SmartSessions: Building Lasting Relationships: How We Support Our Clients

In this episode of SmartSessions, Host Oliver Telfor is joined by two of SmartSearch's top experts to discuss a topic central to our success: Customer Success and Client Management.

Join us as we talk to Collette Smith, Chief Customer Officer, and Katie Brooksbank, Head of Client Operations, about the philosophy behind building lasting client relationships. We explore how SmartSearch moves beyond transactional sales to become a genuine partner in our clients' compliance journey.

The conversation covers:

• The key strategies that drive our high client retention rates.
• How effective client management ensures our users are not only compliant but also getting the maximum value from our platform.
• The crucial role that communication and proactive support play in a rapidly changing RegTech landscape.

If you're a compliance professional, a business leader, or simply curious about what it takes to deliver exceptional service, this episode offers valuable insights into our client-centric approach.

Transcript

Episode Guests: Collette Smith (Chief Customer Officer) and Katie Brooksbank (Head of Client Operations) Host: Oliver Telfor

Oliver Telfor: Hi, welcome to another episode of SmartSessions, a podcast by SmartSearch where we talk about all things AML, regulations, and stuff that affects us in the RegTech industry. Today, I'm joined by two of our people from our customer success team. I'm gonna ask them to introduce themselves in a moment, and what we're going to talk about is customer success and how we sort of manage clients here at SmartSearch. So, before we begin, Collette and Katie, just introduce yourselves and let's get on with the show.

Collette Smith: Hi, I'm Collette Smith. I'm Chief Customer Officer at SmartSearch. So, I'm responsible for all of our existing customers and the experience that all of our lovely clients go on when they join SmartSearch.

Katie Brooksbank: Yeah, I'm Katie Brooksbank. I'm Head of Client Operations at SmartSearch. I've been here 11 years now. My responsibility is looking after all of our core markets, so all the regulated industries across all the sectors.

Oliver Telfor: Perfect. Okay. So, we'll start with regulations, which is where we want to begin. Regulations can often feel like challenges, but they also present us as a business with opportunities, but also our clients with opportunities as well. Just from a basic level, how does SmartSearch help clients with regulations and how do we help them with these changes?

Katie Brooksbank: Yeah, so I mean, for us, it's all about the proactive communications and making sure that we're seen as a trusted source for our clients. So we understand that it can be quite disruptive for them. So what we aim to do is reduce any sort of anxiety or concerns that the clients have about how the regulations impact them. So that's whatever sector that is, whatever regulation change that might be. We try to build confidence with our clients by obviously producing the materials ahead of time, having that proactive conversation with them, but also we do a lot of ad hoc sort of training and support for the client throughout the journey as well. So it's not just throwing a lot of information out there; it's making sure that we're really meaningful in the contact that we're having with those clients. We just want to make sure that whatever changes that they have to adapt to, they can use the SmartSearch platform and the service we offer with the least friction. Make sure that it's all efficient for them.

Collette Smith: I think it's an interesting point as well around how we can make that experience as frictionless as possible. As ourselves as a business, we really understand what it's like to implement transformation and change. And for some companies, these can be quite substantial process changes driven by regulations. So it's really important that they're working with a partner who understands the challenges that brings and makes sure that they're supporting them as effectively as possible, so that that's as little stress and as little impact as it needs to be. We work really hard at reducing that friction.

Oliver Telfor: Yeah, because I mean, we work with a lot of sectors, so it's not just one sector that we work with, and obviously different regulations affect different sectors differently. So this year, you know, two that kind of stand out would be regulatory changes in letting agencies and also ECCTA, which obviously affects quite a lot of businesses across the board irrespective of sector. Collette, can you just talk us through what that was and how we kind of deal with it?

