Zillow Group: Today and Tomorrow

LAS VEGAS – Want to absolutely crush it in your local market as a real estate agent? Spencer Rascoff, Zillow Group chief executive officer, said you're in the right place. Over the past year, Zillow Group has seen many changes and initiated several of its own, all toward the goal of helping real estate agents grow their businesses. At the Premier Agent® Forum, an annual event that brings together thousands of Premier Agents, Rascoff shared highlights from the company's previous year, and he suggested three ways agents can get and stay ahead.

1. Know what your buyers are facing

Zillow Group continues to be a conduit between policymakers and consumers. Local, state and national leaders connect with Zillow Group to gain a better understanding of the state of the housing market. The Housing Roadmap tour takes Zillow Group stakeholders to major metros around the country to see how housing trends impact the local community. Real estate agents use the research to identify the challenges faced by home buyers and sellers in their local areas, and to learn how they can help those clients with their housing needs.

2. Embrace technology and stay current with it

More consumers start their home searches online — and they use mobile devices to do it. Technology continues to shape how clients want to work with you. Companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are battling for the startup screen on mobile devices because they believe that is how consumers will increasingly interact with the Web. The smartphone is becoming the remote control for life: Today, consumers press a button to shop for groceries, get a ride to work or to skip the line at the coffee shop. It's not unrealistic for them to expect they can press a button and speak to a real estate agent.

3. Provide a culture of empowerment

Employees don't want to pound a keyboard all day every day; they need to feel part of something bigger. To keep top talent at your company, Rascoff urges team leaders to provide a collaborative culture that goes beyond compensation and empowers employees to feel ownership in what their company does and how they do it.