A day in the life of a sales associate at Nested
Chris, Charlie and Ashley are some of our fantastic Sales Associates. Here they share what a typical day looks like and give some insight into working at Nested.
Working at Nested isn’t like working for any other estate agency, we’re redefining the way estate agency works in the UK. For too long, sellers have been subjected to unresponsive agents and broken processes. With a combination of groundbreaking technology and expert local agents, Nested is fixing the whole moving experience one problem at a time.
I spoke to a couple of our Sales Associates to get a good feel for what it’s like working here and how their day to day working life pans out; here is what they said!
Out and about visiting properties.
In non-Covid times, Monday morning starts with a team meeting to set up our week, we set our own targets and discuss any new processes or changes to the way we work. These changes come along fairly often since we’re a start up!
Once the meeting (currently a zoom call) is finished, we crack on with the enquiries that have come through over the weekend on our listed properties. We also follow up on feedback from the previous day's viewings.
We like our people to work autonomously as much as possible - so being a self starter is a must! You will have a lot of control of your own diary but Chris (one of our SA’s) told me that he tries to mostly book his viewings for mid-to-late afternoon, giving him the best chance to get his other tasks done during the day. He also fills his diary chock-a-block on Saturdays as these are always popular days for viewings! Chris covers North London, so his travel time can really vary - he’ll often take his laptop with him so that if he arrives early he can pick up some other work whilst he waits in the car or on the street corner! Usually, viewings go on until around 6:30pm, but again, there is a lot of flexibility so if you manage your time well you can always finish a bit earlier on some days as needed.
The week carries on with the same rough structure every day but the nice thing about the job is the variety of properties and clients you’ll deal with day-in day-out.
“One of my favourite parts of my role as an SA is getting out and meeting people. On a weekly basis, I meet around 10-15 new people and get to discuss and advise on one of their biggest investments of their lives. I also love the relationships you build more long term. You’ll speak with sellers at least once a week, sometimes 5/6 times and really get to know each other well. If you get to a viewing early, you end up sitting down having a cup of tea with them (before all this covid madness anyway).” - Chris
We round out the week with our All Hands Friday meeting, which the whole company attends, to discuss the big things we’ve been working on that week. This is followed by Friday lunch provided by the company in the office - a lovely time to catch up with everyone. Our Friday wrap-up meeting at the end of the day usually involves some snacks, some drinks and celebrations for all the good work we’ve done that week.
Some of our SA’s travel by car and some use public transport to get around. At the moment we’re all working from home full time so we don’t visit our Farringdon office at all. Once it is safe to do so though we’ll be back to having the office as our base (except WFH Wednesdays) and running about London selling houses!
We work on the road! Or in the park :)
I fired a couple of hard hitting reporter-style questions at some of the team (whilst wearing my trilby) and here are their thoughts:
What do you love about working at Nested?
Charlie: Nested is not your average estate agent. We’re redefining the way people interact with estate agents to break that stigma that still exists. Nested is a tech-driven and boundary-breaking company that allows you to work hard whilst also using the savvy structures in place to make the job easier. We’ve got everything from automated messages and emails to working from home and virtual viewings.
Chris: I love the flexibility of my role as an SA, no two days are the same. One day can be very ‘buyer heavy’, booking and conducting viewings, collecting feedback and negotiating offers, whereas others I have to focus more on my portfolio of sellers. Building and maintaining the relationship as well as discussing different strategies for getting their property sold.
Ashley: I adamantly said that I did not want to work for an estate agent to my recruiter and she encouraged me to look at Nested and just read about them. I read the website and within 30-minutes I was asking for that call to be set up. A market re-defining agency showing all agencies the way an estate agent should be. A tech driven property business that cares about their staff and the experience given to every person involved in the property transaction.
What are the difficulties/frustrations of being an SA?
Charlie: Like any job you’ll find frustrations/difficulties - the main difference with being an SA for Nested is that they listen, review and act. They want our feedback and want to improve. No job comes without getting your hands a little dirty, but at Nested, they want to help make your life easier and what you say has impact.
Chris: The hardest thing about being an SA is time management, this is very different at Nested compared to other agencies, especially if you worked in a branch in a local area. As we cover a larger patch, the travel time can take a bit longer, so you have to plan your time and travel well in advance.
Ashley: The only frustration I have is when people think that we are any old estate agent (the old stigma) but I then take this as a challenge to prove them otherwise.
Not all of our Sales Associates have worked in Estate Agency before but if you’re confident with selling, trustworthy and quick-witted you’ll do just fine! We’d love to hear from you if you’re considering a new role - you can apply here!
The views can be pretty great as we go about our business!
What sort of person is the perfect fit for this role?
You can find out about this position here but in a nutshell this is what we are after:
- Ability to demonstrate high levels of integrity and being a trusted advisor
- Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills
- Ability to establish and build effective working relationships
- Ability to get things done and a willingness to work hard
“If you are a hardworking, target driven individual with a fantastic work ethic and a love for property, then a role as an SA is for you. This is like no other role I’ve ever had before and I guarantee this for you too.” - Charlie
“This isn’t your typical estate agent role, if you are looking for something a bit different, working in a company that is actively trying to disrupt the market, a company that is flexible and fun to work for then this is the role for you. It can be hard work and everything changes constantly, but that is the fun of working in a start-up.” - Chris
“If you love property, want to help educate people about the market and care about giving a positive experience, then become an SA.” - Ashley