Axiom Innovations' executives told CMP about a big year that's seen award recognition, a Canada-wide roadshow and further product advances
This article was produced in partnership with Axiom Innovations
Fergal McAlinden, of Canadian Mortgage Professional, spoke with Joe Fakhri and Andrew Schultz of Axiom Innovations on the company’s achievements in the year to date – and what’s in store for the future.
An eventful first half of 2023 for Axiom Innovations and its Scarlett technology platform has seen awards success, a flurry of new partnerships and an eight-city roadshow – and the company isn’t resting on its laurels as it gears up for the rest of the year, with new product features and significant new initiatives on the way.
Scarlett came away with the Best Product or Innovation Award at this year’s Mortgage Awards of Excellence, an honour that founder and CEO Joe Fakhri (pictured top, right) described as an affirmation of its constant commitment to driving the mortgage process forward through technology.
“We’re happy and very proud of what the team has done – the fact that everybody has come together to rally around a common vision,” he told Canadian Mortgage Professional. “What it means is that all the innovation that we’ve put into the ease of use, speed of the system, and efficiency that it introduces to the mortgage space is paying off.”
The company has continued to optimize its platform throughout the first six months of the year, adding further functionality. That’s an industry-leading submission-to-approval ratio to around 67%, according to Fakhri.”
A roadshow focused on education and feedback
Axiom also recently wrapped up its 2023 roadshow, a tour that vice president of sales Andrew Schultz (pictured top, left) said had proven an invaluable way to connect with industry members, hear feedback, and give educational insights on how mortgage professionals can streamline their business through technology.
“What we wanted was to really bring the industry together regardless of your brand affiliation, regardless of whether or not you are a user of our product, and highlight for people the ways that technology can be used to optimize their business,” he said.
Fakhri and Schultz were front-and-centre during that roadshow, taking in client suggestions and delivering hands-on training. That was important, Fakhri said, because it showed Axiom’s determination to work side by side with its clients, supporting them through good and bad times in the mortgage market.
Around 96% of tickets logged through Scarlett’s helpdesk to date have been related to users’ desire to further educate themselves on system features and functionality, making those educational session doubly valuable for those in attendance.
A big commitment to security
For the second year in a row, Scarlett has been deemed SOC 2 Type 2 compliant – passing a security audit that Fakhri said reflected the strong focus it places on safeguarding its systems and client data.
“We’ve invested significant amounts of money in re-architecture, adopting new technologies that will make our platform as safe as possible,” he said. “Security is a very high item personally on my list, and I take it very seriously, ensuring that we’re utilizing the latest practices and that those are fully aligned with our business goals.”
Axiom also walks the walk when it comes to the Scarlett platform, Schultz said, with the entire company paid through its payroll system and its sales process also mapped and customized through there.
“We did exactly what any user of our platform can do with the existing product so that our specific sales cycle is brought to life within the platform,” he said. “What it’s done for us is allow us to automate a lot of our process, becoming more efficient but also much more organized in terms of follow-up and staying on top of each and every communication.”
That’s significant because while Axiom continues to scale upwards, using its own platform – and having an innate understanding of its strengths and areas for improvement – allows it to maintain a boutique experience on every level possible, according to Fakhri.
Not only is the company using its own product – it’s also grown its client-facing team by bringing on talent with quality industry experience, particularly in the broker field.
“That means that when we’re interacting with our brokerage clients, we have people on the ground who speak their language and know their pain points,” Schultz explained, “people that really understand the core of what it is that a broker is trying to accomplish through using technology.”
Looking to the future
Partnerships announced by Axiom in recent times include a new agreement with Filogix allowing any brokerage using that company’s programs to also use Axiom’s Scarlett Pay system, as well as a deal with the DLC Group of Companies and Newton Connectivity.
“These have positioned us as an organization that is not one-sided. We sit in the middle of everybody and treat everyone with the same utmost respect and professionalism,” Fakhri said. “We plan to continue that moving forward.
“We’ve built a machine that’s able to scale up and down pretty much in an automatic fashion – one built for exponential growth, consistently running in the same fashion for the foreseeable future.”
Its latest product, Scarlett Genius, is one that the executives described as a significant step forward for the mortgage brokerage profession. That will allow agents and brokers submitting a deal to see the most suitable lender for them to send it to, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to amalgamate product and lender information.
“Scarlett Genius is going to be a significant win for all Scarlett users,” according to Fakhri, “because it’s going to make them far more efficient when it comes to ensuring the right deal is going to the right lender, and that part to us is crucial – especially in these difficult times.”
That’s a big part of Scarlett’s re-architecting of its mortgage customer journey, with a business intelligence tool for agents, brokers, and broker owners to scrutinize their business on a whole different level also on the way.
Ultimately, Fakhri said the company’s progress in the year to date – and its plans for the months ahead – serve to reinforce its core mission, to make the mortgage process a smoother and more straightforward one for agents, brokers and their clients through pioneering, cutting-edge technology.
“It’s about letting you run your business,” he said. “Not the other way around.”
Axiom Innovations is the developer of the white-labelled Scarlett brand, which provides technology solutions for mortgage brokers and lenders in Canada.
