Zillow Preferred Coach vs. Operating Partner

Most owners start by looking for a Zillow Preferred coach. Here is the actual difference between coaching, an independent Operating Partner, and your Zillow Growth Advisor.

For Zillow Preferred team owners

Zillow Preferred coach vs. independent Operating Partner

People searching for help with a Zillow Preferred team usually start by looking for a coach. Here's the actual difference between that and what I do.

Teaches agents scripts, objection handling, and conversion tactics. Usually runs weekly or biweekly training calls. Works from outside the business, advising rather than operating. Most have not worked inside Zillow or inside a Preferred team's daily operations.

Goes agent by agent through your actual Zillow data. Finds where the funnel is leaking: connection to contact, contact to appointment, appointment to met, met to offer, offer to contract, contract to close. Fixes routing, capacity, and accountability, not just individual agent behavior. Takes the seat inside the operation instead of advising from outside it. Builds a system your leadership team can run without needing the engagement to continue indefinitely.

Your Zillow Growth Advisor understands the platform better than anyone outside Zillow. They're the right resource for connections, routing strategy, and campaign guidance. An operating partner isn't a replacement for that relationship. The advisor tells you what to fix. An operating partner is who makes sure it actually gets fixed.

If your agents need better scripts or sales fundamentals, that's closer to traditional coaching. If your advisor has already told you what's wrong and your team still isn't executing on it, that's an operating problem, not a training gap. Most teams that reach out to me are dealing with the second one.

Bring me your last 90 days of Preferred data. I will tell you what I would fix first.

Zillow Preferred coaching and Operating Partner work

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Zillow Group, Inc.

What does a Zillow Preferred coach typically do?

What does an independent Operating Partner do?

Where does the Zillow Growth Advisor fit in?

Which one do you actually need?

Zillow Preferred Coach vs. Independent Operating Partner

The actual difference between a Zillow Preferred coach and an independent Operating Partner, and where your Zillow Growth Advisor fits in.

Michael Schuerman is an Operating Partner for founder-led businesses doing $5M to $30M in revenue, based in Atlanta, Georgia. He takes a seat inside the business, runs the revenue moves the owner has been deferring, and leaves a team that runs without them. Book a 30-minute call at michaelschuerman.co.