Conveyancers should seize property downturn as chance to review systems

Conveyancers should see declining property prices and falling numbers of transactions as an opportunity to put their practices in order and ensure they run as efficiently as possible, a leading volume conveyancing specialist has said.

'In a market like this conveyancers are going to be competing with each other head on,' Richard Barnett, founder and senior partner at Barnetts Solicitors told Solicitors Journal.

Although property lawyers already compete on quality and price, the squeeze will put further pressure on firms and only those able to deliver the same quality at lower prices will survive. And marketing your firm more aggressively will become more critical to generate volume, according to Barnett.

'There will be casualties as some will not make enough money and decide to downsize or leave the field,' Barnett says. 'The choice is quite straightforward: either you cut down on staff or you get more suppliers, and if you are brave enough you should come out delivering a better product.'

The solicitor qualified in 1974 and points out the conveyancers are ageing. 'Younger solicitors rarely go into residential conveyancing, it is not seen as an area of law with a future', he says, 'unless you embraced commoditisation'.

According to Barnett conveyancing is now done in one of two ways: the traditional way, which involves time-consuming face-to-face contact with clients and for which solicitors must charge higher rates if they are to be profitable, and commoditised services. And his experience is that more and more clients prefer cheaper commoditised services.

Nowhere is this more evident that in the re-mortgaging market where the work, which comes directly from lenders rather than direct client instructions, is carried out by about 45 firms.

'It is very polarised now,' says Barnett. 'It used to be regarded as read that this kind of work would only be undertaken by highly specialised professional, but people no longer take this view.'

Earlier this week one lender reported a 40 per cent drop in mortgages and Barnett says that it is at times like these that firms must look not only at cost efficiencies but at their marketing effort too. In addition to obvious steps, such as knowing your clients and understanding their needs, other initiatives or unique features should be fully marketed.

For instance, Barnetts entered various award competitions and have recently won two awards, one for their IT systems and one for client services. Clients will see these awards as badges of quality so it is important to communicate such successes to them. Having gone through the early 1990s crisis will be no guarantee of survival either. Volume conveyancing had not yet been invented, the talk was more of cost control, and the market structure was therefore very different.

Now is the time to review your systems and efficiencies, Barnett concludes. 'This is a real challenge because most of us are more prepared to defend our own inefficiencies.'

Barnett is also a keen advocate of stronger links with estate agents to provide a joined up service. The link should be formal, and if there are referral arrangements in place clients should be made aware of them. He also says that solicitors should reclaim the central position as providers of home information packs, which they can offer at a lower price than third party providers and are a natural part of the searches solicitors carry out for their clients.