We recently connected with Shawn Li and have shared our conversation below.
Shawn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Our company’s mission statement is that “real estate is broken, and we are fixing it!”
What we mean by this, is the real estate agent pool is composed of tons of part-time agents without that have little experience and prioritize sales over clients’ needs. This isn’t because real estate agents are evil or anything. It is just the incentives that are set up to have the clients’ needs last.
First, it is really tricky to make the transition to becoming a full-time agent. This isn’t referring to the education requirement you need to become an agent (which is actually pretty limited in terms of practicality to actually being an agent). But, you have to basically have 3-6 months of runway to not make any money or have any benefits. That is a really hard thing to be able to do. So most agents at least start doing real estate as a side-gig so they can still earn an income while waiting to have their real estate business ramp up. Unfortunately, when you are doing something part-time, you just cannot master it. Just like any skill, and real estate is no different, repetition is the key to improving. Doesn’t matter how quick of a learner you are, or how smart you are, you need to be in it to really know it.
The other big challenge for agents, and in turn for clients, is that agents have an adversarial relationship with a client’s needs. Agents are typically only compensated if a client buys or sells a home. That probably sounds like not a huge incentive to close a sale against a client’s needs. However, most agencies charge pretty high monthly fees to be an agent. That coupled with a person’s just normal expenses really put a high incentive on an agent to get as many deals to close as possible and can sometimes put a client’s best interest aside to make sure a deal closes. This is why I believe real estate agents get a rap as used car salesmen.
We are really trying to eliminate these as well as other problems that consumer experiences with their agents. We do this in so many ways but specifically with these issues, our company only has full-time agents. That is coupled with not just required education to be an agent, but additional industry education that our company provides as well as monthly company-wide industry calls and weekly office training to get near-immediate feedback on current market conditions and answers to problems agents might have. Also, newer agents are all under really close supervision of every offer written. Many agents almost never talk to their colleagues in this kind of training and if you already are not doing a ton of business, it is really hard to feel the changing conditions of the market. This can happen literally week to week, and if you don’t have this kind of feedback, you might be learning on your client’s dime that they didn’t need to offer over asking, or improperly pricing a seller’s home.
Also, none of our agents are charged anything for being an agent in terms of monthly office fees, and also, 8z covers a huge portion of all of our marketing charges, so we really don’t have the same pressure to close as many other agents do. We can tell a client, “this home isn’t right for you,” without the worry that if this deal doesn’t close I can’t pay my dues. Being able to give clients honest advice gives us the advantage of being our client’s trusted advisors instead of salespeople. This has helped us become one of the largest real estate companies in Colorado, with a per agent average volume among the highest in the country. By lowering the pressure of selling, it has allowed us to focus instead on long-term relationships, which in turn has led to a much higher per agent production than most other companies. Funny how that works!
Shawn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a Colorado native but spent a large portion of my childhood in South Florida. I returned home for college, attended the University of Colorado and Metropolitan State University of Denver, and gained a degree in Political Science and Journalism. My focus on creativity and attention to detail helped grow my career in sales and operations management in the real estate, hotel, and hospitality industries.
I was always interested in real estate, purchasing my first investment property at 19. Several investment properties later, I decided to make it my full-time career. Real estate provides a solid foundation for wealth creation, and I’m passionate about sharing that knowledge with my clients. As such, I approach client service like a trusted advisor, reviewing a client’s goals and working with them to plot the best trajectory to get them there. My clients appreciate my communication style and frequency, with set benchmarks to ensure we’re all aligned throughout the process.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I used to be in property management for commercial real estate and hospitality outsourcing companies. It was my entire career after leaving college. Then came the recession starting in 2007-08. It was an incredibly difficult time in the world in general, but especially in the commercial space. We had several buildings that were in the 50% range for leased sq footage, or some even lower. The company I was working for was super good to me, but we were losing contracts left and right and at that time, I was the newest area manager on the team. Some had been there for decades.
We lost one of the biggest contracts in the country, not just the city. While I didn’t have any direct oversight of that portfolio, I knew my time was probably limited as they’d probably have to let go of several managers. I decided to be proactive and hit up my network to find something, just anything to jump to because so many people were out of work. I found a really great job at a software company but kept the dream of coming back to real estate at the back of my mind.
Unfortunately, as with a ton of businesses during that period, it wasn’t long until that company closed its doors as well. But the owner was super gracious and I told him about my passion for real estate but how hard it was to transition to that career because of the runway needed. He allowed me to work at another one of his companies for a few months while I got my residential license and got my small business up and running before he had to lay me off. Even though it was not at all an ideal situation, I don’t know if I would have been able to pivot to where I am now without that few months of help from him. I’ll forever be indebted for that assistance.
During the recession, it was so incredibly hard for so many people. Luckily for me, even through several changes, I was never without a career, and I’m super grateful for that. But I was able to use that tumultuous time to be able to transition to something I had wanted to do for a long time, but never really had the right timing. But when my back was against the wall, I bet on myself, and I am so glad I did. It was incredibly scary, but I knew I was willing to put in the effort. Nothing is a solo journey, though. It is several people, including my family, my wife specifically, my former boss etc. that all believed in me and were willing to help me achieve my career goals.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The greatest source of new clients for me, and I believe should be the basis for almost any business, is referrals. Every year, I go back and look, and probably at least 50% or more of my deals come from past clients. Treat your clients like they are the most important part of your business and they will reward you. I don’t think simply doing a good job is enough. Plenty of people can do a good job. I try to constantly provide value to them with updates on their real estate holdings, information of changes in the industry relating to their home, fun events like parties at Coors field or the movie theater, and gift cards to local businesses. I want them to know that they are special because they are the heart of my business. I couldn’t do it without them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shawnli.8z.com/
- Instagram: shawnthedenverrealtor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShawnLi8z/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnsli
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheShawnLi