Pros
On a surface level, the work culture is positive. Veteran employees are willing to offer advice.
Cons
The whole premise of the company is based on misinformation. The Zestimate is one thing but it's difficult to get behind selling a product when the listing information is outdated, doesn't represent reality, and only causes headaches for real estate agents... that they're very willing to let you know about call after call. The company touts their traffic numbers but I'd be curious how much of that is inflated by people trying to solve a problem the site has created for them. Being a new rep is extremely difficult for a variety of reasons but one the company will have to confront is an utter lack of availability that doesn't meet demand. 80% of "successful" calls where the agent wants to buy end in you only being able to offer a ZIP two hours away from them that nobody wants. A saturation point is nearing and for new reps without a book of business, their best hope is to get clients on a waiting list and get lucky. The veteran reps with a book of business are much more likely to succeed because their clients get waitlist priority. Even if Zillow changes this and opens the program to more people, it will lose its exclusivity and alienate existing Premier Agents. While the metrics are demanding and about twice as much as expected on a daily basis as in other companies, the issue isn't so much with the expectations; rather, it's the paradoxical ramifications of meeting those expectations. Since the company requires 210 minutes of talk time each day, you must constantly be dialing. The problem with this is if your goal is to meet talk time, it's very difficult to do so if you're trying advanced prospecting and looking to find people who haven't been called. You're left using run-of-the-mill prospecting tools where everybody has been called. While upper management would dismiss this, it's pretty simple: you choose talk time or sales. You better be a great telemarketer because that's exactly what this job is. You're calling the most solicited profession and they not only likely hate Zillow, they get 10 sales calls a day from similar companies. There is nothing consultative about closing deals at Zillow- you better be able to have a "shotgun" approach and be as "salesy" as it comes.
