Delivering a better customer experience with Rickards Oliver.

Website: www.rosurveyors.co.uk

Services:

Help to buy valuations, Shared Ownership and Staircasing Valuations, Right to Acquire Valuations, Expert Witness Valuations, RICS Level 2 Home Survey (with or without valuation), RICS Level 3 Home Survey , Housing disrepair expert reports, Specific Defect Reports, Commercial Property Surveys and Schedule of Condition.

About Rickards Oliver

The firm is a family business established, owned, and run by husband and wife team Richard Ballam and Monica Ballam. All surveying and valuation work is carried out by Richard who is a Chartered Surveyor and Chartered Building Engineer with over 20 years’ experience.

The firm is regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) which assures its clients that all work is carried out with diligence, care, and proper regard for the needs of our clients.

The company covers the Northwest including Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Blackburn and Crewe.

Surventrix spoke with Richard Ballam about his career and all things surveying.

Richard is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) and a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (C.Build E FCABE)

How did your career begin?

My first job was as a research chemist. I wanted to become an industrial chemist, did a PHD, and had a serious accident, falling from a ladder in a parish church. I broke my femur in 9 places. This meant I had several months in rehabilitation, and would have had to start my PHD again from scratch.

I returned back to Manchester, got some dead-end office jobs, and ended up working at Abbey National, reading mortgage offers and survey reports.

I’ll always remember reading a surveyor’s report. In the general marks area, it said ‘Appears Satisfactory’. I looked at the fees and for £400 a word I could do that. I left my job and enrolled at university and trained as a surveyor. Following that I joined Countrywide.

When did you qualify as a surveyor?

I qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2003 and have a wide range of surveying and valuation experience across North West England and North Wales gained from working in a mix of large and small firms and carrying out a full range of residential survey and valuation work for mortgage lenders and private clients.

What made you start your own business?

I worked in the corporate world all my surveying career. I was doing a senior job in Watford. My wife had started working and it just wasn't working for the family by being away so much. I’d always wanted to start my own business. So now is the time, and I want to do it for myself and focus on customer service.

One of the problems with corporate jobs is the volume and speed of service. Quality can get lost in that, although there’s a significant place in the market for them. However, there’s also a need for clients who want to pay a bit more and get the type of service they want.

What do you enjoy about working in the property sector?

What I enjoy most about property is the people you meet. The human story.

A bigger house, divorce, or downsizing could all be involved, and it's fascinating. If you look into the history behind the bricks and mortar, there's always a story behind it. As surveyor’s we can write amazing technical reports, but there's a real human story behind it, which makes it exciting.

How have you promoted your firm since launch?

This has been a mix of my own contacts which has led to more referrals.

I’ve put a lot of work into networking, particularly with the Chamber of Commerce and getting myself out and about. I think every surveyor would think have I done the right thing when starting out, especially with a cold start. Now I’m looking into the business metrics, and will join RICS Find a Surveyor directory.

What have you learned during the process of setting up your firm?

I definitely did it at the right time for me. In terms of capability, surveying is a complex business being heavily regulated. Our duty of care is high. For example, Mrs Jones buying her bungalow using her life savings needs a lot of experience. You need to know what you're doing.

I’m also an assessor for Sava. I’d say if people haven't run businesses before, it’s a difficult business to get into that carries risk. It’s always helpful to have a mentor as a surveyor before diving in.

Even though I’m an experienced surveyor, when doing accounting, VAT and running a business you have to be organised and do it properly.

What do you use in your tech stack?

I use an iPad on site, along with Surventrix for residential work and use Sprift for desktop research. This is excellent for getting information out to my clients.

I also use a drone and camera pole, depending on what type of survey is required.

How do you use Surventrix in your firm?

Surventrix allows me to caption my site notes and dictate to my iPad using the app. I take all my notes and photographs on site, and then write up the report back in the office. As a site note collection tool it’s probably the most impressive I’ve used.

I really like the ‘fields left to complete’ feature in the reports section. This counts down as you browse through to understand what’s required in each designated report. If you have one or two left it tells you which one is missing.

I’m using the Apple Pen Kit to create site plans.

Would you recommend Surventrix?

Absolutely! The CRM system is exactly what I wanted. Surventrix helps surveyors to be organised, focus on compliance, and has so many useful tools to support the reporting process from start to finish.