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Industry leaders who aren’t afraid of failure and openly embrace innovation will be the best positioned to drive significant business growth, according to a leading buyer’s agent.
Founder of InvestorKit, Arjun Paliwal, sat down with host Liam Garman on an episode of the REB Podcast to discuss how focusing on innovation and being comfortable with trial-and-error can drive growth.
As the winner of the REB Innovation Awards 2025 Innovator of the Year – Residential Buyers Agency, Paliwal said that InvestorKit had introduced a chief innovation and technology officer to ensure it remained on the cutting edge.
Paliwal said that while it was important for businesses to be comfortable with trialling new systems and ideas, leaders also had to be aware to understand when to cut their losses.
“That's the thing with innovation; you’ve got to have some fun, test new things, but you can’t keep doing things that don’t work,” Paliwal said.
He said that one of the most impactful innovations the business had introduced was a focus on delivering specialised services to clients, despite the impact on their profit margin.
“But when a customer wins that much, you can win the other side through advocacy,” he said.
Paliwal said he used to believe in being hands-on in as many areas of the business as possible, but eventually realised he would be better served by focusing on specific roles.
“If you don’t grow and create some separation in your time, you are going to get to a state where your clients research more than you do.”
“I used to try champion this whole ‘I’m everywhere’ thing forever. But then, to me, you can only be there and champion it for a small moment of time.”
“If that's you forever, then you’re not really the best at what you do,” he said.
Importance of internal innovation
According to Paliwal, businesses should prioritise upgrading internal systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, to automate workflows, boost team efficiency, and elevate customer satisfaction.
“Because if you can have your team deliver these things better, faster, easier and more often, that’s winning,” Paliwal said.
When overhauling a team’s internal systems, Paliwal said a leader’s track record with past change would heavily influence whether the transition would succeed.
“Your team will adapt as much as you have already succeeded. If you have a culture or a history of a lack of success, you’re going to be the boy who cried wolf.”
When approaching innovation, Paliwal said that businesses should stop talking about it and put a plan into action.
He added that leaders must accept that things won’t always run perfectly and stay focused on continuous improvement, even in the smallest increments.
“Every time you change, make something slightly better.”
Importance of client relationships
While innovation will drive business growth, Paliwal said that leaders should not forget to improve their client relationships.
While word-of-mouth can be a significant driver of business, he said that failing to deliver on client expectations can be detrimental in the long run.
He said striking the right balance between advertising and referral-based leads is crucial to ensure the cost of acquiring a customer never outweighs their long-term value.
“The only way customer acquisition costs and lifetime value of a customer start to become profitable for a business is if they’re happy,” Paliwal said.
“If you don’t get that right, your business won’t last long,”
Paliwal said that while advertising can help bring in new clients, the efforts would be vain if agents weren’t continuing to service their clients.
“Advertising is technically a money-losing thing, but it’s only going to profitably work for you if you don’t tick and flick, and really look after a customer over time.”
“Yes, spread the word, but then if you don’t look after them, well then it’s all at a loss,” Paliwal concluded.
Listen to the full podcast here
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mathew Williams
Born in the rural town of Griffith NSW, Mathew Williams is a graduate journalist who has always had a passion for storytelling. Having graduated from the University of Canberra with a Bachelor of Sports Media in 2023, Mathew recently made the move to Sydney from Canberra to pursue a career in journalism and has joined the Momentum Media team, writing for their real estate brands. Outside of journalism, Mathew is an avid fan of all things sports and regularly attends sporting events across Sydney. Get in touch at
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