Front-End Sales Associate

6 hours ago

manila, metro manila, Philippines Zuma Housing Full-time

Two openings for remote sales agents based in the Philippines — one covering our UCLA student housing, one covering USC. You are the first person a student hears from, and your job is to turn that first message into a booked tour the same day. We also want someone who uses AI tools well enough to build small things that make the work faster.

What you'll actually do

Students message us all day asking about apartments near campus. You answer them — fast, in good English, on whatever channel they used.

  • Reply to new inquiries on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, email and phone. Speed matters more than polish: our target is a qualified lead booked for a tour within an hour of first contact.
  • Ask the questions that tell you whether we have something for them: budget, move-in date, room type, who they're sharing with, which campus.
  • Get them through our short pre-qualification form and onto the tour calendar.
  • Follow up on the ones who go quiet — a call, a message, a reason to come back.
  • Keep each lead's record straight in our system so the next person picking it up knows where it stands.

You are not cold-calling. Every lead you touch has already raised their hand. The job is responding well and not letting anyone fall through.

The two openings

Same job, two different portfolios. Tell us which one you're applying for, or say you're open to either.

Opening

Campus

What you're selling

What the leads are like

Student housing — UCLA

  • Private rooms and shared rooms, plus some whole apartments
  • Many arrive without a specific apartment in mind — "find me something near campus" — so you guide them to the right fit

Student housing — USC

  • USC / University Park, Los Angeles
  • Mostly whole apartments rented to groups of friends, plus private rooms
  • Usually asking about one specific unit they already found, often on behalf of a group

Hours, pay and setup

This is a night shift. Our students are in Los Angeles, so you work their business hours: 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific Time, Monday to Friday. In Philippine time that is roughly midnight to 8:30 AM most of the year, and 1:00 AM to 9:30 AM from November to March. No weekends.

We're saying this up front because it's the part people underestimate. If you can't hold that schedule reliably, this isn't the right role and we'd rather you not spend time applying.

  • Full-time, 40 hours a week, fully remote from the Philippines.
  • Rate: $1,000 to $1,200 a month base, depending on experience, plus commission. Agents who perform reach around $2,000 a month in total.
  • You provide: your own computer and a reliable internet connection, plus a quiet place to take calls.
  • We provide: a US business phone number and all software. You never message or call students from your personal number.

What we're looking for

Sales ability comes first. Everything else can be taught.

  • Excellent written English. You're messaging American university students and their parents. Your writing needs to read as natural and confident, not translated or stiff.
  • Comfortable on the phone in English, including with parents who are spending real money.
  • Fast and consistent. A lead that waits four hours is usually lost. The job rewards people who respond quickly and keep doing it on a slow Tuesday at 3 AM.
  • Organised without being chased. You track your own leads and follow up without someone reminding you.
  • Two or more years in sales, leasing, customer support or a similar front-line role. Student housing or property experience is a plus, not a requirement.
  • You take the rejection well. Most people who enquire don't rent from us. That's normal and not personal.

What we are not looking for is someone who waits to be told what to do, or who treats a slow reply as acceptable because the lead "probably wasn't serious".

The part that makes this job different

Most of our lead handling is already automated — forms, follow-up emails, text reminders, tour booking, lead assignment. You'll work inside that system every day. We want someone who improves it rather than just uses it.

In practice:

  • You use AI properly, not as a novelty. ChatGPT or Claude open all day — drafting replies, tightening your writing, summarising a long thread before you answer it, preparing for a call.
  • When you find yourself doing the same manual thing twice, you build something. A spreadsheet that tracks it, a template, a small automation in a tool like Zapier, Make or n8n. We'll give you access and time to do it.
  • You notice when the machine is wrong. A lead that should have been assigned and wasn't, an email that didn't go