We Need to Talk About Zillow…

If you’ve been keeping up with the headlines recently, you’ve probably heard that Zillow, the largest real estate website in the United States, has recently purchased ShowingTime, whose software is currently used by many real estate professionals. This decision is another in a long line that Zillow has made in the past few years to monopolize the real estate industry.

While Zillow has denied that this is their intention, they have begun hiring agents and selling homes themselves, which has made many real estate professionals nervous. Initially, Zillow simply compiled data and provided their own “Zestimates,” which estimated the price of a home and was often a good reference point for homeowners and agents. But recently, Zillow launched their Premier Agent program, allowing agents to pay Zillow for referrals and leads. Due to the sheer amount of data Zillow possesses, many agents felt pressured to join this program, hoping it would ultimately benefit their business.

But in 2018, Zillow began purchasing real estate themselves, providing renovations, and selling them – essentially becoming a brokerage. They also began hiring agents in Atlanta, Phoenix, and Tucson to support this “iBuyer” program. The expansion of their business goes beyond that of a media company. Zillow is attempting to change how the industry works while also benefiting from this transformation.

Many believe that Zillow’s purchase of ShowingTime has more to do with data than software. Zillow has announced they are keeping ShowingTime’s program open to the industry, a decision that has caused real estate professionals to scratch their heads. Zillow most likely did this because they know that ShowingTime is more than just a platform that allows agents to schedule showings.More importantly, it’s an analytics company that contains a massive amount of information on practically every home sale in North America.

When Zillow originally announced their home buying program in 2018, they received over 250,000 messages from interested homeowners looking to sell. They only purchased a few thousand of those, meaning they now have hundreds of thousands of leads they can share with whom they choose. With the ShowingTime acquisition, they have amassed even more information. A warning has been spreading throughout the industry: Be careful of what you share with ShowingTime and Zillow. Considering their business developments, it’s unclear what that information will be used for in the future.

Don’t panic about the end of the real estate industry as we know it; instead, learn how to best defend your business as Zillow expands its grasp.  

6 Ways to Protect Yourself Against the “Zillpocalypse”

The advantage that real estate professionals have over Zillow is that you can provide personalized services that are relative to your specific region. As a national company, Zillow doesn’t understand how every real estate market in each part of the country works. To ensure you can compete against Zillow, you’ll need to have the strongest business possible. We’ve compiled a few tips that will help you maximize your customer relationships, better market your listings, and ultimately, beat out the big businesses.

• Utilize Customer Relationship Management Software

Hopefully you won’t need this piece of advice because it’s something you already use. Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM) allows you to easily access all your information on a client or lead. By adding your customers to your CRM, you can easily connect with them and know where they are in their customer journey immediately. This tool is utilized by the majority of professionals in the industry for a reason. Without a CRM, your clients are much harder to keep track of. If you hope to transform a lead into an actual client or referral, make sure you track your business with a CRM.

• Digital Marketing is Everything

As younger generations begin entering the real estate industry as buyers, digital marketing becomes even more crucial. The first place where people will look for an agent or listing is online. Social media is one of the most efficient ways to advertise your services. Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are some of the first places people will look when researching real estate professionals in their area. Having a website is also an excellent digital marketing tactic. With your own website, you not only appear professional to prospective clients, but you can showcase testimonials, listings, and your contact information where it’ll actually be seen. Email marketing is also an excellent way to stay in touch with previous clients. Learn more about how to utilize email lists to land leads [5 Real Estate Email Template to Help You Gain More Referrals and Land More Listings]. Digital marketing is in many cases free to use, making it a great tool at any stage of your career. It is one of the most important marketing techniques, especially as more tech-centric populations begin purchasing homes.

• Gather Referrals from Everyone

Don’t just limit yourself to former clients. Seek out referrals from everyone in your own network. This includes your family, friends, co-workers, alumni communities – however you connect with people, reach out and see if there is any interest in real estate. You will never know when someone knows someone looking for an agent until you ask. If you’re not quite sure how to request referrals just yet, use the previous pieces of advice as a starting place. Reach out frequently to those in your CRM about referrals and opportunities. Advertise your services on social media so the next time someone in your network learns that one of their friends is trying to sell their home, you’ll be the first name recommended.

• Follow Up with Interested Buyers

This is a fairly straightforward tip that surprisingly few real estate professionals fully take advantage of fully. Industry data suggests it usually takes 6 to 8 messages from a real estate agent until a prospective buyer is ready to commit. Buying a home is a huge investment and many people need a lot of time and many gentle nudges until they’re willing to commit. If anyone has shown interest in your property, whether that be by visiting an open house or viewing an online listing multiple times, reach out to them and more than once. Share updates on the property with those interested to incentivize them to commit to buying. Landing a deal requires persistence on your end. Make sure you frequently communicate with prospective buyers to keep them thinking about your listing.

• Provide Proof of the Work You Do

Testimonials are excellent to share with prospective clients because they’re evidence of the great work you’ve done in the past. Include testimonials with any information you share with interested buyers or sellers. People are more likely to trust someone that is spoken of highly by former clients. Ensure your testimonials are in places where they’ll be seen. Share them on social media and on your website, along with any other advertisements you run. Make sure to collect testimonials from previous clients when you have completed business with them. You can also reach out to old clients at any time asking if they would be willing to write a few sentences on their positive experience with your business.

• Take Advantage of Technology

Zillow digitized the real estate industry and brought with it technological advances. Photographs and video tours of properties have become industry standards at this point. More and more people shop for real estate online, sometimes committing to a property without ever seeing it in person. By providing high quality photographs, videos, and virtual reality tours, people can “visit” your listings from the comfort of their own bedrooms. You’ll beat out the competition by offering the best and most efficient marketing services, incentivizing clients to choose you.

Does using virtual reality in the real estate industry sound like science fiction? It’s a reality with Listing3D. Our marketing packages include a 3D virtual tour allowing anyone to walk through your property digitally, as well as a video teaser of the listing, a 3D flyer with a scannable QR code, and a custom landing page for the property. Joining Listing3D also gives you access to our database of over 10,000 virtual reality tours, any of which you can share with clients.

Listing3D also connects like-minded agents with our Listing3D Exclusives agent referral platform. Listing3D Exclusives agents are tech-oriented and forward-thinking. By joining Listing3D Exclusives, you address the rise of digitization in the real estate industry and equip yourself with the best possible tools to adapt to the current market trends and industry conglomerates like Zillow. 

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