The Company: SearchFlow (Landmark Information Group)
SearchFlow is part of Landmark Information, a division of the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT). It is the UK’s leading provider of land and property search information, offering digital mapping, environmental risk reports, and property management tools to professionals such as architects, surveyors, lenders, and estate agents. Landmark’s business units include SearchFlow, ETSOS, Millar & Bryce, and others.
At the time Landmark made up around 20% of DMGT’s revenues and employed around 500 people.
The Project (July 2015 – November 2017)
In 2015, Colin was approached by DMGT, where he had previously worked, to join the board of SearchFlow as Operations Director. His mission was to transform the operations and return the business to growth after a period of decline.
Colin quickly identified operational inefficiencies, including a high staff turnover rate of nearly 100% in the customer services department, which was drastically impacting customer experience. Through significant transformations in business processes and team management, Colin reduced staff attrition to nearly 0%, improved employee morale, and enhanced the overall customer experience, bringing customer churn down to below 5%.
As a result of these changes, new customer acquisition improved, customer retention soared, and the company returned to double-digit revenue growth.
Key Achievements:
- Operations Transformation: Colin restructured and improved operational processes across the business, focusing on increasing efficiency and identifying commercial opportunities.
- Team Retention: Under Colin’s leadership, staff retention increased dramatically, moving from almost 100% turnover to an all-time high in retention, which was crucial in stabilising operations.
- Customer Retention: Colin’s focus on improving the customer experience led to a significant reduction in customer churn to below 5%.
- Revenue Growth: As a result of these operational improvements, SearchFlow’s revenues increased by 28% during Colin’s tenure.
- Salesforce CRM Deployment: Colin led the implementation of Salesforce CRM, providing real-time customer insights that helped increase existing customer revenues by 17%.
- Acquisition of ETSOS: During this time, Landmark acquired ETSOS, a similar searches business. Colin led the integration of ETSOS personnel into the wider SearchFlow team and oversaw the successful merging of operations across two offices. This was vital to ensure operational continuity and alignment with SearchFlow’s growth strategy.
Testimonial – SearchFlow Managing Director
“His knowledge of our business and his application to the work involved to contribute to double-digit profits and some trebling of customer numbers should not be underestimated. Colin is a passionate and extremely valuable member of my senior team and is simply an outstanding person who I would work anywhere with.”
Testimonial – SearchFlow Training and Quality Manager
“I’m a strong believer that people work for people and Colin has this overwhelming ability to make people want to achieve. From the first day I met him he offered nothing but motivation, positivity and excellent judgement. As a Manager he supported and empowered me to achieve more than I’d thought I could. Colin is an excellent leader from whom I learnt so much and feel privileged to have worked with.“
