Zillow unveils new agent app + virtual assistants

Zillow group unveiled a brand new app at its Premier Agent Forum event in Las Vegas yesterday. Called the Premier Agent App, the application is designed for the 100,000+ agents who use the Zillow and Trulia platforms for their marketing efforts.

 

Speaking at the event, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff said that smartphones can actually present a challenge to real estate agents, but the new application can help them to overcome these, GeekWire reported.

“The consumer is not going to have a different expectation in real estate than they have in buying groceries or booking a car,” said Rascoff. “You need processes and technology to help meet the consumer’s expectation.”

The Premier Agent App is designed to make agents more efficient and allow them to work anywhere, by giving them a fast, streamlined way to manage their incoming contacts from Zillow and Trulia, as well as the ability to manage their listings, reviews and their profile on Zillow and Trulia. The app will also include access to the Premier Agent Resource Center. It will be available to all agents who have a free Zillow Group profile.

The free app will be available to download in mid-November, the company said.

New features within the Premier Agent App include:

Quick Response Options

• Push notification alerts agents the instant a contact is received from Zillow and Trulia.
• Phone alerts connect agents directly with contacts for live conversation.
• Quick response toolbar lets agents easily access contact forwarding, email, SMS and call reply options.

Contact Management Options

• Incoming alerts will include message details from the contact, as well as information on the property the buyer or seller reached out about.
• Information about the contact includes information like search history across Zillow and Trulia, as well as move timeframe and loan pre-approval status.
• Agents will be able to set the status for contacts, based on the consumer's readiness to buy a home.
• Agents can search across their entire contact list and sort by contact status.

Profile Management and Resources

• Agents can manage listings and can post information about open houses or add additional photos.
• Agents can manage their profiles across Zillow and Trulia by adding past sales or requesting reviews.
• Agents can access the Premier Agent Resource Center.

“The Premier Agent App will give agents richer, more detailed information on the contacts they receive from all their advertising efforts across Zillow and Trulia along with enhanced contact management tools that will allow them to respond more quickly from wherever they happen to be,” said Greg Schwartz, Zillow Group chief business officer.

Besides the app, Zillow also announced a new program called Premier Agent Assist, which provides agents with online leads from a virtual team of Zillow employees, GeekWire reported.

“Whenever we get an email lead from Zillow or Trulia, it goes in to a call center that we operate with Zillow Group employees,” said Schwartz. “We guarantee a response in 90 seconds or less, ask them qualifying questions and then transfer the hot lead to the agent.”