Nobody Should Have to Ring for an Update

Tuesday afternoon, 3.18pm. The buyer has called asking whether the searches are back. The vendor has emailed asking whether exchange is still likely this month. Your sales progressor is already chasing the buyer’s solicitor, waiting for the vendor’s solicitor to answer an enquiry, and trying to work out whether the mortgage offer has actually been issued.

Nobody has done anything wrong. But nobody has a clear answer either.

I spent ten years on the agency floor, and I know how quickly this becomes the normal rhythm of sales progression: open the CRM, check the latest note, ring one solicitor, leave a voicemail, ring another, update the vendor, then take another call from the buyer asking the same question.

It should not work like that. A chain should be able to tell people where it stands without everyone having to ring for an update.

The problem is not always the solicitor

Conveyancing naturally contains periods where there is no dramatic news. Searches are being carried out. A draft contract is being reviewed. A mortgage lender is assessing an application. One solicitor is waiting for information from another party.

The problem is that “nothing has changed” rarely gets communicated clearly.

That silence creates work for everyone else. The buyer rings the estate agent. The vendor rings the sales progressor. The sales progressor rings the solicitor. The solicitor may then update their client, who rings the agent again because they are not sure whether the rest of the chain knows.

Before long, the same question is being asked four or five times:

“Any news?”

A good sales progressor is often the glue holding the chain together. They know which property is dependent on which, who is waiting for a mortgage offer, whether enquiries have been answered and whether the proposed completion date is still realistic.

But much of that knowledge sits in inboxes, phone notes and individual memories.

Whether an agency uses Reapit, Alto or Dezrez, the CRM can only help if the latest information is recorded consistently. A solicitor’s update sitting in one person’s Outlook inbox does not help the negotiator covering their day off. A note saying “chased” does not tell the vendor what was chased, when it happened or what is expected next.

The Law Society’s Conveyancing Protocol recognises the importance of clear communication and agreed timescales. In practice, agencies need their own reliable way of turning scattered updates into something buyers and vendors can understand.

What this costs your agency

The obvious cost is time.

If a sales progressor spends ten minutes checking and relaying each update, that may not sound significant. Multiply it across several live chains, several times a week, and it becomes a large part of the day.

The less obvious cost is interruption. A progressor who is constantly answering “any news?” calls has less time to deal with the work that genuinely needs judgement: identifying a risk in the chain, getting the right person involved, negotiating a realistic date or spotting that a buyer is losing confidence.

There is also the risk to the relationship.

Buyers and vendors do not expect every stage to move instantly. They do expect to know what is happening. A short update saying, “Searches are still outstanding; they were ordered on Monday and we are expecting them next week,” is very different from silence.

For an agency handling several instructions at once, a slow or unclear update process can affect reviews, referrals and trust. In the worst cases, it can contribute to a buyer or vendor believing that nobody is in control.

A self-updating chain is possible

The answer is not to send meaningless automated messages every day. It is to make the important milestones visible and send a useful update when something changes.

The basic structure could look like this:

Memorandum of sale issued → parties added to the chain → milestone recorded → responsible person identified → update sent to the right people → next action logged.

For example, when the sales progressor records that the draft contract has been received, the system could send a clear message to the buyer and vendor:

“Your sale has reached the draft contract stage. The solicitors are now reviewing the paperwork. The next expected step is responses to any outstanding enquiries. We will update you again when that changes.”

When searches are returned, the message can be tailored. When a mortgage offer is received, the buyer’s position can be updated. When one solicitor confirms that enquiries have been answered, the vendor can be told what that means without needing to interpret legal language.

The same information can be available internally in Reapit, Alto or Dezrez, so the branch manager, negotiator and covering administrator see the same position.

A properly configured AI assistant can help with the repetitive part:

• Read an incoming update from an approved mailbox
• Identify the property, chain and milestone
• Suggest the relevant CRM note
• Flag missing information or conflicting dates
• Prepare a plain-English update for approval
• Send the message by email or WhatsApp Business once authorised
• Record what was sent and when

The sales progressor remains responsible for judgement. The system should not decide that a chain is safe, promise an exchange date or give legal advice. It should not interpret a complicated enquiry or tell a buyer whether they should proceed.

If a solicitor writes something unclear, the assistant should flag it for a person. If a chain contains a vulnerable customer, a dispute or a serious delay, the matter should go straight to the right member of staff.

The purpose is simple: fewer routine status calls, better records and more time for the progressor to deal with the issues that cannot be handled by a template.

There are important controls. Buyers, vendors and solicitors should understand how their information is being used. Access must be limited to the appropriate people, communications should be retained sensibly and the process should comply with GDPR. Every update should leave an audit trail showing the source, the approval and the recipient.

What this looks like at Nexform AI

At Nexform, I start by looking at how your agency actually progresses a sale.

Where do solicitor updates arrive? Who checks them? What gets recorded in Reapit, Alto or Dezrez? Which messages are sent manually? Where do buyers and vendors start calling because the process has gone quiet?

We then scope a focused Discovery and recommend a paid Pilot, usually between £3,000 and £8,000 depending on the systems, number of branches and level of approval required. The Pilot might cover one type of milestone update or one branch’s sales progression process.

If it proves useful, we move to a wider Build. If the process does not produce enough value or the data is not reliable enough, I will say so. You can read more about our Discovery and Pilot process and CRM and API integrations.

The aim is not to remove the sales progressor. It is to stop highly capable people spending their day repeating information that has already been recorded somewhere else.

Nobody should have to ring for an update

A buyer should not need to call the branch to find out that searches are still outstanding. A vendor should not have to chase simply to learn that the mortgage offer has arrived. A solicitor should not have to repeat the same chain position to three different people.

The human conversation still matters. The judgement still matters. But the basic position of the chain should be visible, current and easy to understand.

If solicitor chasing and “any news?” calls are taking time away from proper sales progression, book a 30-minute Discovery call. We will look at your current process, identify where updates are being lost and outline what a £3,000–£8,000 Pilot could cover before any wider Build is considered.

About the author

Phil Yassein is the founder of Nexform AI. He spent 10 years in UK estate agency before building practical automation around the problems he experienced first-hand. Nexform AI is an approved Crown Commercial Service supplier and works with UK agencies on Discovery, Pilot and Build engagements.