Challenge 

Property Tax Solutions — a Chicago-based legal services firm — was operating in the digital dark ages. Manual workflow methods were restricting growth, bogging down the firm with paperwork, and blunting their competitive edge. Added to that, a new generation of property owners demanded quick and user-friendly web-based options and were virtually unreachable via paper-based marketing. 

Solution

Neologic Software — a boutique software architect for mid-market companies — builds a custom digital ecosystem for PTS. Components include a powerful webpage, algorithm builder, advanced analytics, one-click marketing, and a modern client interface.

Results

• 75% of PTS’s paper-mail clients have gone digital, reducing their claims appeal filing time from hours to less than 5 minutes
• PTS registers triple the County appeal filings of their closest competitors, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic
• By repurposing their staff, PTS saves yearly expense equal to 4.5 employees
• PTS achieves best invoice year yet in 2019 and settles invoice backlog at the fastest pace on record

Property Tax Solutions revolutionizes their business with custom digitization

After retooling their digital ecosystem and streamlining workflows, a Chicago-based law firm is connecting with the next generation of property owners — while boosting profit and edging out their competitors.

Attorney Greg Hilton was in the final stride of another property tax season when he got the bad news. Cook County had announced a last-minute rule change for filing appeals while maintaining the same tight deadline. Property Tax Solutions, Hilton´s legal services firm that helps Chicagoland residents lower their property taxes, was already operating on a razor's edge. The County's eleventh-hour switch meant they would have to revise thousands of appeals forms within a seemingly impossible time frame. And while the firm's proprietary algorithm for assessing property taxes was state-of-the-art, the way they applied it was less than agile.

“We did all our internal workflow manually, ¨ recalls Hilton. ¨And our interaction with our clients was mainly by paper and mail, including our marketing efforts.”

The key inputs for PTS´s algorithms are highly dependent on data tranches released by Cook County, that although scheduled to drop in regular intervals, are often plagued with inconsistency. Manual appeals processing takes several weeks after any new data is received, meaning last-minute changes by the County equaled costly delays for both PTS and their clients. Not only was this a productivity killer in the office, but a new tech-savvy generation of property owners had rewritten the rules of client outreach and retention.

“Our clients wanted a quicker and easier sign-up,” explains Philip Demers, Head of Marketing at PTS.

"The website Neologic created not only provides quick and easy sign-up but also revolutionized our algorithmic client prospector and evidence production once the desired response comes back. From identifying the client to securing their tax reduction, this new website streamlines PTS's operations and enables easy and prompt communication throughout, a goal which the business had simply not delivered on before."

• Philip Demers, Head of Marketing, Property Tax Solutions

Discovering digital transformation

Like many small law firms, PTS lacked a modern operating and marketing framework tailored to their business-specific objectives. Legal work is not only a niche arena but oftentimes county-specific and highly dependent on local laws and regulations. Therefore, a one-size-fits-all digital solution – SaaS, for instance – fails to capture the depth, granularity, and system design flexibility necessary to be effective.

While PTS's path to digitization was uncertain, they had several core goals:

• Digitize, optimize, and automate manual processes
• Make data more consistent so that they can build accurate reports.
• Create a customer-centric web platform
• Produce impactful content to fuel a robust digital marketing strategy 

Via an online search for CRM solutions – where Hilton discarded several options that failed to meet his specialized needs – he discovered Neologic Software. Their capacity to build highly customized solutions led him to reach out, and he quickly saw the pathway to PTS’s full digital potential. After the discovery meeting – a complimentary service in which Neologic evaluated all aspects of PTS's business as well as the prevailing market environment – the building process began. 

“Neologic took our 2000's-era website and built something to last that will remain convenient, relevant, and compelling for years to come.” - Philip Demers, Head of Marketing, Property Tax Solutions

Powerful, agile, and tailor-made for Property Tax Solutions

Data Optimization brings speed and clarity

Property data is in constant flux as people buy, sell, and build new properties. 

“When you cannot screen out a comparable that looks one way on paper but different in reality, you risk giving clients inaccurate quotes,” explains Demers. 

To capture this dynamic in real-time, Neologic created an infrastructure that automatically retrieves rich property data from multiple sources, resulting in sound and precise saving projections. The addition of smart filters allows fast and efficient parsing of the more than 2 million properties in Cook County, each with over 140 data attributes, while storage optimization fuels speed and custom reports. For example, PTS can target single-family homes over $500k in Evanston, homeowners who recently purchased in Oak Park or find the North Chicago homeowners with the highest tax hike in the last two years.

“We'd rather give an accurate quote with perhaps lower savings than an over-optimistic quote that doesn't pan out in the end,” says Demers. “The accuracy of Neologic's platform helps us build better client relationships in the long term.”

Algorithm Builder captures all possible scenarios.

The motivator for most property tax appeals is realizing that a property is taxed disproportionately compared to similar properties nearby. PTS employs a proprietary algorithm to pinpoint the best comparables, then sorts them based on a range of parameters. 

The accuracy of this method shifts based on population density. For example, the population density in Cook County varies from 14,500/sq.m in Berwyn to 450/sq.m in Barrington. There could be hundreds of comparables in a heavily populated area but not a single comparable in a less populated one. The algorithm needs to adjust to preserve the accuracy of the projections. 

