tm blog

Joe Pepper, CEO of tmgroup explains how tm are helping law firms and estate agents offer a truly digital consumer experience.

It is a myth that all business have gone digital.  Whilst consumers are used to instant online purchasing and interacting with a multitude of apps that manage everything from holidays to finances, many businesses are only at the start of becoming truly digital.  They may have digitised paper into pdfs, converted mail into email and embraced digital workflows to create an impression of a seamless consumer journey, but look underneath the bonnet and you’ll find that most firms are peddling frenetically to maintain the façade.

Truly digitising processes creates challenges for any business

Truly digitising an end to end process creates a challenge for any business, and that challenge is exacerbated where a complex process, for example a property transaction, involves multiple parties operating across numerous platforms which are rarely integrated. The challenge is heightened where the process, itself, is urgently in need of re-designing.

A recent report identified that the average UK Property Transaction involved the exchange of over 300 emails between the various parties, including the sharing of 120 versions of document. There’s a clear and obvious impact on efficiency, with the average property transaction reported to take anything between 18 and 24 weeks. Ten years ago it used to take 12 weeks.

“Time kills deals”

The impact of this inefficiency on the consumer is significant. There’s an old saying in business: “time kills deals”; and this is absolutely the case with consumers wanting to buy a home. Once the excitement of choosing a house has worn off, being left in the dark for no obvious reason starts to leave the consumer vulnerable to a change of heart. 

Between 30-33% of UK Property Transactions fall-through between the point of an agreement to purchase, and the exchange of contracts. This wastes money and places a huge strain on consumers, neither of which benefits the UK economy. 

Putting the consumer at the heart of the transaction

In a property transaction, the consumer is everybody’s customer but they currently sit on the periphery of the transaction, often receiving different messages from each party they communicate with.  It’s unsurprising that The Property Ombudsman ranks poor communication as one of the leading causes of complaints.

To provide the seamless consumer experience that embracing digital should deliver, the consumer must sit at the heart of an efficient, transparent process that provides accurate, relevant information and certainty.  To achieve that we need to create a digital space which allows the consumer to access accurate updates on the progress of their transactions, removes duplication in the process and facilitates data sharing between multiple parties irrespective of the operating systems being used.

As a consumer, I should only have to complete one Anti-Money Laundering process and I should not have to provide the same information to several different parties at various stages. I should be able to share the details of the property I am buying with my mortgage broker or lender, who in turn should be able to see when I am likely to complete.  I should be able to book a surveyor and see and share their report with all relevant parties.  I should be able to complete any forms that are required by the estate agent or the conveyancer – including the recently proposed Property Information Questionnaire with information that’s sourced from third parties being automatically populated via data feeds. I should be able to demonstrate that I’ve completed required tasks, such as arranging insurance on the property, and crucially I should be able to send questions to the various parties involved and receive a response quickly, because everybody is working in the same digital space. I should, I should, I should… but I can’t!

What are tmgroup doing to turn ‘I can’t’ into ‘I can’?

At tmgroup, we are focusing on bringing the consumer into a digital space, and then developing the integration points to streamline the property transaction for the benefit of all.  We’ve been helping consumers digitally interact with conveyancers for several years now through the tmconnect platform, from completing forms and sharing documents, to providing all parties with an accurate and up to date data portal. 

Similarly, our new mio app allows the consumer to communicate directly with their estate agent, providing transparency around not just the progress of their own property transaction, but crucially how other parties in the chain are progressing with their own transactions.

For more information on how tmgroup are turning 'I can't' into 'I can' and how this could benefit your firm, please get in touch with your Account Manager.

The good, the bad and the ugly. The process of handling new business enquiries comes in all shapes and sizes. To help you better understand what happens in your firm and where there might be room for improvement, Clare Yates, Senior Business Development Manager at tmgroup shares 5 questions that every firm should know the answer to… 

1. What happens when potential clients ring through to your firm? 

Do they get straight through to a dedicated team, trained and responsible for handling new business enquiries? Or do they have to speak to a Receptionist first and negotiate their way to the right department, navigate a complex call answering service, or wait on hold hoping someone will eventually pick up the phone?

If you don’t know the answer, why not try ringing the number displayed on your website and experiencing it first-hand? After all, speed kills the competition – and it’s critical that a potential new client gets through to the right person quickly. 

2. Is every call being handled by the best person for the job?

If you aren’t fortunate enough to have a dedicated new business team, your calls are most likely making their way to your Fee Earners’ office… and the start of a make or break situation. 

If your team is ready and willing to take the call, there’s plenty of opportunity for the caller to be nurtured into a happy client. However, if you find yourself “drawing straws” before eventually picking up the phone with a sigh, the opportunity is at risk. 

