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.
