How One Small Law Firm is Showing You How to Increase Your Share of Conveyancing
While the feedback I’m getting from small legal practices throughout the eastern seaboard of Australia, is that the conveyancing market is pretty tough, one small law firm I have spoken to recently, could actually show you how to increase your market share of conveyancing in your area.
In fact, they see this as one of the key growth areas of their practice.
So how are they doing it?
With their permission, I will now reveal nearly all.
A key referral source for legal practices for conveyancing work, can be real estate agents.
The trouble is that (and I quote a principal of this practice), “Legal practitioners are seen by real estate agents as rude, don’t return their telephone calls and if they take your call, they give you the impression that they are doing you a favour in doing so”.
Now of course I hear the cries of outrage from solicitors around the country, but if this situation could possibly be true in your market, it presents you with a great opportunity, just as it has with this practice.
This practice decided that they would make sure that they gave real estate agents in their market, a premium level of service.
They make sure that:
1) – If not in a client meeting, they always take their call
2) — When unavailable, their team always indicate when they will be free to call and they then always promptly return the call at the appointed time, no matter how busy they are
3) – They keep the agent in the loop with how the matter was progressing
4) – They of course do fantastic work for the client
5) – They ensure that the work was done as promptly as possible and the agent understands that this matter is their top priority
6) – They communicate all of this to the agents as well as generally treating the agents as incredibly valued referral sources (which of course they can be).
The result of this, is that they are the referral source of choice for many of the agents in their market and they don’t discount their fees to get the work
Quick question for you
Question: How much has this marketing strategy cost them?
Answer: NIL
Want to read more?
– You may be interested in:
The New Source of Lucrative Conveyancing Matters for Lawyers
Feel free to make a comment below or share this blog with your colleagues on either Linked In or Facebook by clicking on the link at the top of the page.
Colin Ritchie
Principal
Ritchie Business Solutions
Some good thoughts in this blog – some of which we will be taking on board and implimennting immediately to make a difference to our practice.
I agree with all this and haveadhered to those simple rules for some years. As an example it costs nothing to 1.Copy agents on all emails relating to the transaction pre confirmation 2.Ensure that every agent in your area has your cellphone number and
knows its always on( 7 days a week- most agents work weekends) 3. Let the agents know your charges- if they are reasonable they will not bother ringing around 4.Let agents know you are always available to help them out with drafting of a condition even if
it is not for your client 5.Most importantly make sure agents know that your ultimate responsibility is to your client and you will always put their interests first even when it might conflict with the agents interests. they will respect you
I agree with the comments. I have seen a distinct shift by choice and referral from both Agents and clients to the highly personalised, one click/one step/one on one contact with Conveyancing firms. The client now sees the Conveyancer through the same
eyes as the finance broker; approachable, friendly, and immediately contactable.The new generation will not accept the ‘out for lunch’ or ‘in court’, fob off. They take the line that ‘if I am available 7 days per week and out of hours, so must my service provider’.
A simple example of this is the willingness of the Conveyancer to provide a cellphone number to the client for contact at anytime. Take the scenario of a property auction where prospective purchasers request last minute changes, queries over deposit sums,
deposit bonds, settlement periods, etc and the conveyancer addresses the matter there and then dictating special conditions thus satisfying the bidder request and giving more leverage to the bidding. Moreover as someone who auctions over 1500 auctions a year
we observe a recurring trend of one partner law firms taking up a greater slice of conveyancing together with local and regionally based conveyancing firms. This is a manifestation of the more personalised culture sought by the client. The estate agent is
drilled daily by their peers and franchise teams on the power of referral and doubtless this is the trigger toward localised conveyancing firms mushrooming in the property buy/sell domain.
I find this article ridiculous. For years I have been telling other lawyers that they should get off their hands and knees, stop collecting the conveyancing crumbs that fall from the real estate agent’s table, and take their proper place at the head of
the table. Real estate agents a merely opportunistic sales people who “give real estate ago” in good times, only to return to their real jobs when things get tough. As any well seasoned property lawyer will attest, real estate agent control lawyers and their
clients through their referral power (both favour referrals TO lawyers and punishment referrals FROM lawyers. Victoria also has a thriving client trafficking market with licensed conveyancers paying $150 per referral and more. A consumer’s legal adviser must
be loyal to the client, not to the hand that feeds clients to the legal adviser!
Further to my comment above, see this article about the conflicts of interest that so corrupt the real estate industry. Conveyancing referrals are very high on the corruption list too: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/real-estate-conflicts-property-bubble-pd20120320-SJS5J?OpenDocument
It’s great to see that old fashion service values pays dividends. As shown it’s really not that hard, simply treat the agent and their client like you would like to be treated. That’s not much to ask. Well Done! Roy West Engage My Fans