According to research by Professor Ian Cooper:

• Over 85% of firms treat ‘residential conveyancing quotes’ as a purely ‘low level’ administrative task.

• 90% of call handlers admit that they don’t actively like handling quotes, or are not very good at it. Not exactly a recipe for conversion success!

What’s happening in your team? Is the best-skilled person picking up the phone with a smile? Or is the only available person clock-watching as they try to wrap up the call and get back to their other work?

Not sure? Well, the right person is probably really easy to spot as they clearly enjoy handling these sort of calls and are already proving successful in winning new business. If you don’t already record or listen to calls, this could be a great place to start to identify who has a natural affinity with customers.

3. Do you have a robust process in place for making the most of each call?

Even the most willing of call handlers risk falling flat without a proper process in place. Is everyone using the same checklist to help make the most of every opportunity?

Professor Ian Cooper also reports that “in over a third of all calls, the party did not know who they were talking to, as the caller’s name was not taken, and the call handler had not introduced themselves!”

If you don’t have a process in place (or think the one you do have needs refining), here’s a simple checklist of questions to ask:

• Name, email address and telephone number

• Why are they moving? New school catchment area? Downsizing? 

• Where are they moving to? Is it local?

• When do they need or expect to be in their new home? 

• Who is moving with them? Children? Parents? Pets? 

The latter questions are particularly important, as understanding the story behind each move can help to shape the call, as well as get every customer journey off to the best start.

4. Are you following up after every call?

It’s critical that you follow up with the caller if you want to convert the opportunity into new business – and not let your efforts go to waste. 

Sadly, not every firm is doing this well. Some simply assume that the caller will come back to them if they want to move things forward. However, this approach can prompt the caller to take their business elsewhere – assuming you just didn’t care enough to get back in touch.

Don’t be disheartened. There is business to be won and a quick follow-up call an hour after the original conversation can make all the difference to your conversion rates. You can even warm the caller up by saying “I’ll send you a quick email now and phone you back in an hour or so to see if you have any questions.” 

5. Are you measuring your conversion rates? 

Whatever approach you are taking to handling new business enquiries, you should have a good understanding of how well things are going. 

• Do you record your calls? 

• Do you know what your conversion rate is?

• Do you know who has the best call handling skills in your team and what sets them apart?

• Do you know where the call came from? Your website? A flyer drop? Recent social media campaign? 

Once you know the answers to these questions, you can look for patterns and see where there is room for improvement. You can also start making changes and monitoring overall success. 

If you would like to find out more about how to handle your new business enquiries more effectively, please get in touch with me: clare.yates@tmgroup.co.uk.

Please be aware that the following highways products – supplied by PlanVal – are increasing in price on 1st July 2019. The price of Landmark Homecheck Flood will also be changing from this date.

Details below:

The following highways reports will be increasing by £6 on 1st July 2019:

• Local Authority highways enquiry (HighwaysLA)

• Local Authority Highways Lite (HighwayRA)

• Highway search standard with opinion Commercial (PVHwayOC) 

• Highway search standard with opinion Residential (PVHwayOR)

The price of Landmark Homecheck Flood (FloodRisk) will be increasing in price from 1st July 2019:  

It was £20 plus VAT (£24) and will now be £25 plus VAT (£30) - an increase of £6. 

If you have any questions or queries, please contact your Account Manager, or get in touch with our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk

Please be aware that from early June, RATI-M will no longer be available to order on tmconvey.

Moving forward, if you’d like to add a RATI product to your order, you’ll just need to search RATI-O and add it to your case. 

If you have any questions or queries, please contact your Account Manager, or get in touch with our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk

From early June, you’ll be able to order the following Legalinx reports on tmconvey - in addition to the CourtChex (winding Up Search), which is already available.

The following reports will be available to order via the tmconvey platform:

• Comprehensive Bankruptcy Search (Search of Land Registry and Bankruptcy Court)

Checks are carried out at the Insolvency Service England and Wales which identifies any current bankruptcy orders. An additional check is then carried out at the Land Registry which identifies any pending bankruptcy orders.

• Gazette Report

This report will provide details of any insolvency notices published in the London, Edinburgh or Belfast Gazettes.

• Individual Pending Bankruptcy Searches

Our Individual Bankruptcy Searches offer compliance and minimise risk through ascertaining whether there are any pending bankruptcy petitions lodged against an individual within the jurisdiction of the RCJ. Legalinx physically visit, and search, at the Royal Courts of Justice and Central London County Court to determine whether any previous bankruptcy petitions have been issued in the last 5 years against a debtor.

