Jo Unwin has been the Operations Manager at SAS Daniels for 17 years. In that time, she has overseen the firm’s adoption of Search Acumen’s suite of digital tools for property transactions. This has delivered major time and cost savings while reducing risk and improving service levels.
Q: How have Search Acumen’s tools changed the way you work?
A: The integrated suite of Search Acumen tools has fundamentally improved efficiency and streamlined workflows at SAS Daniels. By using the full suite of tools, which fit together like a “jigsaw puzzle,” we have realised much greater benefits compared to using individual applications in isolation. The tools reduce duplicative data entry and manual effort by automatically feeding data into the system. This saves considerable time while also improving accuracy and compliance. Lawyers no longer have to double-handle information but can instead use the one-stop-shop of tools to streamline processes. More specifically, the automated reports take pressure off lawyers, while still ensuring compliance, giving us peace of mind.
Meanwhile, electronic document completion provides a competitive edge by making client onboarding faster and simpler. We recently decided to expand the use of the tools to the commercial real estate team.
In summary, the integrated Search Acumen platform has been transformative at SAS Daniels by reducing manual processes, minimising duplicated effort, improving compliance, and enhancing the client experience.
Q: How has the full range of Search Acumen tools benefited your firm?
A: We’ve been using Search Acumen for the last seven years and, over that time, they have become an invaluable partner while we work towards digitising and streamlining our processes.
The one-stop-shop approach is beneficial in several ways. Firstly, it has played a vital role in helping the team adapt to using the platform. When we rolled it out, having a single login and operating system, ensuring it was a simple and smooth transition. Seeing the success in our residential practice made adopting the tools for commercial transactions an obvious next step. The AML and biometric functionality also supported wider rollout.
Q: Can you quantify the time and cost savings?
A: The efficiencies are vast. Handling is reduced significantly by automated data flows, ensuring information only needs inputting once. This boosts accuracy and compliance. By eliminating duplication and administration, lawyers can progress more complex casework, rather than getting bogged down with data entry.
Q: How do Search Acumen’s tools give you a competitive edge?
A: We truly appreciate the speed and ease of our onboarding and digital document processes that Search Acumen’s tools provide. There is no duplication of data entry, removing the propensity for human error and freeing up our time to focus on tasks that make use of our skills as lawyers. This provides clients with a better service, giving us an edge over our competitors. Working with Search Acumen also mitigates many data risks.
We have taken an ‘all in’ approach at SAS Daniels, jumping in with both feet into the digitalisation world, exploring new tools, seeing how they work and then moving on to the next – a trial and adapt model. This has helped us accelerate our use of technology and stay ahead of the field, giving us a slight margin over our competitors who are yet to welcome digitalisation, and Search Acumen’s tools, into their arsenal.
Q: What makes Search Acumen stand out as a partner?
A: We are on a continuing journey to digitise all the processes we can, and we know Search Acumen will advise us on emerging innovations and how to integrate them into our workflow. They keep us ahead of the game with new technologies and digital processes that will only improve our delivery for clients and simplify our interaction with data. The impact of a good technology partner is so significant that we don’t need to spend time prospecting in the market for incoming innovation, instead relying on Search Acumen to share with us the changes that we will be seeing in the industry.
Having worked with Search Acumen for so long, we have developed a great relationship and trust their exceptional backup support. We know exactly who to speak to for help tailoring the tools to our needs and whenever we have questions, we know we can rely on them to help. They are our ‘go-to’ when it comes to all things digitalisation. We often leave comments and suggestions with the team, and see these requests come to life in the tools they create. This collaborative approach ensures we remain at the frontier of legal tech and have the support we need to get us there.
Would you like to hear more on Digital Transformation at Search Acumen?
Have a read our our blog, ‘The importance of prioritising digitalisation, especially AI’, written by Andrew Lloyd here.
