Does Zillow.com deliver results? It's a question that no one seems able to answer
Zillow.com may deliver results -- or it may not deliver results. Just don't ask Zillow about results
I'm advertising on Trulia.com and getting reasonably good results, which, frankly, is a pleasant surprise given the feedback I've heard from other agents. I've been around long enough to know that advertising is a lot like joining a health club -- if you don't show up consistently you aren't likely to get good results. So...I thought I might spread out a bit more to see if I can generate a similar number of leads with the addition of Zillow.
Here's is when things become, shall we say, interesting. I call the Zillow.com toll-free number and speak to a sales rep. He makes certain to get my name (he obviously has my number via caller ID) but he doesn't tell me anything about his marketing credentials or his experience in creating ad campaigns that have gotten good results for other agents. Then he commits the mortal sin of selling anything: he doesn't ask me about my needs nor about my expectations. It becomes obvious that his boss told him to write some business in a hurry (what sales manager doesn't regularly issue such edicts) and he's headed straight for my wallet before he knows anything about me. Of course, he did ask, presumably in accordance with the telemarketing script, "How did you hear about Zillow?" to which I reply "I'm a Realtor® and you claim to be the most visited real estate site on the Web; and you're wondering how I heard about you?"
He proceeds to reiterate how Zillow.com has the most traffic of any RE website. I think "Who cares? I'm interested in results." I tell him such and he proceeds to tell me that the zip code I cite as my target area is "one hundred percent available" and hits me with a monthly rate based upon an annual agreement. I'm now thinking if Zillow.com is so darn popular, why aren't other agents buying that particular zip code, which features three huge subdivisions with thriving sales of new builds as well as resales. But I don't say that. Instead I ask how long I have to commit to a campaign. He says a year. I tell him that isn't going to happen and he has to offer something better to earn my business. He says there are 22,000 unique visitors coming to Zillow.com who are interested in that zip code and he can "...virtually guarantee [I'll] get great results." I ask if he'll put his "virtual guarantee" in writing and he says he can't do that. I guess his reference to a guarantee is, in polite terms, hyperbole. My mother would have called it lying. I then ask if there is a shorter time commitment and he says, yes, there's a six month contract but the discount isn't as large. By this time it's becoming clear that this individual has no clue as to what he's doing other than spouting meaningless statistics and offering no solution to the challenge I've posed. So, I come to the point and suggest that any advertising medium that requires a six-month commitment has no faith in the results it can (allegedly) deliver. He blathers on with more meaningless claims and statistics -- none of which he (or anyone else) can certify because, as we all know, there are a whole lot of tire-kickers on the web who are counted as visitors but are really just the human equivalent of gnats. He then proceeds to tell me that getting results takes time (a common theme amongst all ad salespeople.) I counter with the fact that before my RE career I spent 13 years in the digital space and another 20 years prior to that in broadcasting. I know about advertising. One thing I can state with absolute certainty is that a digital campaign will show results very quickly. When it doesn't, either the creative has to be tweaked or the medium is a dud.
I was pretty much finished with any chance of spending money with Zillow and told the sales rep just that. He ignored my statement and launched back into his sales pitch -- so I hung up the phone. Ten minutes later, the same sales rep from Zillow calls. He wants to talk about advertising. Talk about chutzpah! i tell him my position hasn't changed in the past ten minutes and it's unlikely that it will ever change. He cites the 70,000 other agents that might get over on me if I'm not advertising on Zillow. So I say, "Great...go pitch one of them and stop wasting my time." He says "Hey, you called me" to which I reply "Yes, I did but you are not offering anything of value so I'm just not interested." He says "So you just called to challenge us?" At that point, I realize this guy is all balls and no brains so i him adieu.
Now, maybe I'm wrong about all this. Maybe Zillow has so much demand that they can only accommodate six-month or longer contracts. Maybe Zillow delivers such terrific results that agents are lined up to advertise on the site. Maybe...but I doubt it.
Comments (39)Subscribe to CommentsComment