What’s Next For Agents in Enhanced Markets: Performance Data, Buyer Insights, Financing Transparency

When it comes to supporting Zillow’s Premier Agent partners, 2023 was just the start. As we wrap up the year, there’s been a flurry of major activity: We launched a number of new features and pilots, acquired Follow Up Boss, and hosted our annual Unlock agent conference.

Unlock was as engaging as ever. I loved getting to chat with some of you and hear your ideas for how Zillow can collaborate with partners. Compared to years past, it seems like the conversation shifted from “here’s what we’re interested in” to “how do we get it done as soon as possible?” In that spirit, here’s a preview of what we’re doing to help partners in 2024.

Tracking performance data

We consistently hear that team leads want clear, accurate data to manage their teams more effectively. Frankly, it’s been a gap that we’re addressing with full urgency. That’s why we’re developing new reporting functionality so you can access performance details without waiting for a Growth Advisor to share stats. We believe this will drive better support and create more coaching opportunities between agents and team leads. 

Additionally, we’re exploring new ways for teams to manage capacity and coverage within routing. For example, we’re testing a feature that lets teams prioritize routing based on performance so you can offer high-performers a reward for their hard work.

Reaching more quality connections

All of our product goals are important, but reaching more quality connections is the most foundational to both your success and Zillow’s Premier Agent business. To build on the progress of the high-intent buyers pilot we launched last quarter, we’re working on new ways to serve you actionable insights about motivated clients. One feature currently in beta compiles buyer activity and browsing trends so agents can hone in on next steps that’ll most benefit clients wherever they are in their journey. 

Another area of emphasis: helping partners make great first impressions with buyers. We’ll be able to share more product specifics in the coming months, but we’re trying to give agents and teams more control around co-branding and in-app messaging when making initial contact with a connection. 

Lastly, we’re committed to supercharging Follow Up Boss. It’s already one of the industry’s top CRM systems, so we're going to keep everything you love about this great tool while making impactful tweaks that’ll enable you to stay organized, engage customers at the right times, and provide top tier service from connecting to financing to closing.

Seeing critical financing info

On top of the recent updates we made to give visibility into the status of your client's financing with Zillow Home Loans (ZHL) in the Premier Agent app, we're working on more ways to increase transparency for you and your clients.

Our guiding vision is to make the financing process more accessible for partners, customers, and ZHL loan officers alike. We’re envisioning a dashboard, for instance, that could capture financing information for all of your clients using Zillow Home Loans, including status and access to the pre-approval letter.

And we know that hard credit pulls can be intimidating for clients, so we’re studying the option of using soft credit pulls for pre-approvals. That way, your clients can take the next step in their financing journey without the risk of affecting their credit.

If you have specific questions about the roadmap, we’ll be in touch with more info when new features are ready to go live. In the meantime, stay tuned for more updates next quarter. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season and has a great start to the new year!