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Zipi continues to evolve — it was called Pipeline Wizard at one time, but it then refreshed its user experience, and in 2017, rebranded to Zipi, added some business management functionality and earned a 4-star rating.
The company’s direction shifted once more in Q4 of 2018, and again, the team behind the decisions seem to be well-informed on what the industry needs.
The latest iteration of Zipi is even more heavily focused on brokerages, crossing the line into the software category of back-office administration. It provides a highly versatile and granular user experience (UX) for brokers to oversee every aspect of their offices’ finances and agent goals and activity.
Agents are still a part of the solution, provided with tools to manage leads, track deal activity and monitor their own financial goals, payouts and general accounting breakdowns.
The primary draw for a broker looking to transition to Zipi may very well be the flexibility of the compensation management features. Users can assemble templates for every possible payout model, and then when deals finalize, all the numbers fall into place.
Deal elements, such as splits, taxes, franchise fees, royalties and all other negotiation points that differ from one agent to the next, can be quickly inserted into compensation plans, saved as templates and applied to new agents as needed.
These custom plans then drive the disbursement process after closing. A floating preview for each deal helps agent and broker know exactly who is getting what and why.
“This was the natural path of the product,” Zipi CEO Jesse Garcia said. “It’s really carrying on the mission of the original product, and that is to streamline real estate processes.”
Along the way, Zipi has forged a partnership with popular transaction management solution, dotloop. The bi-lateral synchronization between the systems means that completed “loops” send their data into Zipi’s models, and all data needed to close a “loop” ends up back in the transaction records.
Garcia told Inman that they are also on the way toward relationships with SkySlope and QuickBooks Online.
Zipi’s refreshed dashboard gives brokerages a wide range of design options as it relates to what information they want at the ready each day. It’s main navigation offers access to information on progress, deals, sales, purchases, reports and contacts.
The overall interface lacks some zip (pun intended), but the charts and visual data elements are clear and concise and shouldn’t in any way vex users.
In summary, the new Zipi has evolved smartly from its previous iteration, and brokers should find it an effective solution for overseeing the growing complexities of running a brokerage in today’s real estate market.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.
