Seymore, Du Toit & Basson was founded over a decade ago with the vision of building a diverse law firm that prides itself on delivering the best legal services in the Lowveld region. The firm is set on not only setting high compliance standards but also on achieving them as they assure their clients “that when you work with us, you are working with a leading, well-managed and compliant law firm that cares about you and your business.”
With these high standards and values, it was only a matter of time before Seymore, Du Toit & Basson and DocFox partnered together. We had a chat with Ruan van Heerden, a Director at the firm, to find out more about his thoughts on DocFox and to take a look into why the firm chose to partner with DocFox.
The need for automation
Since compliance has always been top of mind at Seymore, Du Toit & Basson they had their processes and compliance knowledge set but found that there was a need to expedite their processes and enforce consistent compliance. Ruan van Heerden, a Director at the firm, gives an example of this by explaining that according to the FIC ACT, prior to beginning a relationship with a client they needed to identify and screen the client. By implementing DocFox it enabled them to do precisely that “it enables us to screen clients and then decide whether or not we want to have a business relationship with them”. What this means is that there is no more back and forth with clients trying to understand who they are, no more getting frustrated with the incorrect documents sent and most importantly being able to identify bad actors before any relationship is formed.
Ruan says the document collection functionality is his favourite DocFox feature and is what has made the biggest difference to him; “To request the document from the clients and once received, get it vetted is what makes my life easier. If you ask my compliance manager he is going to say the fact that the screening is done.”
Avoiding an unpleasant client experience
DocFox has improved the firm’s relationship with clients in that prior to DocFox there would be some instances where things would slip through the cracks, such as a client sending an expired proof of residence and the firm not picking up that it is an outdated or old proof of residence. Ruan explains that what would then happen is that two weeks later if you go back to the client and say to the client “sorry it’s not acceptable because it’s dated” it rightfully so created tension with the client and created an unpleasant client experience. Where at least with DocFox “this system basically within 10 minutes responds to the client and says “sorry, it’s a dated account could you please provide something else or a more recent one”, meaning that an awkward conversation is almost always avoided.
Putting DocFox to the test
It’s all good and well that DocFox simplifies and speeds up the onboarding process but at the end of the day compliance is a very important factor and is why so many law firms have turned to DocFox to assist them. Currently Seymore, Du Toit & Basson are in the final stages of audit and when asked how the audit is going, Ruan tells us that thanks to DocFox he feels well prepared and positive.
Ruan van Heerden, Director
