The landscape of the industry has drastically changed for conveyancers in the last three years, caused from the Australian property boom, advancement of technology, adjustments to the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in government policy.
In a bid to help you learn from your colleagues in what challenges they’ve faced and how they’ve overcome them, we’ve interviewed New South Wales firm, MJM Conveyancing (MJM) Director and Licensed Conveyancer, Simone Lear, Victorian firm, Victorian Statewide Conveyancing (VSC) Director and Licensed Conveyancer, Peter Gajanovic, and Queensland firm Impact Legal Solutions (ILS) owner and Principal Solicitor, Praneel Bhela.
While all firms had different challenges and focuses for 2022, each cited their choice in software solutions, as a large reason why their business succeeded recently, and how it would continue to do so in the future.
Biggest challenge for conveyancers
MJM Conveyancing, Morriset, has built a reputation for open and trustworthy communication since launching about four years ago.
Servicing the Central Coast, Newcastle, Hunter and Sydney areas, the business has transformed its day-to-day operations when they started using the $0 all-in-one Conveyancing solution, triConvey, in December 2021.
MJM’s reputation was also it’s biggest challenge, with remote working restricting face-to-face contact with clients, Simone explained:
“It has been difficult for everyone. For us and the clients, I find that when we do have those face-to-face contacts the transaction flows a lot smoother, and the communication is a lot clearer.
“To combat this, we heavily relied on Zoom meetings and emails. triVOI was our favorite tool to use when conducting verification of identity because of its flexibility. It’s really easy for clients to use and it’s really cost effective.”
ILS, Cairns, built a reputation for providing personable and efficient service since launching at the beginning of 2021.
The business conducts commercial and property transactions but quickly transitioned into predominantly a property law and conveyancing firm to service the booming property market last year.
For Praneel, the biggest challenge he faced was adjusting his business plans to suit the market, he explained:
“I’d say the biggest sort of eye opener not just this year but the year previous to now, is I never realised I’d become a conveyancing practice. The amount of people that want to use my services is 99 per cent of the time, for conveyancing.
“I never expected to be introducing myself to people as a conveyancer. That’s certainly the biggest shift in my business already, considering I only had a hard launch in early-2021. It’s surprising to say the least and I never expected to do full-time conveyancing, but here we are.”
Achieving results in 2022
With the most difficult business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the rear-view mirror for now, conveyancers along the east coast can now focus on building for a successful 2022.
VSC, Melbourne, experienced its third year of unprecedented growth in 2021, recording a 37 per cent boost in conveyancing files compared to the year prior.
It has enjoyed a prosperous three years with triSearch and in September 2021, was part of a Practice Management System transition to triConvey.
Thanks to this success, Peter explains 2022 is the year to reflect, saying: “This year we really want to consolidate what we’ve built over the last the last 18 months. That’s our main focus. Using triConvey this year and into the future will play a big part in that.”
As for MJM, its focus was solely on becoming more efficient in its workflow, finding that “things can be done easier and a lot faster to produce a better service for our clients”.
Simone added: “We pride ourselves on our customer service and keeping our clients up to date with communication. We find that they can never have too much.
“So, we make it our number one priority. Making sure they know what’s going on all times. And we are available after hours and weekends which they really appreciate.”
Having consolidated his business strategies from 2021, Praneel has established himself as expert conveyancers and is planning on using this momentum as a footing for development into other areas of law.
Praneel explained: “I’ve decided to lean into conveyancing in 2022, to ensure I have continued success in business. It’s now my bread and butter.
Mastering conveyancing has kept me moving and meant I have not become stagnant in my ability to grow. For me, it is 100 per cent triConvey that helps me push my business goals.
“If I had triConvey from day one it would have made the biggest difference in terms of understanding how to do conveyancing at its most efficient level.”
Conveyancers make the Switch to $0 triConvey
Switching your conveyancing software can be a daunting task. Especially with a full plate of purchase and sale matters to execute.
MJM, VSC and ILS weren’t an exception. However, having reflected on making the switch, each found it to be an easy, stress free, and dividend paying business decision.
For MJM, the move to triConvey was necessary due to its previous PMS not having the capacity and speed to match its workflow, and, after nearly a year of contemplating the switch to triSearch, triConvey launched in September 2021, becoming the perfect solution for its needs.
“Initially, the thought of transferring all our data and files to a different program was at the time, not an option because we were so busy,” Simone said.
“Fortunately, we had assistance from the triConvey team. We managed to get all my contacts from my old program, and I was able to get some precedents added into triConvey quickly, which was priority one in the transition. Overall, the transition was smooth.”