To meet this challenge, Neologic developed an Algorithm Builder that supports the use of many data points, facilitates customized algorithms, and gives PTS the power to define new input scenarios as they respond to changing business dynamics.

“Neologic's solution gives us the power to handle mass appeals with a smaller staff.” - Philip Demers, Head of Marketing, Property Tax Solutions

Custom CRM features bring the next generation of customers closer

PTS needed to both maintain existing customers while reaching out and retaining new ones. A range of features assessed, designed, and built specifically for PTS’s client base make this a reality.

• The Webform Builder enables PTS to manage existing forms, create custom forms & contracts, and lets their clients fill out and e-sign all forms via a single web page that returns a completed PDF.
• With the Template Builder, PTS can design custom marketing letters, envelopes, and emails in minutes. 
• The Scenario Builder takes into account the nearly 20 variations in appeals that may arise depending on property type (commercial, condominium, prorated, etc.), allowing PTS to define flow based on each unique client. 
• With the Campaign Builder, PTS can leverage custom reports to pinpoint their target audience for marketing campaigns. 
• In the Client Portal, registered users have their own personalized space where they can check the details and the status of the appeal(s), view appeal results, apply for new appeals, sign forms, subscribe to emails, message client support, and make payments.
• A mobile-friendly Landing Page loads in less than 1 second and allows users to get real-time savings projections that are personalized and accurate. 
• A Research Page where PTS can run fast queries, research property details, search for comparable properties, and test and change algorithms. 
• Additional custom features include Form Generation, Status Tracker, Billing, Custom Reports, and Web Analytics Tool.

“One of the long-standing complaints of this business is when a customer sends forms in and never gets a letter back confirming that it's been received. Now we have an e-mail that fires off immediately after they submit their data. Our customers are constantly commenting on how on-point our communication is.” - Philip Demers, Head of Marketing, Property Tax Solutions

Digitization means winning, even in uncertain times

Hours to minutes

Once PTS's digital transformation was complete and the platform launched, results were immediate. Previously, the sign-up process for appeals was cumbersome and took hours. Now it takes less than five minutes on average. Just two months after launch, PTS matched or exceeded their highest monthly historical sales volume using the new landing page. And backed by better, more robust data, PTS can confidently work with a broader range of property types.

Competitive edge

While PTS’s competitors have also been going digital, the scale of their transformation is limited.  For PTS, their investment in customer-centric features has paid off, even as the COVID-19 pandemic caused several unexpected changes in the industry as a whole.

“In previous years, our number of client appeals filed with Cook County were just about equal with our competitors,” says Demers. “This year, we're on track to close out with triple the filings of our closest competitors, maybe even beyond that.”

More time, more money

PTS has been able to free up hundreds of weekly hours to re-purpose staff towards other areas critical to business growth. Previously, as staff worked overtime to manage appeals, one of several projects on the perpetual back burner was outstanding invoices. After going digital, PTS registered their best invoice year yet.

“Because Neologic’s ecosystem enabled us to do such a good job of closing out 2019, our personnel have been able to go back and start collecting on outstanding invoices back to 2016,” says Demers. “Not only has this generated revenue but also new business as people pay their debt and then sign back up.”

 “Processing recent sales appeals used to be the full-time job of two staffers. After digitization, we've re-purposed staff hours to more productive tasks, and appeals now take up just 1/3 the work hours of one full-time employee.”

"Two full-time people were formerly doing what I can now do by myself in about a third of my time at work. We're spending more time researching quality appeals and identifying and researching special – and potentially lucrative – cases."

- Philip Demers, Head of Marketing, Property Tax Solutions

Digital future in focus

While Property Tax Solutions is a different business today thanks to a custom digital solution, the chaos of tax season and the unpredictability of the Cook County Assessor is alive and well. Recently, the County changed the rules of the appeal to require a current property image, as well as indicate the recent sales status of a property. Had PTS still been processing claims manually – or had they opted for a SaaS solution – this scenario would have threatened the viability of their business. But equipped with Neologic's flexible platform, PTS simply built additional features and affected all the necessary changes on the claim forms within a few days.

“Neologic’s willingness to understand our business was very impressive,” concludes Hilton. “There are all sorts of variabilities and scheduling needs within an assessment cycle, and they took the time to learn the entire practice to build a platform that completely exceeded our expectations.”

“Our employees like work better and are more productive and happier. I'd never thought I'd hear the word 'fun' when talking about working the evidence, but after going digital, that's the kind of feedback we've gotten. It's incredible!” - Philip Demers, Head of Marketing, Property Tax Solutions

About Property Tax Solutions

Founded in 2016 with offices at 16 West Ontario Street in Chicago, Property Tax Solutions has evolved into one of Cook County's premier property tax law firms, receiving a Better Business Bureau A+ Award in 2018. They are driven by quality and integrity to obtain the lowest property taxes allowed by Illinois law. Learn more at www.propertytaxsolutions.com.

About Neologic Software

Neologic Software helps mid-market companies build digital ecosystems that solve business problems and accelerate growth. Most companies have an ecosystem of employees, clients, partners, vendors, prospects, and other relevant stakeholders, but their internal systems aren’t keeping pace with digital transformation and how we interact in today’s world. Neologic partners with them to architect, design, develop, and support custom software for scalable digitization. Ready to write your own digital success story?