What Zillow Knows That You Don't!- Final Sip Friday
Welcome to another Final Sip Friday edition of Martinis and Mentors! If you’ve ever felt like your CRM is a mess, your automations are broken, and your leads are slipping through the cracks, this might just punch you in the pipeline.
Let’s talk about CRM stages—specifically, the 13 that Zillow Flex teams are required to use.
Now, before you roll your eyes and think, “I’m not on Flex,” let me stop you right there. These stages aren’t just for compliance—they’re for profit. They are clarity, consistency, and cash flow in disguise.
So whether you’re using Follow Up Boss, Sierra, kvCORE, or any other CRM, these stages should be part of your process. Let’s break them down—and expand on what each one means.
The 13 CRM Stages Zillow Requires (and Why They Matter to YOU)
1. Lead
This is the very beginning. A new contact has entered your CRM—usually from Zillow, another portal, or your website. No contact has been made yet. The key here is speed to lead. Response time is everything.
Pro Tip: Automate a text or email immediately when a lead is created to boost engagement from the second one.
2. Attempted Contact
You've called, texted, or emailed—but haven’t connected yet. This stage is critical for measuring effort. Zillow watches this. So should you.
Why it matters: It tells your system and your team that the chase has started, but the game hasn’t begun.
3. Spoke with Customer
You’ve made contact! Whether by phone, text, or email—you’ve had a conversation.
Trigger Point: This is when your CRM should kick off real action—sending home search links, setting tasks for lender intros, and moving them into your engaged smart lists.
4. Appointment Set
You’ve scheduled a meeting, showing, or buyer consultation. This is the intent stage, where things shift from interest to commitment.
Pipeline Power: This stage predicts short-term conversion—knowing how many appointments are on the books helps forecast your closings.
5. Met with Customer
You’ve had the appointment. You’ve shaken hands (or Zoomed). This is a relationship now, not just a lead.
Action Step: Time to reassess their needs and move them toward next steps—searches, pre-approvals, or listings.
6. Showing Homes
The buyer is active. You’re touring homes. They’re engaged, emotionally invested, and likely getting serious.
Data Goldmine: Track how many leads make it to this stage. It tells you how well you’re converting relationships into opportunities.
7. Listing Agreement
For sellers, this is the signed commitment. You’re officially representing them.
Why it matters: This is where the marketing machine kicks in—photography, MLS input, and pre-launch campaigns.
8. Active Listing
The property is live on the market. You’re now fielding inquiries and offers.
CRM Tip: Move leads here only when the listing is published. Automate reminders for open houses, follow-ups, and agent feedback requests.
9. Submitting Offers
You’re writing offers for a buyer—or reviewing them with a seller. This is high-stakes.
Forecast Impact: This stage is directly tied to projected income. If your offers don’t convert to contracts, something’s off—either in negotiation or lead qualification.
10. Under Contract
Boom—you’re pending. The offer is accepted. Now comes the waiting game: inspections, appraisals, lender steps.
Automation Tip: Set workflows for transaction checklists, client updates, and agent/broker coordination.
11. Closed
Congratulations! The transaction is complete, keys exchanged, money wired.
Don’t stop here: Now’s the time to request reviews, send closing gifts, and move the client into your past-client nurture campaign.
12. Nurture
Leads that aren't ready now, but aren’t cold. They need regular check-ins—market updates, value reports, and occasional touches.
Pipeline Priority: This is your future gold. Most agents ignore this bucket. Don’t.
13. Trash / Rejected
Dead leads, wrong numbers, tire-kickers, or people working with another agent.
Important: This isn’t a failure—it’s just data. Clear it out so you can focus on what matters.
Why These Stages Matter—Even If You're Not on Zillow Flex
Let’s zoom out. You might be thinking:
"But I’m not on Flex, or I’m not using Follow Up Boss..."
Doesn’t matter.
Defined stages are how you build automation that works, not breaks. It’s how you see your pipeline in real time and make decisions based on facts—not vibes.
Here’s what defined stages give you:
✅ Clean Automations
When a lead hits “Spoke with Customer,” your CRM should fire off smart tasks: send a home search link, create a lender intro task, and shift the lead to an active list. But if you’re using vague tags like “Hot Buyer” or “Maybe,” nothing fires.
✅ Real Accountability
Want to know who’s dropping the ball? Clear stages show you exactly where agents are stalling, so you can coach with clarity.
✅ Accurate Forecasting
Stages show you where your money is. How many deals are in “Showing Homes”? How many in “Under Contract”? That’s how you plan income—and scale.
Final Sip of Advice
Whether you’re on Zillow Flex, Premier Agent, or none of the above, here’s your next move:
Audit your CRM pipeline
Map out your stages clearly
Tie every automation to a stage
Train your team to use them consistently
You don’t need a new system—you just need the one you’ve got to work smarter.
Until next time,
Go fix that funnel. And make it rain.