Wow, it has been a very crazy couple of weeks here in the big Z - and I realized that I haven't given any one of you an update for a while. I miss my Rainers and really need to come back and check in more often... how are you all and how is it going?
The only update with AR that I'm in the know about has to do with our favorite Kerrie. Have you seen Kerrie La Guardia 's baby pictures? Baby Roman is absolutely adorable!
As for me, I've been super busy diving right into my new role here at Zillow. Instead of working with mostly agents, as I was in the past, I am now working with loan officers/lenders, bank managers, and marketing directors for banks. I'm in a "sales" role, technically speaking, and I'm sold on this role. I completely love it.
To give you an idea of what I left Market Leader and ActiveRain for...
I have a book of business that is approximately comprised of 185 lenders and some of their bosses. Yes, 185. That's 185 individual lenders whose accounts I manage. How do I do this? With a lot of tools, that's for sure.
One of the things that I love a lot about my role is that since our product is so new, we are able to build it out, build it up, and pioneer it. The processes, the templates, the conversations. We guide all of it and we tell our boss what works, what doesn't, and what we need. And we get what we need - or find an alternative that works better. I can't do wrong because we haven't defined what technically is wrong. Trial and error is more like it, which is wonderful. I feel like a social scientist - doing experiments and recording the reactions.
One experiment was with reaching out to my book. It amazed me instantly how quickly my calendar gets booked - I can send out an email to 20 people asking for updates, and then my calendar explodes with 15 new appointments. Since I am a very social person and I like talking, that is a very fun part of my job. I get to know my lenders and what they need and what they don't need. I have a rapport built up over time. Relationships. I also onboard new lenders to our product, coach them, and activate their contacts. This is exciting... and is a growing competition between myself and the other AMs on my team - who has the most onboards? We push ourselves...
That's what it's like to have an Account Management role in the Zillow Mortgages team, and I really, really like it.
I have a flow of how my day goes now and I can very easily give someone a schpiel on the product and how it works, essentially selling them on it. I'm very passionate about it. How could it get any better? A product that sells itself simply because it's a great product.
And the team comaraderie. It excels and beats every other place that I have worked - we're close-knit and supportive, and we can give each other crap. I am able to give my boss crap and expose my less demure and more satirical and sarcastic side, plus there are no hurt feelings. We go out a lot and apparently there are barbecues at each others' houses on occasion? And there are pending plans for going crabbing later this summer? I can't keep up.
I'm happy; I'm excited. I feel like I have purpose here.
Do you feel this way about your job? What's your favorite part about what you do?
I hope you all have a Rain-tastic weekend! (and I look forward to your comments!)
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