As for VSC, a long-established business lifetime allowed Peter and his team to utilise “every platform on the market”. For Peter, making the switch to triConvey was simple.
Peter said: “We started using the triSearch platform for our conveyancing searches about three years-ago and I can’t imagine for as long as I do conveyancing that I’ll use anything else. Not long after triSearch, we signed up to Smokeball for our Practice Management needs, which has now be transitioned into triConvey. The transition was a really good experience.”
For ILS, making the switch to triConvey was cited as one of the smartest business decisions Praneel had made in his business’ short lifespan.
Initially he was spending too much time doing medial and clerical tasks in his old software, however, this was quickly void once he made the transition into triConvey.
Praneel said: “My first 12 months in business I had to get someone in to build things like templates and documents, which sucks up so much time.
On top of that, for the first six months I was manually editing Word Documents just because I had no other option to get the work done.
“When you’re starting out, you shouldn’t be spending time developing a system, which is what I spent my whole time doing, whereas with triConvey, the systems are set up, so it makes life far easier.
Hence, why I highly recommend triConvey for sole practitioners and anyone looking for all things conveyancing, because it makes the work easier with its automations and build-in precedent library.”
Favourite Aspects of $0 triConvey
With an increasing knowledge of how to utilise triConvey to produce results and make their conveyancing workflow most efficient, MJM, VSC and ILS all explain what their favourite asks of the integrated search and software platform is.
Simone exclaimed: “I’m so glad we swapped to triConvey, every day we’re finding new things that are helpful. One of which is triConvey tool, communicate. I love using it as I can send text messages to clients and agents with it. I like that you can convert the body text in a letter to an email, too.
“The live update feature within the Word Document integration is also a big advantage. If I’ve created a form for my client and their date of birth isn’t in there, I can just click on the shortcut triConvey side panel to put their data in and it automatically fixes it. Before I had to save, close, open, and redo it.”
Having already been acquainted with the software and search separately, Peter found the most notable feature of triConvey was the integration between the two platforms.
“To have that integration with searching and property enquiries that go to a file immediately was a big, big game changer for us,” Peter explained.
“The $0 triConvey system is straightforward. It has all the information that you need to input and I like the fact that you can modify things. If I don’t need certain parcels in a file, I can remove them. Overall, the team love using the system.
“It is also an easy system to learn and not difficult to train staff in. We had someone join us recently who used a different system previously, and within two or three days, she was fully functional on triConvey.”
In the northern state, ILS turn to triConvey for its aesthetic and conveyancing specific innovation with automations throughout the workflow.
“I like the look of triConvey, it’s more professional. I like the small things like the automatic invoicing, because of this I haven’t had to touch a single invoice precedent. It really is well refined to what a conveyancer needs.
“I like when all you have to do is input all the information of the client at the start of the matter, and it is set up for automation for the rest of the workflow. It doesn’t cost anything to add new users either.”
Recommendations for conveyancers
As a final note for conveyancers and property lawyers, MJM, VSC, and ILS left a recommendation for how their colleagues can succeed in 2022.
Simone said: “I would definitely recommend my colleagues to use the $0 solution, triConvey. It’s easy on the eye to look at, you can easily find your documents and forms you’re looking for. It’s simple and that’s what we need when we’re working with such huge file loads and at a fast pace. You need it to be simple and easy.”
Echoing this message, Peter said: “I’d say you must at least have a look at the software package regardless of how long you’ve been using a different conveyancing system for. We’ve used almost everything and it’s by far the best.
“If you’re not using it or if you haven’t seen it yet, call someone to show you the product because it’s just so easy.”
For recently launched businesses, Praneel added: “For me, using triConvey is the perfect initial step to set my business up for success at a bread-and-butter level, and it makes looking after my clients so much easier because I have the time to focus on them more.
“That’s why I would recommend the $0 triConvey solution for all law firms.”
With advancements in technology, changes in legislation and the post-pandemic era slowly cementing itself, the conveyancing industry is transitioning and redefining itself.
From 2022 and beyond, it will be up to conveyancers and property lawyers to keep up with these changes and make the most of what’s available to offer the best solution for their clients.
For leading firms in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, meeting the challenges of the new industry means adopting the newest tech solution for conveyancing workflow efficiency.
By using triConvey, MJM, VSC and ILS have transformed their business models to boost productivity, profitability and include more automations than competitors which use other solutions.
To find out more, book a demonstration or download this 4-minute demonstration video.