Collette Smith: Yeah. So we've probably had relatively quite a lot of regulatory change having an impact this year. So the first, you mentioned the letting agent changes. Previously, only letting arrangements over 10,000 euros a month were required to conduct these additional checks, but the government is really trying to crack down in the real estate and letting space. So what we're seeing now is all letting agents brought under this regulation. So it is a big shift in the industry, especially for businesses that are not used to having to report on any of this stuff. What it means in terms of practicality is that these businesses now need to conduct their customer due diligence. If they're noticing any suspicious activity they have to report that. They have to check and make sure that any of their potential clients, landlords or tenants, are on any sanctions lists as well. So if a business is not used to doing any of these checks, it is quite a big process shift. As Katie mentioned earlier, we've been proactively thinking about the best way we can support businesses with this transition and change. We have a lot of property businesses that use us already for sales, so some of those are looking to expand how they use SmartSearch for their lettings businesses as well. But it's also new companies that haven't had to do this before. We really understand that everyone has various levels of understanding of the impact of these changes. And so we work really hard to make sure that they've got the information to do that quickly and easily, but also that they've got a solution, so a platform that streamlines all of that process and makes it as easy as possible. Because we all know ultimately clients just want to move on, win customers, run successful businesses, and so it can really feel like a burden if this isn't handled or managed in an effective manner. So that's been a big shift in the property space.

Then we've also got the ECCTA, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. This one's been bubbling around for a while, so I think it was October 2023 when this was first enacted, which has meant that in theory people have had quite a bit of time to get used to this. But as is always the case with some of these things, the reality only really hits when things start to get a bit more serious. So I think it was May 2024 that Companies House got the power to enforce some of these changes. So it's when things start to get a bit more serious for businesses that have a requirement to conduct these additional checks. What it means is that anyone that is recording information at Companies House, uploading documents, or incorporating a new business, they need to make sure that they've validated the identities of the directors and the PSCs (Persons of Significant Control), the beneficial owners. So they need to run additional checks and prove that they've done so. This is voluntary currently, but it is moving to mandatory. So everyone needs to be prepared to start doing this on all of the businesses that they interact with. So it's another case of it represents a real important focus on minimizing the amount of fraud that goes on at Companies House. It definitely needs to happen and businesses need to get on board with it, but that doesn't dismiss the impact that it has on businesses in terms of implementing this change and having to now add new processes, conduct more verification. And so our role to play in that is, again, thinking about how we can proactively support them on understanding the impact to them as businesses, but then providing a solution that allows them to meet all of these new regulations in a much easier, much more seamless way than doing all of this manually.

Oliver Telfor: So that's just two aspects though, you know, two aspects of regulations and two changes. Obviously, there's a lot more in the world that we work in. In terms of that proactiveness and obviously from a customer success and client beneficiary point of view, how do we make clients feel supported that we understand those changes, but also why is it important not to just be like, "these changes have come in, this is how we can do it"? How is it that we actually walk them through these changes and work with them to make sure they're A) compliant, but also B) feel like they've got a partner who can sort of guide them through the regulations, not just "here's a piece of a solution that can fix something"?

Katie Brooksbank: Yeah, I think it's a good point, and it's something that in customer success, since I've been here for 11 years, we've always been really ahead of the regulations and making sure that our technology is fit for purpose and actually exceeds the requirements. So the fact that, you know, we talk about ECCTA and the need to verify the directors and checking the identities, we've got the solution there. Clients might have been concerned by this piece of regulation that's come out that's suddenly going to impact them, but a lot of the time it's just giving them the confidence that actually a lot of what they need to do they're either already doing or they can already do through our solutions. And the way that we do that is through the success reviews that we have with our existing clients, and we make sure that at the forefront of any conversation with them is anything that's gonna impact them in their business. And moving to the sector-specific account management team, at the moment, we have experts and we can demonstrate that we're experts by understanding the regulations of the changes that are coming and demonstrating that through the conversations that we're having. We can go back to what Collette said about it's not just existing clients, though, it's new clients. So we make sure that as part of our onboarding, we do really bespoke, tailored training sessions for any clients coming on board. And again, the expert knowledge that we have can come through there. We really understand how we're gonna fit into their processes. So we can also take that approach for any new change that comes in, whether it be lettings, whether it be ECCTA to those sectors, and offer refresher training and refresher support, making sure that we're specific to any changes in regulation or any new use cases they need for our solutions. So, you know, we look at some of our clients as well in terms of the configuration on the platform. So we've got a really agile system that we can adapt to the client's needs. So again, coming down to being proactive and demonstrating that we're the experts and that we're there to support them through the changes rather than just "off you go, new regulation, here's a system." We really want to work with our clients to become that trusted partner, to make sure that any questions they have on anything, they can come to us and we can be that area of support for them.

