One of Elliott’s maxims, and one of his recurring themes at conference speeches, is that undercutting the competition on price does not pay in the long run.
“I focus all my time on product and price. What does my customer’s journey look like when they go to my website? What value are we driving for the client in that ecosystem before they actually talk to anybody?” he questioned.
Elliott admitted he learned some very important lessons through trial and error at Lima One Capital, a lender specializing in residential real estate investor deals. “When we designed our first website many years ago, we really didn’t think of it as this pre-live person ecosystem (the first introduction for somebody before they get in touch with a company).”
He recognized that adding value had not been a major consideration at the time, and that the website, while useful for newer clients who were happy to try out all the toolbox resources, hadn’t been geared for more experienced investors – meaning an important client base was not being adequately catered for.
“We took a different approach when we launched our new website about a year ago. If you don’t focus on the customer experience side of the fence, it doesn’t matter if you’re the cheapest,” he insisted.