How to become a senior manager in ten years

At 29, I'm Romans’ youngest senior manager. Last year I was promoted to a regional management position and I now oversee our sales offices in Sunningdale and Crowthorne.

I joined Romans because my parents had recently moved house with them and impressed with the process urged me to apply for a job there. 

I knew nothing about estate agency.

I quickly realised I had a lot to learn, but I’ve never been one to shy away from challenges so I kept my head down, absorbed the knowledge of my senior peers, and made the most of all the training available.

I knew what I wanted for my career in the long-term and my reputation as a trustworthy estate agent means a lot to me so I concentrated on that from the beginning.

I won some of the internal annual awards but I was never one of the very top performers. I did enough in terms of figures to prove my worth; however my value was the way I looked after customers.

I was reliable and, combined with my ability to look after people, I was trusted with valuable jobs within the office which definitely helped progress my career quicker.

By focusing on giving every single customer the very best service I consistently scored well in the mystery shops. This meant the feedback provided to my senior managers was always very positive.

Promotion also came quickly for me as I was eager to take on new tasks outside of my job role. One of my biggest challenges was opening a ‘cold start’ office in Sunningdale (an office in a new area for Romans). 

This enabled me to prove that I could be successful in other market places; it was hard and it took time but it was the best way to put my skills and training to use.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work for a growing company, enabling me to progress and learn quickly while offering invaluable support through all of my roles. 

My top tips for becoming a manager:

Get the job done

Do not underestimate reliability. This is a huge strength, and it will mean your manager will quickly start to trust you with important jobs and therefore help career progression.

Put the customer first

This should be a given for any estate agent, but it’s worrying how many still concentrate solely on their targets. The feedback you receive from happy customers goes a long way and makes you stand out from the crowd in the customer’s eyes.

Be helpful

Being a great estate agent is more than just a job, it’s a way of life. Be helpful to everyone you meet, after all most people will need the help of an estate agent at some point in their life and you want them to think of you. Plus, it means you’ll never get caught out during a mystery shop.

Network

Following on from the previous point, keep an eye out for any situation, in or out of working hours, where you can provide knowledge and advice about property. There is often no short-term gain to this, but the long-term benefits are priceless.

Get involved

Put yourself out there and join in with other projects. They may be outside of your job description but this is how you prove your capabilities and get noticed. 

*Daniel Collis is a senior manager at Romans