The following additional reports will be available on request, by contacting our Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk 

• Foreign Insolvency Plus Report

• Insolvency Plus

• Northern Ireland Court of Justice & EJO Check

FCI have joined forces with Terrafirma to deliver a new search report, combining the current Premium Residential Environmental Report with Terrafirma’s official CON29M coal mining search. 

• Cost: £80.00 + VAT

• Location on tmconvey: Under the Environmental section

• Sample report: Click here to see a sample report

Available on tmconvey from early June, this search report combines the Environmental, Flood, Ground Stability, Energy and Infrastructure of the FCI Premium Residential Search, with a Terrafirma CON29M, which automatically includes nearby subsidence claims data (previously only available at additional cost from The Coal Authority). 

If you have any questions or queries, please contact your Account Manager, or get in touch with our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk

Following on from updating our print summary earlier this year, we’re extending these changes to all of our printable summaries, so you’ll also see the following enhancements in your printable Case summary, as well as your Fee summary. 

• An image of the maps you have used to mark up a site

• Search Alerts generated against a site

• Additional questions for all searches ordered

Groundsure’s Preliminary Unexploded Ordnance Risk Assessment will be available to order on tmconvey from early June – identifying the potential risks from unexploded ordnance (UXO) that could affect your client’s construction projects. 

• Cost: £195 + VAT

• Location on tmconvey: Under the Environmental section

• Sample report: Click here to see a sample report

About the report

Based on a 10km radius from the red dot marking the property, the report covers:

• Analysis of over 5,000 projects to mitigate bomb risks on  development sites since 1991

• Accurate bomb density mapping based from Ordnance Survey  maps 1941 -1944 

• Extensive archive of previous bomb excavation works and  threat assessment Bomb, V1 and V2 strike locations from original war records and area damage assessments (where available) 

• UXO risk assessment – contour maps applied around potential source of strike locations 

• The cost of the Preliminary report is discounted from the Stage 2 Detailed Risk Assessment

This report covers the possible health and safety risks for contractors under CDM 2015. Groundsure have also partnered with industry specialists Dynasafe BACTEC to provide a comprehensive view on the risks, so they can be factored into a site assessment.

If you have any questions or queries, please contact your Account Manager, or get in touch with our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk

Terrafirma have made a couple of changes to their reports, including adding a mine entry interpretive report to their CON29M and Ground report, as well as including a purchased Cheshire Salts Search in the Ground report. 

Mine Entry Interpretive Report added to CON29M and Ground report

Terrafirma have now included, as standard, a mine entry interpretive report for sites located within 20 metres of a coal mine entry. 

This is available within their official CON29M and Terrafirma Ground report – at no additional cost. 

The Ground report now includes the purchased Cheshire Salts Search 

The Ground report now includes the purchased Cheshire Salts Search as an appendix. This is to provide clarity to their brine mining risk assessment (including such assessment of brine mining hazards outside the Cheshire Brine Compensation District) and that of claims information obtained from a purchased Cheshire Salts Search. 

Please be aware that where such information is obtained, the terms and conditions of the Cheshire Salts Search and supplier may also apply.

REMINDER: Further Action Reports

Just a reminder that, even though the effective pass rate for the CON29M and Ground reports is now 99%, Terrafirma’s ‘Action’ reports remain in place and available if recommended. 

If you need to order such a report, please get in touch with your Account Manager or Helpdesk in the first instance. 

If you have any questions or queries, please contact your Account Manager, or get in touch with our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk 

Crossrail data will soon be available on tmconvey, marking the latest in a series of new data layers added across 2019. 

Once enabled, you’ll be able to select ‘Crossrail’ from your mapping data layers and see the proposed Crossrail stations, as well as the route – clearly displayed in pink (where the track runs through a tunnel) and blue (where the track runs over the surface). 

You can also click on a station or section of the line to create a pop-up box – including location information and type (e.g. tunnel). Please note, where there is more than one section of the line in a specific area, you’ll see 2 pop-up information boxes.

You’ll also notice a link to the Crossrail site, which opens up a new tab showing you an engineering drawing of that section of the line, so you can see it in relation to the other buildings around it. 

How do I turn on this new data layer?

If you would like to turn on this new data layer, your TM administrator will need to update your company preference by following the below steps:

1. Go to ‘System settings’ on the tmconvey Services Dashboard

2. Select ‘System defaults’

3. Select ‘View’

4. Select ‘Mapping defaults’ 

5. If you scroll down, you will see a new section called ‘Map Data Layers’ – and various options to choose from including the new ‘Crossrail route’.  

6. Once you have settled on your choice, click ‘Save’

If you have any questions or queries, please contact your Account Manager, or get in touch with our friendly Helpdesk team on 0800 840 5571 or email helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk