I recently attended the Zillow Premier Agent Conference and wanted to share with you my impressions and thoughts on the conference.
The conference was held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, which has a huge conference center. I only say that because we had to walk nearly ½ mile (through the Casino no less) to where the conference was located.
1000 agents registered, and I suspect that at least 900 of them attended. Only “Zillow Premier Agents" (those who advertise with Zillow) were invited to attend.
Speakers included Tom Ferry, Rich Barton (Co-founder of Zillow), Hank Crumpton (Ambassador), Spencer Rascoff (CEO of Zillow) and a few others.
There were 3 break out session tracks, including:
1) Team Player: For agents interested in starting a team or coordinating and expanding a team.
2) Consumer Whisperer: For agents wanting to understand the new generation of home shoppers on a deeper level and learn how to connect with them effectively.
3) Zillow Expert: For agents wanting to optimize their Zillow experience by taking advantage of key tools and resources.
Here are my top 5 takeaways:
Impressed. I was really impressed with the professional nature of most of the Premier Agents/REALTORS®. During the opening reception, as well as breakfast and lunch breakouts, all I heard was, “What’s your ROI? What CRM do you use? What’s your monthly spend with Zillow? What is your capture rate?”
Coaches. So many of these “business-minded” agents have personal coaches. It was obvious that there were several Tom Ferry clients in the audience.
Amazed. I was amazed at how much money these agents were spending each month on Zillow. I met someone from Missouri that spends nearly $15,000 per month! There is also a Team/Agent in Northern Virginia who spends over $70,000 per month advertising on Zillow.
Conclusion. What I concluded was this: This is a serious business model that is succeeding for many. Zillow is a recipe for success to many of those in attendance at this conference. Personally for me, my recipe is not delivering the return compared to many agents that I met from across the country. So, I am dead set on changing how I use Zillow, and am in the process of changing how I use Zillow to increase MY return on investment.
Biggest Unanswered Question. I wanted to see a panel of agents who are big spenders with Zillow, to see and understand their ZILLOW BUSINESS MODEL. These big spenders have a formula for success, and I DIDN’T get the opportunity to hear them “On-Stage.” I only got a taste during breakfast and lunch breaks. I want to know more from these top producing/Zillow spending Agents and Teams. At the end of the day, this is what I wanted most from the conference.
Whether you like it or not, Zillow is here to stay. Not only that, it is a consumer fronting business model that many REALTORS® around the country are using to put them out in front of their competition. It’s that fact that made this conference so interesting and worthwhile.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jim Gamble
2014 President, Missouri REALTORS