Zillow reviews

3.4

52% would recommend to a friend

(569 total reviews)
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Jeremy Wacksman

55% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

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569 reviews

Reviews about "Compensation"

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5.0
Sep 18, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There is fantastic leadership from the founders and the C-level executives. I have faith they are making the right decisions. It is great that our company is still controlled by the founders even though we are public. We never ever do anything just to make the quarter. We are doing really cool stuff to transform a fascinating industry, and there is a ton of runway ahead of us. We have lots of resources to support great ideas. Our culture is extremely strong and well defined. People really get our values, and we try hard to live them. The people here are very smart, very capable, very hardworking, and very nice. We have access to the data we need to make decisions properly. We have JUST enough process to support our growth, and no more. Benefits are finally getting to be competitive. Good IT hardware and software. Standing desks and Aeron chairs. Lovely downtown office and frequent free food.

Cons

Pay outside of the tech team is not competitive, and even tech has trouble competing. Resource allocation across the company is imperfect for new and for existing headcount. Sometimes we think that communicating a lot is the same as being transparent. It can be hard to get stuff done if you aren't located in Seattle.

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Zillow Response
10y
Thank you for the detailed feedback and review! We really appreciate the transparency and specifics. I'm thrilled you are overall happy here, but I will look into addressing some of your concerns. - Amy (COO)
3.0
Sep 3, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

benefits, perks, and pay are all good, they also fly you up to Seattle for an annual party which is a blast.

Cons

the inside sales role at Zillow is tough work and they are very upfront about that. I would say that in the end, the culture they created did not provide an atmosphere that brought out my best, but if sales is your thing and you don't mind pounding out 150 dials a day with lots of noise, then it could be a great fit. They have also transitioned a bit from giving you, the sales rep, control of your book of business to a more hybrid account management model where a waitlist team takes a percent of your sales and you get less commission off upsells and any waitlist calls you make. Part of this makes sense since the premier agent program is now so big that they could not keep the payout as high as it used to be, but it's frustrating to see so many cuts happen on your commission as a sales person. I would say one of the more frustrating parts about working on the sales floor is the music and "energy". Of course energy on a sales floor is important and something that managers are constantly trying to maintain. But at some point in my time there, it simply got out of control to where they handed out plastic clappers to all the sales reps and whenever anyone made a sale, you found yourself caught in a windstorm of clapping plastic hands which, together with the screaming and yelling made for a very loud and obnoxious celebration. Keep in mind you are in close proximity to other reps, and it was not uncommon to be presenting over the phone and get drowned out with the noise. It's easy to get over this in the short-term, but in the long-term, it's the principle of the issue that I found disturbing and one of the core problems that still exists at Zillow to this day. Anyone who complained about the noise level was reprimanded while management seemed scared (or perhaps incapable) of dealing with loud, disruptive reps. This unprofessionalism is simply uncalled for and unnecessary, but for whatever reason it was not only left alone, it was encouraged to the point where mere disruption turned it to outright disrespect from one rep to another if you were asked to quiet down. Some other reps legitimately thought it was fun to be a part of a culture like that, but there are many, many others who simply thought it lacked professionalism and moved on with their careers. Carefully decide if you function well in that sort of environment if you get a walking tour on your interview and if so, then it could be a great fit for you.

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Zillow Response
10y
Thank you for your thorough review. We certainly appreciate the feedback. One important aspect of our inside sales role is the financial opportunity. We have a keen focus on making it both challenging and rewarding. Although the opportunity has evolved over the years, we certainly believe, at its core, the compensation model for sales professionals is very strong. Regarding floor energy, you are right, it is an integral part of our culture and certainly something that is designed to drive a high level of sales performance. At the same time, we certainly feel it is necessary to conduct our business with highest level of professionalism. I am sorry to hear you feel that was not the case during your tenure at Zillow, however, I do appreciate you providing actionable feedback for the team to consider moving forward. If you have more feedback regarding our sales floor, inside sales opportunity, or our recruiting process please reach out to stevec@zillow.com . Good luck with your future endeavors. Steve Capezza – Senior Director, Orange County Sales
4.0
Jul 20, 2015

Boiler room

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great perks, open culture and if you do well you will make a lot of money. Lots of great people

Cons

Call center where you are hounded constantly for dials and talk time. Definite favoritism in the sales dept some cheaters

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Zillow Response
11y
Thanks for taking the time to review your time at Zillow. I run the Inside Sales team at Zillow and hopefully I can address your concerns for your benefit as well as others reading your review. I'm glad you took away some positives from your time at Zillow. I assume that you worked at our headquarters here in Seattle. My sense is that if you asked our team if they see themselves working in a call center, the resounding answer would be NO! With an amazing view of Puget Sound, open floor plan and delicious food provided, sales people enjoy our work environment and consistently vote for Zillow as a great place to work. We do expect people to work hard to achieve their potential and help us hit numbers. We do hold people accountable to hitting sales numbers and when struggling, we manage their activity to make sure they giving themselves a fair shot of being successful. We believe that there is a correlation between presentation volume and success, especially as you're first getting started. I was very surprised to read your comment regarding favoritism. Opportunities at Zillow are allocated based on how people perform in terms of revenue, attitude and leadership. if you have a specific example of favoritism, I would like to know about it. The same goes for sales ethics; we pride ourselves on selling the right way and customer retention on the Premier agent platform bears that out. Again, please let me know if you have specific instances of our people not acting ethically. Doug Slotkin VP, Local Ad Sales dougs@zillow.com
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