Growing Together – The genius of X10 Financial Services’ philosophy

A recent project had us collaborating with X10 Financial Services (X10), a noteworthy, up-and-coming supply chain-focussed NBFC with a heart for providing hassle-free loans for working capital finance. Beyond the resounding success of their website launch (check it out at www.x10Corp.com ), their innovative "Limit Management Tool" aimed at increasing efficiency and the transparency of borrowers' credit limits sets them apart from other NBFCs. We sat down with Pooja Sondhi, VP Tech & Operations (aka Tech and Finance Ninja), to have a chat about her experience working with the team of Refresh Ideas.

You called us into your office and that's how it all began; you were talking technology and we were asking questions like, 'What's the education level of the target customer?’, 'What are common problems faced by customers?', 'Why would you want that?', and 'What purpose would it serve?'. At what stage did you decide that we were only partially nuts?

The first time we met, I had my doubts about how much you and your team understood regarding our business but one thing was very clear: I could see a very motivated and professional team sitting in front me. I believe that success can be achieved once we identify the ability and willingness to work. I rated you very high on both these selection identifiers. Things can happen quickly when we have clarity and when we get the strategy right. Our journey together started with clarity. You asked the right questions at the right time, got crystal clear about what we do, who we serve and how we’re different, before identifying the right strategies, tactics and technologies to support our unique vision. So we were happy to enter the madhouse with you and it’s been an enjoyable ride so far!

Strategy + Web Design + Technology - How would you describe this journey with us? Any 'Aha!' moment you would like to relate?

After giving the contract to Refresh, I was worried because I realized I had very much less control over the final outcome. I have to say, though, that once the final product was live, I realized I had put my faith in the right team!

That was my "Aha!" moment, when you guys delivered.

Now we can start to effectively work on our business rather than in our business. The current features are just the beginning!

The idea of providing a ‘Limit Management Tool’ to distributors & borrowers is daring and innovative. Can you tell us how this idea is unique & challenging vis-à-vis currently available tools in the market?

We have this vision of creating a marketplace where we show our borrowers and distributors how they can grow after getting associated with us. We wanted to sell the idea of growth with our business partners rather than solely propagating our own growth. Frankly speaking, we also had a lot of doubts regarding the realization of this idea but eventually realised that by providing concrete and honest information, growth would come naturally. We could foresee that getting our partners to start using the portal would be much more challenging than to develop the same.
The creation of the need for information in the Indian market where we still have users shying away from technology platforms was the biggest obstacle, but with the right set of information and great user feedback, we have clearly achieved the purpose we wanted to achieve. As far as competition in the NBFC market goes, we can easily say that we are the pioneers in creating such an interactive tool for our partners. There is no such facility provided by any other NBFC in India. A lot more to create and a lot more to achieve... As they say, it’s just the beginning.

Were there any ‘big value’ differentiators that you experienced from start to finish of the project with us? It's important to establish criteria and create a selection process when choosing a vendor for your business. Choosing the wrong vendor can cost your business significantly in terms of time and money – even your reputation. We made the right decision in selecting Refresh Ideas. Some ‘big value’ differentiators worth mentioning are the quality of the service you provided, the company’s ethics and integrity, the professionalism you showed - those are just some of the many aspects that we looked at.

What was your experience like with web/tech projects before Refresh Ideas

I would like to mention that the team showed the commitment to deliver on time with minimal iteration and you empathized with us on the need to deliver and going live. These are exceptional traits which I have rarely experienced with other vendors. The monitoring mechanism and project planning was seamless and efficient. You guys truly have a great team put together.
How likely are you to work with us again, given that we are still half nuts & full of questions? ? X10 Financial Services would be very interested to work with Refresh Ideas in future and we look forward to a mutually rewarding relationship.

Download Presentation