Collette Smith: I think just from a product point of view as well, like Katie says, if the regulatory changes mean that we maybe need to add an addition to the platform or enhance an existing product, we are doing that proactively. We're not waiting until this thing hits and then people go, "to meet this legislation, I need to do X." I think it's that proactive approach to making sure that it's a solution that fits them, not just today, but long into the future as well. But you're right. Ultimately, it's no good just having that solution. People need to really understand how it's gonna make them successful in their business. And a lot of it is an education piece.

Katie Brooksbank: Yeah. We've done a lot of Q&A sessions as well with the team and the clients. We're very proactive with the webinars that we're putting out and make sure that as much information as we can get out there, the better, so that we've got the consistent messaging and people can just be reassured that we're ahead of the game. But it is really the value in the conversations that the customer success team are having with the clients that emphasizes that and really demonstrates our knowledge and expertise in the area.

Collette Smith: And I think we're really proud of the team that we've got because they're all working really hard at how we can drive additional value for our customers, and they take massive pride in the fact that they're not just here to be people who tell them how to use a product. They're there to help the customers be successful, help them win their customers through trusted identities that we provide. So I think that really sets us apart and is why people choose SmartSearch, because we're not just a solution or a product, we're a whole package of a high-quality service that is something they can trust to be compliant on an ongoing basis.

Oliver Telfor: I think that we want to be seen, and I think we are seen with clients in general, that we're not just, as you said, a product that plugs into your business and off you go. It's actually the, there's, you know, we're humans. We can have conversations, we just work in tech, and that's how it works. And in terms of that piece, in terms of having a trusted partner, you know, we're, we're giving clients a solution that helps their own clients as well and help their business grow. But in terms of our business growth here at SmartSearch and sort of changes, we talk about changing regulations, but we're also changing in our business. Collette, you had a change in role this year. Can we kind of talk about those changes at SmartSearch, what has happened and why we've done them, and how it actually benefits us and our clients as a business? It's not just "we're changing this and off we go."

Collette Smith: I'll let Katie talk a bit about the pods in a a second, but I think, so yeah, for me personally, I previously was looking after all of the transformation and growth within SmartSearch. So that is something where I think as a business we recognise that there's so much more value that we can add to our customers. And so we've worked really hard to make sure that as the business scales, we're transforming in a way that supports our customers even better than we did yesterday. So we've made a lot of really positive changes across the business, so right away from our revenue organisation to even in back-office functions to just be more efficient and successful in how we do the things that we do. I think that makes us very good at empathising with some of the challenges that that brings. But a key one has been reshaping our customer-facing teams, both from the sales and customer success side. And that's why we introduced the pod vertical structure.

Katie Brooksbank: Yeah. No, it's been really successful. You know, like any change of this size does come with challenges, but we've got such a resilient team that they've risen to it and they really see the benefit. And it's not just benefit for us internally, you know, the guys have got chance to become a real expert in their sector, but it's also beneficial for the clients. So they know that from the first contact they have with SmartSearch, they're speaking to an expert in their sector, whether that be the Sales Development Representative, whether it's the sales team right through to customer success. So it gives them consistency that whoever they're talking to here really understands their industry and also their specific needs. So I think that's been a real, real benefit that clients have mentioned to us and that we've seen.

