Zillow Unlock 2020: A Recap

This year at Zillow Unlock, we discussed the virtual direction that real estate is heading, shifts in customer expectations, and most importantly, our valued and continued partnership with you. 

Here are a few key takeaways from this year's virtual four-part series. 

Creating a better real estate experience

Now more than ever, home shoppers are demanding an always-on, digital and more seamless real estate experience. In order to meet those demands, Zillow is addressing some of the fragmented aspects of a virtual home search and transaction process by working to provide a more customer-centric and integrated home shopping experience. Our goal is to make the end-to-end process easier by providing a better customer experience through advanced technology, access to better data and building the infrastructure to help consumers get into the home they love.

Partnering with the best in the industry 

We believe the future of real estate will be driven by exceptional customer experiences delivered by our Zillow Premier Agent partners. Together, we will continue to foster strong partnerships, better experiences and happier clients. The value that you bring to the customer, whether it’s deep local knowledge or offering quality service by putting your client first, is essential to successfully guiding them on their journey home.

By partnering with the best in the industry, we are able to constantly serve and delight our shared customers. Our quest to remove friction from the home shopping journey is only possible with our continued partnership with best-in-class agents.

Investing in your success 

Zillow is ready to help you deliver better real estate experiences to your clients through providing advanced technology, access to better customer and market insights, and data. We’re experimenting with new ways of partnering and investing in new technologies to help you be more productive, delight clients and ultimately help people move forward into their new homes.

To start, we are leveraging our immense data to find and deliver more high-intent buyers to our partners, and building a platform and support system that gives you the opportunity to develop and ultimately grow your business in an exponential way. 

What we learned from your peers

At Zillow Unlock 2020, we heard from real estate agents and advisors around the country. Here are some of the highlights.

• Dave Ness, a real estate advisor from Thrive Real Estate in Denver, shed light on the difference between an agent and an advisor. We learned from Dave that he believes becoming an advisor takes time, takes methodology, takes a team and takes the backing of a company like Zillow.
• Becky Garcia, from The Garcia Group in Goodyear Arizona, discussed how her team has role specialization to help better cater to customer demands. To ensure Becky’s team is equipped to provide five-star customer service, they created different roles to help the team stay organized and efficient. 
• Chris Speicher, the co-founder of Speicher Group, located in Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Hawai’i, emphasized the key to success is providing the best customer service possible. Chris discussed how he was able to remain resilient with his partnership with Zillow over the years through making decisions in the best interest of his teams, clients and the company. 
• Treasure Davis, the owner and broker on the Treasure Davis team in Colorado Springs, talked about business planning for next year. To prepare, Treasure’s team has been focused on developing a business plan that speaks to everyone on the team individually and that these goals are attainable. 
• Jennifer Wilson, a realtor and associate broker in Albuquerque, shared advice about how she’s found success as an individual agent. Jennifer highlighted that reputation, customer service and having support are her keys to success. By hiring the support she needs, Jennifer maintains a 97% answer rate, closes transactions on time, sends out weekly newsletters and is able to provide the best customer experience possible. 
• Abel Gilbert, a broker from OnePath Reality in Miami, discussed the importance of clarity when it comes to business planning. Clarifying your goals upfront will help you define your objectives and develop an action plan. 

On-demand content

If you’re looking for more insights from Zillow leadership to view or share with your teams, check out our on-demand content below.

Navigating Health & Safety Long-Term
Speaker: Dr. Regina Benjamin, Zillow Health Advisor and former U.S. Surgeon General

Will 2020’s Housing Strength Continue?
Speaker: Svenja Gudell, Zillow Group Chief Economist

The Simple Future of AI
Speaker: Nicholas Stevens, Director, AI Product Management

Making an Impact on Equity
Speaker: Crystal Tomczyk, Vice President, Equity and Belonging

Virtual Work is Here to Stay
Speaker: Meghan Reibstein, Vice President, Organizational Operations