By Bronwyn Townsend, Senior Marketing Manager, InfoTrack
Increased access to the internet has bred a culture of instant gratification over the last decade. From the satisfaction of next day delivery and instant messenger apps to real-time updates on your food delivery, we’ve become accustomed to decreasing the time between initial engagement and reward. But what affect has this had on the conveyancing sector?
Consumer expectations have been reflected in their desire for increased access to online services when interacting with various parties throughout the home moving process. The pandemic has only accelerated demand. Pair growing expectations around online services with a fast turnaround and you’ll quickly discover that digital conveyancing is the solution.
HM Land Registry has been working toward the adoption of digital conveyancing, with acceptance of electronically signed deeds from July 2020 and the recent announcement surrounding standards for digital identity verification. Adoption of these government-accepted processes will dramatically change how law firms work, for the better.
Cloud power
The cloud is not a new concept, but it’s uptake among the legal community is slower than other markets. Whether down to concerns about cyber security or a gap in understanding the benefits it can offer firms, there has been hesitation to commit to cloud-based services to facilitate an ‘accessible from anywhere’ style approach. The last year has changed that position though. Firms are now committing to cloud-based services with greater confidence, with 76% identifying legal technology as being of importance according to The 2020 Future Ready Lawyer: Performance Drivers Survey.
Working within a cloud-based ecosystem provides your firm, staff and your clients with a sense of instant gratification. Tasks and updates are now available via any device for clients, so they can access, complete documentation and return information, all within easy-to-use portals. Not only is this avoiding unnecessary delays within the transaction, it’s also supporting a paperless conveyancing process.
Appeasing consumer expectations isn’t all digital conveyancing in the cloud achieves though. It also satisfies a large portion of the compliance requirements for firms. With a digital record and audit trails available at the click of a button, you can be assured that technology is taking care of your compliance needs. In turn, this enables firms to realign their energy to informing their clients about transaction progress and delivering best in class service while also taking on higher caseloads.
Digital conveyancing is not only about client satisfaction, it’s also about instant gratification for users within a law firm. Cloud solutions are flexible and support law firm growth. Without the drawbacks of infrastructure limitations, there is no disruption to service as your firm expands to meet increasing demands. By leveraging completely digital services, roles are no longer defined by arduous administrative tasks. Instead, conveyancers are empowered to progress transactions with the advantage of transparency throughout the entire process through clever dashboards and intelligent data.
At a time when the industry is feeling the strain of surmounting transactions with the SDLT holiday extension, finding support within the technology they use is invaluable. Cloud-based digital conveyancing is not only an asset now, but will help law firms soar long term.