A time to reflect, juggle and innovate

AUSTRALIAN Conveyancer: How did you end up in conveyancing?

Shakila Maclean: I spent time in a law firm working on some conveyancing files when a team member went on maternity leave and somehow, I had a fair bit of on-the-job training. The question of whether people are getting the right training is a big bugbear for the industry. The legislation says you need 12 months work experience but is it enough? 

AC: Describe a key difference between the industry today versus when you started?

SM: When I started, everything was very manual and labour-intensive. We bound contracts, printed documents and put ‘sign here’ stickers on them, then posted them out and waited for them to come back. If there was a cash purchase, you’d do things like stamping and registration by running to the State Revenue Office and the Title’s office. Now we’re seven some years of being paperless. You can send everything to your client via PDF and they can sign it documents. The parameters of how our business is run are the same, but how we run our practices is very different.

AC: How do you juggle being president with your work at All Hours Conveyancing?

SM: I juggle running my business, the president role and being a mum and a wife. We’ve recently done a restructure at the AIC, so I’ve been heavily involved in that. Sometimes I drop a ball, but if being a conveyancer’s taught me anything, it’s to be very organised. Conveyancers work on dates, calendars and tasks and being able to task everything has been a key reason for my success. I’m also okay to delegate. Since becoming president, I’ve been really fortunate to have a supportive and united committee. The juggling is one thing, but like anything, it’s having the right team around you.

AC: What are your personal career goals for 2024?

SM: This year is about boundaries and managing my time better.

Over the last couple of years the boundaries have just been out the door if I can set boundaries for example by putting my phone on silent, I’m getting on with my task and can service everybody better. Business wise, I’m looking at a brand refresh and really ensuring we’ve identified our ideal client.

AC: What megatrends are influencing the industry right now?

SM: Cybercrime is a big national issue. There needs to be enough consumer and practitioner education about what they need to do. We should really have a system setting out the minimum needed for a cyber system. Victoria is about to announce our cyber framework. Other issues is obviously interoperability and the impact on the consumer and subscriber and vertical integration and the ongoing threat to the national conveyancing profession.

AC: What key regulatory changes are ahead for conveyancers?

SM: In Victoria, major land tax changes were introduced in January. It’s fantastic news and something we’ve had to prepare and provide education around. Further changes are coming into play around June or July. 

AC: How are conveyancers perceived by the industry?

SM: I think we’re definitely undervalued. We need more consumer education around the importance of a conveyancer, what they do and that it’s not just a paper shuffle. If your conveyancer gets it wrong, you’ll really understand the value of a good conveyancer because fixing a mistake is costly and time consuming.

AC: What other issues are you noticing in the industry right now?

SM: In Victoria, some ageing members are selling up great big practices, which are being purchased by conveyancers that are a inexperienced or enough time hasn’t been spent transferring knowledge. For conveyancers, service is personalised and clients have an expectation already if they’ve dealt with you. But those who’ve sold their businesses say they aren’t being run the same way. These businesses are then being sold again or run to the ground. these business owners worked really hard for a long time, made a successful career and had good businesses with good turnovers. It will be interesting to see how things can be done better. Then again, some dynamic practitioners are coming on board with their own practices who are really great operators. We have raised a few concerns with our regulator and these are being addressed and hopefully we can announce these soon. 

AC: Are industry changes inevitable with the move towards digital and AI?

SM: The Changes are inevitable. Previously, you used to go to the Titles office to search titles and now it’s electronic. We used to settle via paper so you’d have four parties attend at a location and transfers and cheques and documents got checked and today it happens all electronically, which is welcomed.

In terms of Ai, it’s having the right knowledge around it. I don’t necessarily know how it can help day-to-day in my conveyancing business. It’s great to ask Siri what the weather is but can you trust AI to read a contract? Probably not. It’s also about making sure people don’t cut corners and errors that way. 

AC: What issues should be on the radar for conveyancers?

SM: Conveyancers need to understand cybersecurity and the impact of your business being hacked and ensure they have the right cyber framework for their business. Now is also a good time for conveyancers to do some housekeeping and streamline workflows if you haven’t already. Also question if there’s a better way to do things. Make sure your team understands you should not be cutting corners. That’s really important because a lot of people can quite quickly fall into bad habits.

