Zillow Acquires Real Estate CRM Platform Follow Up Boss
Zillow has acquired Follow Up Boss, a customer relationship management (CRM) platform widely used by real estate professionals. The move is expected to drive further consolidation in real estate technology and could significantly impact agent workflows and lead management strategies nationwide.
- The acquisition of Follow Up Boss by Zillow involved a purchase price of $400 million in initial cash, with the potential for an additional $100 million in a cash earnout. - Follow Up Boss is set to remain an independent brand, continuing to serve its existing clients regardless of their affiliation with other Zillow Group platforms. Co-founders Dan Corkill and Tom Markov, along with approximately 100 other employees, will join Zillow Group. - Prior to the acquisition, Follow Up Boss was a widely used CRM in the real estate industry, with over 100,000 agents using the platform daily. - Zillow's acquisition is part of its larger strategy to create a "housing super app," aiming to streamline the tools that agents use to manage their business. - Zillow has stated that customer data entered into Follow Up Boss will remain within the platform and will not be accessed by Zillow Group without user permission. The company will also work with a third-party validator to ensure data protection. - This acquisition follows Zillow's previous purchases of other real estate technology companies, such as dotloop and ShowingTime. - Despite assurances, the acquisition has raised concerns among some real estate professionals regarding data privacy and the potential for Zillow to leverage Follow Up Boss data to market directly to consumers.
