To Sam Kaddah, the founder and CEO of Liquid Logics, the word ‘innovation’ is often overused. In a marketplace brimming with competition and technological advancement, he added that the key to originality is utilizing tools – and people – in the right way.
Founded in 2004, Liquid Logics provides a next-generation SaaS cloud-based loan origination software, or LOS, that is mainly targeted towards hard money lenders. The Liquid Logics system is the only truly complete system on the market today was built around making lenders and borrowers control their destiny and the full interactive borrower experience, which emphasizes simplicity and speed for loan officers.
When thinking about the current trends in an often-turbulent marketplace, Kaddah said that a key to Liquid Logic’s success has been introducing new products that speak to pitfalls in the lending ecosystem allowing lenders to control and transparency to their costs, speed of origination and fund profits.
“Today, there is pressure for quality loans and brokers, but traditional loans are drying up for institutional investors,” he said. “With that in mind, we introduced a white label or private label innovation into the market that allows lenders to give technology with dual full control, transparency and collaboration to their brokers to fund loans. This funnel leads all the way back to providing better access to funds and creating an active, robust ecosystem.”
This robust network, Kaddah said, is made possible, in part, by implementing new technology. This endeavor has struck close to home, as well – Kaddah’s son, Alex, who has unique insights and knowledge with a master’s in analytics and finance – was brought on board to facilitate predictive analytics and modeling and the software components of Liquid Logics.
“Historically, we have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to providing customers with tools to control their world, from basic customer interaction to data and operational and profitability reporting – but as the marketplace is shifting towards automation and attributes like automated pricing and eligibility engines as well as predictive analytics are vital to stay competitive and compliant, we have expanded our capabilities to be able to run a predictive model and create insights that allow you to have legal and compliant operations and fund management,” he said. “But this all starts with having a true understanding of the tools that you are using.”
Without a holistic understanding of the ‘tools of the trade’ – technological or otherwise – Kaddah said the initial glimmer of a product or service will not last in the eyes of a customer.
“What a lot of people in this field don’t realize is that the technology component is not the end all, be all,” he said. “It is important to have these things at your disposal, but what [Liquid Logics] has been able to do is augment our customer experience with a true understanding of emerging tools like predictive modeling.”
Kaddah said an important perspective to keep in mind is that every private lender has a niche and every field is different. A hard money private lender, for example, would not incorporate the same level of automation as, say, a McDonald’s franchise. There are ways to stay on top of current trends, he added, without seeming as though tech is being thrown against the wall until something “sticks”.
Aside from technology, Kaddah said the team of professionals at Liquid Logics is instrumental in the group’s continued success.
“We are completely unique in our approach to customer relations,” he said. “We make sure you are never left behind. This starts with our onboarding experience, where we talk you through the process in a consultative approach. I believe in an honest and transparent process that allows you to tweak processes and approaches to make you the best you can be. From an account management perspective, as the industry changes, we are there right beside you to make sure that any adjustments allow you to manage change in the most seamless way possible.”
Although Kaddah said this approach fosters communication between internal and external parties, he added that it is important to remember that expertise is not ubiquitous.
“You can never be smart enough to know all of the concepts in any given field,” he said. “Our approach has always been 1 + 1 = 3, and that is more than a cliché. The collective knowledge of everyone who walks through our front door adds to a body of information that is shared by everyone else. The range is wide, from basic blocking and tackling, processes, technologies, and thorough analytics. There will always be proprietary data, but an open dialogue allows everyone to advance.”
A key to this open dialogue, Kaddah added, is keeping in mind what the root of innovation means.
“To me, innovation is not coming up with another iPhone every day. Innovation is about thinking outside the box and creating ideas that improve methodologies, technologies, and approaches; it’s the accumulation of many small improvements that amounts to new way of doing or managing something, but some in real estate believe you must reinvent the wheel,” he said. “What we do at Liquid Logics is focus on the basics of origination and client relations and craft tools to make everyone’s piece of the puzzle more efficient.”
Looking forward, Kaddah said his team is looking to expand Liquid Logics and build on the group’s nearly 20 years of championing clients from coast to coast. For more information about Liquid Logics, visit liquidlogics.com.
