With Zillow serving as the 800-pound gorilla in the room while they give their listing presentations, its understandable that agents might be a bit nervous to tell a home seller that their listing might not be eligible to be displayed on Zillow.
But Compass agents say they arent too worried as they go all in on promoting the companys three-phase marketing strategy.
Im just focusing on explaining to them how Zillows model hurts me as an agent and how it is a disservice to their listing, said Mike Mahlstedt, a Houston-based Compass agent. If a prospective buyer contacts the agent advertised next to the listing, they are contacting a random agent, not the listing agent who is an expert on the property.
Todd Armstrong, a San Diego-based Compass agent, uses a similar strategy.
The first thing I do is try to make them understand what the portals do with their listing and most of them have no idea that the listing agent does not appear right with the listing on portal sites, Armstrong said. And then I ask them if theyd prefer me to be the one answering questions about their property or some random agent, and they all say they want me answering those questions.
Critics of Compass and private listing networks claim that agents and brokerages are using this to double-end deals in states that allow for dual agency. This potentially hurts their clients by not providing them with full unbiased representation, even as they boost their bottom line.
Compass has pushed back against this narrative, repeatedly stating that its open to sharing information about private exclusive listings with agents at any firm, as highlighted by the launch of its in-office private listing book.
Despite their tough rhetoric against Zillow, Compass agents say they arent pushing clients to use the three-phase marketing plan. Instead, they present it as a possible option for sellers to use.
The three-phase marketing plan isnt right for every client and they dont have to go in that direction. Compass isnt pushing it; they just want to provide sellers with different options, Mahlstedt said.
Under the three-phase marketing plan, a listing begins as an office exclusive, which is marketed in-house to Compass agents or sent privately to agents at other firms. From there, the listing moves to a coming soon status and appears on Compasss website. Many MLSs nationwide allow coming-soon listings to be publicly marketed, but MLSs differ in how long a listing can remain in this stage
If the listing fails to sell during the first two phases, its listed as active on the MLS. Compasss data shows that in 2024, 94% of listings that began as private exclusives ended up on the MLS.
Eric Johnson, a Boston-based Compass agent and vocal supporter of private exclusive listings, also acknowledged that the marketing plan has its limits.
Three-phase marketing isnt for everybody, Johnson said. It needs to fit with the clients needs, timeline and goals. In a perfect world, everyone would use it its a persons largest financial asset.
And in my opinion, going to the market blindly without testing it as their adviser & is a bit irresponsible, but it is up to the client how we market their property.
For Mahlstedt, who specializes in luxury listings, the private exclusive stage has been incredibly helpful in properly pricing unique properties.
We dont want the listing to sit on the market for a year and a lot of luxury listings do tend to sit for a while, Mahlstedt said. In this stage, you have the change to get insights from top producers and you can do a lot of price testing to see how high you can push the price, because there might not be any comps.
It is a great opportunity to get feedback, but you also open the possibility of it selling quickly because the buyer doesnt want someone else to have the chance to make an offer.
So far, Compass agents said clients are responding well to the idea of using the three-phase marketing plan.
I always tell them that it is a good way to test price and just see what the interest in their property is like, Armstrong said. Most of them really want to do that.
Johnson said that even if sellers dont use the marketing plan, he feels like having it as an option makes him stand out against other agents.
The typical seller interviews multiple agents and they typically decide on the person that they think has the best vision for their property, Johnson said. I think the three-phase marketing has a lot to do with differentiating ourselves from others who are just entering a listing on the MLS. It is a much more thoughtful approach with more intention behind it.
But Mahlstedt said that many of his clients want to hit the ground running and immediately list on the MLS.
According to a Bloomberg report, Compass agents persuaded 48% of sellers nationwide (excluding those in Washington state, due to a conflict with Northwest MLS) to utilize some form of its three-phase marketing plan during the first quarter of 2025.
While Johnson is a strong proponent of Compasss plan, he acknowledges that the possibility of the listing being banned from Zillow causes some sellers to pause. For these people, Johnson has devised a Zillow- and CCP-friendly version of the strategy.
It is essentially the same as what I feel is the standard three-phase marketing plan, where the listing stays a private exclusive for a few weeks, but instead of it being a private exclusive for a few weeks, it is only in this status for 24 business hours, Johnson said.
In order to maximize this timeline, Johnson will list the property as a private exclusive on a Friday, allowing it to stay in that status over the weekend before going live on the MLS or being listed as coming soon on Monday.
Well do a broker open house on the weekend, and Ill send the listing one on one to other agents, and we still get that feedback, Johnson said. I can see all the metrics and then we can adapt it is just a more compressed timeline.
As the industry inches closer to Zillows listing standards going into full effect, it will ultimately be the consumer who decides who has the power. This hinges on their risk appetite for not having the listing shared on the countrys most popular listing portal.
