How to compare conveyancing services with a dedicated relationship manager

Agents comparing conveyancing services that offer a dedicated relationship manager should look at who the manager is accountable to, what they do when a case stalls, and how they report on the agent’s pipeline. A named contact matters, and the authority that contact has to step in matters more.

A conveyancing relationship manager is the person who looks after an agent’s whole account with a conveyancing firm, in contrast to the conveyancer who handles a single file. Most firms that work with agents say they offer one, so the job title tells an agent very little. This guide explains what the role should cover, sets out a way to compare providers, and describes how relationship management works at Nova Conveyancing.

What does a conveyancing relationship manager actually do?

A conveyancing relationship manager looks after the agent’s account across all cases, not any single file. They keep the agent informed about the pipeline, coordinate the response when service slips, and are the person to call when the usual case-level contact has not resolved a problem.

Agents often deal with three different people at a conveyancing firm, and knowing which one to ask saves time.

Role	Looks after	The agent contacts them about
Relationship manager	The agent’s partnership and pipeline of cases	Patterns across cases, service concerns, referral set-up and training
Account manager	The client on each case, supporting the conveyancer	Day-to-day progress and client updates on a specific case
Conveyancer	The legal work on each file	Legal queries that hold up a specific transaction

How do agents compare conveyancing services that offer a relationship manager?

Compare them on accountability, access, visibility, and learning. Who answers for a delay, how easily the agent can reach the manager, what the agent can see without asking, and what the firm does after a sale falls through all show how the role works in practice, whatever the job title says.

What to compare	Question to ask	What to look for
Accountability	Who is answerable when a case slips?	A named person with authority to coordinate the response, with a clear escalation route
Access	How do we reach the manager, and how quickly do they reply?	A direct contact and a stated response standard
Visibility	What can we see without asking?	A live portal covering all cases and referrals, plus regular updates on the pipeline
Continuity	Is the manager involved only when something goes wrong?	A manager who supports the agent across every transaction, not only the problem cases
Learning	What happens after a case goes wrong?	A review that finds the cause and changes how live cases are handled
Onboarding	Who sets up a new branch?	Training for the branch team and a walkthrough of the client portal

How do relationship managers support referrers at Nova Conveyancing?

Each referrer at Nova Conveyancing has a dedicated relationship manager who is there for them throughout, across every transaction they refer. The relationship manager keeps the referrer updated on their pipeline of cases, helps whenever support is needed, and is the named person to contact from the first referral to completion.

That continuity is the point of the role. The conveyancer and the account manager on each case do the day-to-day work, and the relationship manager stays constant across all of them, so a referrer always knows who to go to with a question, a concern or a request for help on any transaction. Clients have an account manager on every case, which means there is a named person at both levels. The customer charter sets out what clients can expect on each matter.

Why does a dedicated relationship manager matter to an agent’s pipeline?

A dedicated relationship manager matters because chasing for updates, managing an anxious client alone, and not knowing who owns a delay all take negotiator time that could go on new instructions. The role puts one person in charge of the agent’s experience across every case.

The time involved is considerable. Rightmove’s analysis, reported in February 2026, puts the average home move at around five months to complete, which gives a negotiator a long period of client contact on each sale. A conveyancing firm that tells the agent what is happening, including when nothing has moved, reduces the number of those contacts that begin with a question about progress. Agents also benefit from a firm that treats a stalled or collapsed sale as something to examine, and Nova Conveyancing runs a dedicated audit and case review when a transaction does not go to plan, looking for root causes and feeding changes into live and future cases.

What to ask before you choose

The most useful test of a relationship manager is a conversation with them before signing up. Ask them to describe the last time a case went off track for a partner, what they did, and what changed afterwards. A provider with a mature model will have specific answers and will be comfortable giving them, while a provider that relies on the job title will describe the role in general terms. Agents who want to see how Nova Conveyancing answers can start on the Partner with Us page, and the agent reviews show what partners say about working with the team.

Can a single branch have a relationship manager, or only a large group?

Yes. Every referring partner at Nova Conveyancing has a dedicated relationship manager, whether they are a single branch or a Nova Conveyancing’s published standard is that 90% of client and referrer queries are answered within one business day, and in most cases responses are quicker.network. Coverage is across England and Wales, so the same named contact model applies to a one-office agency and to a group.

What response time should an agent expect from a conveyancing firm?

Nova Conveyancing’s published standard is that 90% of client and referrer queries are answered within one business day, and in most cases, responses are quicker.

What happens when a case does not go to plan?

Nova Conveyancing runs a dedicated audit and case review when a transaction stalls or falls away. The review looks for root causes and feeds improvements into live and future cases. That learning loop is worth asking every provider about, because it shows whether problems lead to changes or are simply closed.

Who sets up a new branch with a conveyancing partner?

Under Nova Conveyancing’s standard arrangement, new referrers are set up on the referral platform and receive product training, conveyancing sales training and a walkthrough of the client portal. Both sides appoint a relationship manager as the day-to-day contact, so the branch has a named person from the start.