Q: When did you start in the industry?
A: I came to conveyancing from a teaching background. Having worked in several locations within Australia and also overseas, I became interested in business studies and decided that a “landbroking” course could improve my ability to introduce Small Business Management at senior high school level. The course proved to be both rigorous and interesting and after 4 years of study I found myself qualified in conveyancing.
Time for a change and a new challenge! So, in 1989 I decided to leave the cloisters of the classroom for the bright lights of the business world.
Q: How did Conveyancing Matters come about?
A: I joined forces with a former colleague, John Murphy, who had also completed the course and together, we established Erskine & Murphy Landbroking Services in 1990. It took some considerable time to build a client base as we had come into the industry with no previous experience or contacts.
We decided to incorporate and in 1993 established Conveyancing Matters Pty Ltd and determined to build the brand. This involved thinking outside the square, to take the business from cottage industry to serious corporate enterprise. It meant having a marketing budget for activities like engaging a marketing consultant, sponsoring industry bodies, offering professional training to staff.
Q: You have a wide range of business interests – how would you explain what ‘good business’ is to others?
A: I believe there are three essential elements to good business; your clients, your staff and your own professional expertise.
Develop a clientele that enjoys the best possible experience from your service. This includes the referrer who shares your desire to deliver the best transactional service and the customer who receives it.
Find the staff who fit the culture of your business and who also feel rewarded for their efforts. They are, after all, the people who are the face of the business and deliver the service.
Ensure you and your team are always at the top of your game. You can never stop learning.
Most importantly, enjoy each day.
Q: What’s the biggest change you’ve witnessed in your time in the industry?
A: The move to computer-based conveyancing software, the increasing use of email as a means of communication and the digitising of Land Services data has enabled more efficient management of files and have been important changes. But by far the biggest impact on the whole industry has been the introduction of electronic conveyancing. We have moved from an archaic paper-based system to an online, convenient, secure means of property conveyance.
Q: What are the big opportunities ahead?
A: There are enormous opportunities for those who dare to dream. E-conveyancing will take care of much of the administrative and clerical tasks and enable greater time to be spent on providing truly professional advice to clients. The successful conveyancing practice will be more flexible in its location, staffing and technology. It will be more nimble in adapting to the ever changing business environment and offer exciting challenges for the conveyancer of the future.
Q: What are your personal views on digital disruption of conveyancing?
A: Conveyancing is already the beneficiary of digital technology as mandated changes come into being, driven by the introduction of e-conveyancing. States have brought about more uniformity in conveyancing processes and individual practices are seeing the advantages of digitising their workplace.
It’s only disruptive if you allow it to be. Automation, digital technology leading to Artificial Intelligence in the workplace is ongoing.
You can embrace it or allow your business to be disrupted.