An individual’s temperament is influenced by three factors – namely, genetics, life experiences and the environment around them. But, did you know that your brain plays a key role in how you respond to situations?
The emotional centre in the human body is the amygdala, which is situated in the brain’s limbic system. The limbic centre is where one feels the fight or flight response when facing a threatening situation.
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE?
Emotional Intelligence is your ability to recognise and understand emotions in yourself and in others, along with your ability to use this awareness to manage your behaviour and relationships.
According to a study, only 36% of people can accurately identify their emotions. It is important to understand this, as 58% of performance in all types of jobs relies on managing your emotions in the workplace. In real estate sales, it plays a crucial role because people only buy from people they have an emotional connection with, which your EQ influences.
Types of Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence can be further divided into two parts, based on how you manage your own emotions, versus that of people around you. These are further divided into two, based on how the person understands emotions and manages them. To simplify this:
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to understand your own emotions and their impact on other people. To put it simply, you know how others see you. This skill helps with improving your relationships and to understanding how people perceive you.
To improve your self-awareness:
- Identify your values
- Seek feedback from others
- Practice self-reflection
- Keep a journal
- Examine your knee-jerk emotional reactions.
Self-Management
Self-management is the ability to manage your emotional reactions to situations and people, along with managing impulses and quick reactions.
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Self-management lets you think before you act, helping you avoid hasty decisions you may regret later. It can improve your trustworthiness amongst your clients, as your actions are consistent with your values.
Some ways to self-manage your emotions:
- Breathe and count to ten
- Think ‘Does it need to be said?’
- Own up to your mistakes
- Remember that you have a choice
- Identify and reduce triggers
- Tune into your physical symptoms
Social Awareness
Social Awareness is the ability to understand what another person is feeling, from their point of view. This requires being tuned into their emotions, which is key for real estate agents when working with clients.
Trust and engagement are essential to increase your sales, for which social awareness is required. You can improve your social awareness by:
- Listening and watching your client’s behaviour carefully
- Putting yourself in your client’s shoes and showing empathy
- Being socially present
- Studying how others react to you
- Paying attention to the tone of your voice.
Relationship Management
Relationship management is the ability to use the awareness of your own emotions and those of others to manage interactions successfully. In real estate, this means being tuned your client’s emotions and ensuring that they’re in the right headspace throughout your interaction, be it on a phone call or in person.
Relationship management helps improve your rapport and increase your influence. To improve your relationship management skills:
- Show genuine in others
- Practice active listening when your clients are talking to you – where you’re observing their body language, emotions and context
- Give information freely
- Be dependable and reliable
- Remember the small details your client shares
EQ and Sales
Buying property can be an emotional experience for many people, as it involves a significant amount of money and planning. This is why clients prefer working with agents who truly understand their emotions and can guide them through their property journey.
As a real estate agent, having a higher EQ can help work with your clients better in these situations. Check how you’re doing in the four aforementioned skills and create an action plan to work on each skill. We offer a great resource to identify your strengths and weaknesses within your EQ and more tips on bettering them, so do register for a session to learn with activities and role-plays.
For a more in-depth look at emotional intelligence at the workplace, join us for a workshop at Bayut Academy.