And I think then once they become clients, as I've mentioned before, we can be really, really proactive with the regulations and the requirements for those sector specifics. Because, you know, we could be talking to a hundred clients about lettings, about ECCTA, about, you know, Source of Funds requirements across the legal sector. When you are a customer success executive, you can be talking about lots of different things with lots of different clients, your knowledge can become quite diluted. So you'd still be able to hold a conversation and have a good relationship. But moving to pod-specific means you can really get to grips with the requirements of your clients. And what we've really found is that the team have become so knowledgeable in those regulations. They know where they can focus, they know what will benefit their clients because they're talking to similar clients day in, day out and understanding what's going on in the industry, understanding what's going on with their clients of the same size, in the same area, in the same sectors. And it's really, really powerful for our clients to hear from their CSE what other clients are doing. And again, that just adds to the fact that we are trusted to have these conversations and advise them on what other clients might be doing in their sector. So it's been really, really beneficial in that sense.

Oliver Telfor: And I think it's just, just, it's kind of the last one from me because you've sort of covered a lot, but in terms of that, other clients learning from other clients, because we don't, you know, one size doesn't fit all and we don't box one thing off into a particular area. So how does our customer success team then manage those changes effectively, but also for, just going back from a client perspective, knowing that we have a breadth of knowledge across a number of industries? It's not like, you know, business A works in law, we don't have any other law clients. Actually, we have a huge array of law clients. So we can have it from a, from a customer success perspective, but also from a client perspective, how should that make them feel and why should they be confident within SmartSearch?

Katie Brooksbank: I mean, it's really, really important for us in here to be knowledge sharing. So yes, we've got different size law firms, we've got law firms from different areas. We've got different areas of regulated law within there. But what we are really, really good at is sharing that knowledge. So that's again, right from the SDRs to the sales team, to the customer success team. We have pod meetings where we're sharing trends in the industry, what clients are saying to us, what really valuable information we can use to make the experience better for our clients. So that might be, you know, we might need to adapt part of the platform because we're hearing this from our clients, or we're hearing this from our prospects. By opening that communication internally and working together, we're making some really, really good changes. And then the benefit again, to our clients, is that we can then confidently say to them, you know, we're hearing this, we're hearing this from your industry, and we're making these changes. You know, we are actively asking them for feedback on how we can improve the solution. So again, it's just adding to the fact that we are a trusted partner rather than just a platform that they're using.

Collette Smith: And we're looking at ways where we can take that even further, because in effect, what we've got is a fantastic network of businesses in their respective sectors. So we're looking at how we can use that more and again, offer more value. We're looking at future events that bring clients who are in the same sector together, so they can start them also sharing their experience and being able to talk about some of their challenges. And obviously as SmartSearch, we want to be able to make sure that they understand how they can make the most from the platform as well. So I think to Katie's point, it's not just about how we use it internally, but it's also the added value that it brings for our customers. Because they might go to an AML or compliance provider that has a diverse group of clients, but if they're not offering them that opportunity to be part of this really amazing network of similar businesses in their space who are using the best technology out there, I know if I was a law firm or a property firm, I'd be thinking, well, yeah, I want to use what other people are using, and I want to make sure it's trusted by my peers. And that's exactly what we can offer them. You know, we're used by, I think it's one in three of the top law firms, and the same in the accountancy space. You know, people can use SmartSearch knowing that it is the chosen provider by their sector.

Oliver Telfor: Perfect. I mean, that was really comprehensive, a really good overview of our customer success and why SmartSearch. And if you want to know more about SmartSearch and what we can offer and the industries and the pods that we work in, go to smartsearch.com, and we can find a solution that's right for you and your business. So Collette and Katie, thank you again for joining us, and tune in next time. Thanks.