How Zillow sees its relationship with agents and brokers
Realizing it was “inextricably linked to the entire industry,” the portal began investing in tools for all agents, not just paying customers, said COO Jun Choo.
Key points:
- While consumers remain the North Star, focusing on ways to support agents ultimately benefits the buyers and sellers who use Zillow, COO Jun Choo told Real Estate News.
- “Being able to serve the entire industry became kind of a big focus of our strategy in the last three years or so,” Choo said.
- That has included creating AI-powered products to improve the transaction experience, and for the first time this year, opening up its Unlock conference to more agents.
Zillow has come a long way over the past two decades. While consumer empowerment is still core to its mission, Zillow has increasingly focused on the business of real estate — and those who have made it their career.
The company, said Chief Operating Officer Jun Choo, "has been investing a lot in trying to help the industry."
When the home search site began operating out of Seattle in 2006, it was squarely consumer-oriented. Its founders wanted to give buyers and sellers access to property information previously available only to agents and brokers, making it easier for everyday consumers to move.
Over time, however, the portal realized that helping home shoppers meant providing better tools for the professionals who were assisting them.
"Like a lot of tech companies, you start off thinking you're going to do everything directly for the consumer," Choo recently told Real Estate News.
"What we've seen over the last few years, which I'm really pleased with, is a more nuanced understanding of how this transaction gets done — and maybe not as much hubris as saying 'Oh, we're going to be able to do all this ourselves.'"
Serving 'the entire industry' — not just paying customers
Choo, who joined Zillow in 2015 through the company's acquisition of Trulia, has extensive experience with developing tools for agents and other business-to-business operations. Prior to being appointed COO in November, Choo was senior vice president of real estate software.
One of the company's revelations? It needed to become a partner to all agents, not just the ones who purchased leads from the company.
"To serve homebuyers and sellers, we had to acknowledge that most agents weren't spending money with us buying leads, and yet they still had to interact with the homebuyer on Zillow," Choo said.
"And so it became clear that no matter how much we wanted to focus on one aspect of our business, we were inextricably linked to the entire industry. Being able to serve the entire industry became kind of a big focus of our strategy in the last three years or so."
Simplifying agent workloads
Artificial intelligence, it seems, is everywhere. Opinions on AI range from optimism over its potential to fears that it will put people out of work and become impossible to rein in. Choo said he comes down in the middle: He believes it will be an incredibly transformative technology, but he thinks the impacts will be incremental.
Not to be left out of the AI race, Zillow has developed a number of AI-powered tools for both consumers and real estate professionals, and Choo said the company plans to embed the technology in more of its products.
Zillow has seen positive results, he noted, in terms of helping agents reduce the mundane parts of their job and focus on the aspects that add value.
"We're very optimistic about what AI can do for Zillow, agents, the industry and for the consumer," Choo said.
Creating opportunities to tell its story
Zillow also wants to support agents by educating them on topics like the housing market, growth strategies, lead conversion — and, of course, the company's products. To that end, Zillow is opening up its annual Unlock conference this year, offering slots to 2,500 real estate professionals. Previously, the event was an invite-only leadership gathering.
Along with some celebrity appearances, the conference, which takes place Nov. 3-5 in Las Vegas, will have a variety of sessions and interactive presentations focused on helping agents navigate this challenging time.
"I think overall, the parts of Unlock that I've found resonated most with the attendees were the ones that were hands-on, practical and where they got to hear from their peers," Choo said.
Zillow's goal, he said, is to meet agents where they are and understand what they need. It's also about telling the industry what the company has been working on.
"Zillow has been investing a lot in trying to help the industry," Choo said. "I think we're seeing more awareness of that, but part of the reason we're opening up Unlock is to tell that story more."