Finalist
Financial Services
At a time when many companies involved in the mortgage market have scaled back or gone out of business, ClearCapital.com Inc. has taken the opposite approach.
Instead of downsizing, CEO Duane Andrews viewed the down market as an opportunity to help customers make wise decisions in tough times. He invested in technology, training and promotion, resulting in improved quality, customer service, product line offerings and market share.
At a time when the market was already turning downward, the company launched the Appraisal Division in 2007 and the Data Products Division in 2008. As a result, it posted a 27 percent increase in 2008 revenue over 2007 and is on track to repeat that growth in 2009.
Andrews co-founded the company in 2000 with Kevin Marshall to offer valuation products and solutions that today include appraisals, broker price opinion, home data indexes, property inspections and value reconciliation. And from the beginning, they have operated under set-in-stone standards: 1. We will not do anything unless we can do it better than it has ever been done before; 2. Our customers, vendors and staff must all win; 3. Maintain a financial structure that supports the business, which includes paying our vendors on time, avoiding debt and maintaining healthy cash reserves; and 4. Working at a place that is enjoyable, career-centric and family-oriented.
To complement that, Andrews has built a culture that inspires customer ethics, in which employees empathize with customers and go beyond what’s expected to make their customers’ lives easier.
Going forward, Andrews and Marshall plan to keep doing what they do best — be the premier provider of intelligent valuation solutions, grow foundational product lines and expand new data offerings.
How to reach: ClearCapital.com Inc., (530) 550-2500 or www.clearcapital.com