AC: How can conveyancing firms best protect themselves from hackers?

SM: Conveyancers need to really wake up to the fact that if it’s happened to Optus and Medicare, it can happen to us. AIC Victoria is just about to bring in a cybersecurity framework for their members and suggestions for our members that will give them perspective on what they need to do. I often question whether the practitioner does not understand what’s required, so therefore they don’t value a cyber threat enough to give it the time and attention it needs? 

AC: How does the adoption of tech advancements affect workflows?

SM: I’m a big supporter of technology to make life that little bit easier. If you can streamline your processes and have systems in place, you can really become more profitable, time efficient in the long run.

AC: Are conveyancers who fail to adapt to new technology in danger of dying?

SM: If you don’t adapt, you’ll always get left behind. At some point you have to make some changes, but if you choose not to, is your business going to be relevant? Will people want to do business with someone that posts things out over three or four weeks when they know another business will email it to you literally that afternoon?

AC: How can firms best embrace these technology changes?

SM: Personally, I read up on any changes and investigate and ask questions of my peers. I found once I joined the AIC as a member, I had the AIC community support I needed, which was really helpful. It allows you to meet others hear their ways and we canlearn from our peers them and compare business ideas, which is really positive. When you implement anything, you’ll have good and bad days. On a really good day it will make sense that you did it.

AC: Conveyancers are busy people. How should  firms best stay on top of trends?

SM: Learn the pros and cons before you implement anything. My strategy is to always do as much research as you can, because at the end of the day your team is affected by the decision and you’ve got to be able to support them through it. I make sure my team staff are embracing it because that will make the transition much easier.

AC: Can AIC do even more to help conveyancers in this regard?

SM: Yes, absolutely. If we hear about something from an AIC perspective, we’re onto it. For example, if there’s new software product out for conveyancers, we won’t know about it unless we’re contacted about it. It’s really important these providers contact us so we can make arrangements to promote it among our members.

AC: Ideally, what would you like to do as president?

SM: We’ve gone through a lot of growth and change in the last 12 months as an organisation. We’ve always been a big provider of education and professional development to members, but the next part for us now is to provide more education than we have before and do it better, so members can get the most out of us. The AIC.

AC: With living high costs and interest rates still biting, how do you see the volatility in the property market playing out?

SM: Some members are saying they are flat out and others are quiet or not at capacity. The question is, are different parts of the state having different outcomes or is it actually just how you run your business?

When you’re in business, the biggest thing is you ride the waves – it can’t always be buoyant, great times. There are people probably reading this that have been through the recession and 18 percent interest rates. Everyone has a story. Many people clients are also coming off fixed rates, so that will be where people need to offload, which needs more conveyancing – but then someone’s got to be able to buy it on the other end.

AC: Buying property is high-stakes and stressful. How important is it for conveyancers to ensure the customer journey is pain-free?

SM: That should be part of your client journey . It’s not just about preparing the documents and fundamentals to settle a file – you’ve got to make sure customer needs are met. Sometimes some of us joke around in Melbourne that we’re not just a conveyancer, we’re a magician, psychologist and therapist. We wear many hats and play all those parts and all of a sudden, we’re creating the customer journey without even realising it. It’s that commitment to our clients that makes our customers feel like their journey was seamless.

AC: Is there anything that can be done better?

SM: Absolutely. With business in general, there’s so much we can all do better and it goes in so many ways. For instance, it could be how someone answers your phone at work if they’ve had a really bad day. You’ve got to have the right people on the tools. It’s also knowing what sort of conveyancer clients are looking for. Some conveyancers are excellent at dealing with the hard stuff and some don’t want to do that matters.

AC: The impact of climate events on land zoning and property values is becoming more talked about. What obligations, if any, should conveyancers have in their duty of care to protect buyers?
SM: When acting for a vendor, it’s important you disclose and put in all the relevant certificates needed. There’s no point trying to cut corners or save the client money, because at the end of the day you need to put the relevant information in. When acting for a purchaser, if the relevant information is in the Contract of Sale and Section 32, you can review the contract before they sign, or it goes to auction and then you can review and disclose all that information to your client.