – which is what every good conveyancer wants to do.”
While Warren wants to educate every single client on what quality conveyancing looks like, he welcomes the challenge.
“A happy client is an engaged one because you go on the conveyancing journey with them, hand-in-hand, delivering trust and reassurance at what is inevitably a stressful time in their lives.”
“It’s early days but, quite simply, lower volumes and better service ensure our reputation and growth, and that of our work partners. It’s a better way, and creates delighted, rather than disappointed clients. That makes me and my team happy.”
