Interview with Ben Harris, Marketing Director at TM Group

Interview with Ben Harris, Marketing Director at TM Group

Ben Harris is Marketing Director at TM Group and one of the key speakers at this year’s Law Firm Services Conference on Thursday September 17th. He told Today’s Conveyancer why the conference is such an important event in TM Group’s year and what attendees can expect from his talk…

Have you spoken at and attended the conference before?

“Yes, this is my third year speaking and TM have been headline sponsors of the conference since the outset so we’ve always supported it.”

What makes the LFS Conference a particularly interesting event for TM Group?

“LFS has quickly become the leading event in the conveyancing sector and thanks to the quality of firms in attendance along with the speakers and experts at the conference we can get a feel for how the market is treating people. We also really value the opportunity to speak with conveyancers at a point when they’ve taken valuable time out of their schedule and are perhaps considering new ideas and ways of approaching things.”

Is there anything in particular you’ll be covering in your talk of interest to conveyancers regarding the search market?

“We’ve just undertaken a piece of research that’s hot off the press which we’re sure will be of significant interest to conveyancers – a mystery shop of 100 conveyancing firms, many of whom will have representatives at LFS this year. Our findings are documented in a new white paper report which we’ll hand out at the conference and I’ll be running through some of the highlights during my talk, offering hints and tips on how conveyancers can respond to the paper.”

You chat to conveyancers on a day-to-day basis – what do you find are their main concerns?

“In terms of the concerns conveyancers have currently, I’d say we’re hearing more and more around a continuation of a trend of the past few years and that’s how to deal with fraudsters and mortgage fraud in general. It seems that the Law Society has concerns around this too in light of the new practice note brought in to help protect firms from scams.

“And, as ever, we know conveyancers are strapped for time – but then I think we could all do with more of that!”

You’ve been at TM for three years: what’s your ethos when it comes to managing a team?

“When I joined TM customers and other people in the sector were quick to tell me about how innovative TM is and also commended its high level of customer service so we’ve kept both those things as the main focus of the business.

“TM is constantly evolving and innovating – we’re always adapting and improving the way we do things to support the industry and introducing products such as our recent Quote Conversion Tool. It’s free and helps conveyancers have a consistently effective approach towards winning new business.

“Customer-services wise, my approach has been to ensure the teams are structured correctly so everyone is able to do what they’re good at and has the right support to succeed.”

In a recent survey, the customer support system at TM was rated as good or excellent by 9/10 users – how do you plan to maintain that level of service going forward?

“We have a great culture at TM with lots of passionate people and our customer support success is down to them so we make a conscious effort to recognise and reward those who give great service to our clients. Some people view us as a technology company and they’re correct in that – we do develop all of our technology in-house. But it’s the attitude we have when dealing directly with customers that really sets us apart from the competition and we strive to get customer-focussed people into every part of the business.”

We noticed on your biography on the TM website that you like red wine: will you be having a glass at the post-conference awards?

“Yes, once we settle down in the evening I will maybe have a glass!”

To find out more about the other sponsors and speakers at the LFS Conference and Awards, please visit www.lfsconference.co.uk.

For more information about TM Group log on to www.tmgroup.co.uk.

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