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As an investment sales professional, I get to interact with many owners of commercial properties, and throughout the process, I am able to listen to many of the challenges (and sometimes opportunities) facing these owners as they navigate the uncertainties of life and business during the global pandemic crisis. While we all may have heard different negative stories, there are some valuable lessons from this moment in time that we can learn and apply not only to the real estate industry, but also to business and life in general.
Be Interested In Them, Not To Them
Asking the right questions and being a good listener will help you truly understand the challenges this person is facing, whether they are having issues with tenants, lenders, collections or something else. In order to do this, you need to have a completely detached agenda and put that person at ease, believing that you can truly make a difference for them without necessarily thinking of any gain for yourself — other than the satisfaction of knowing that through your expertise and humanistic approach, you can positively affect them. If they share that they have personally experienced a health-related issue or a close relative or friend of theirs has, it is also important to try to relate to them. Imagine yourself in their shoes, even if you have not had such an experience.
What If It Were You?
One of the first things I did with my clients was provide them a rent relief guide for landlords in order to address all the tenant requests they were getting for rent relief. This was extremely well received; it showed them that I was putting myself in their position and understanding that many owners of commercial properties were experiencing challenges with their tenants seeking assistance or facing hardship due to the pandemic. As a commercial property owner myself, I know what it is like to deal with a tenant, so relating to them my personal experience was very helpful.
At a personal level, be mindful that they may be having other issues to deal with, such as home-schooling their kids given school closures or unexpectedly having to work remotely most of the time, and the impact these issues can have on how they work. Many times during my videoconferences or calls, my colleagues actually get to see and hear my own kids in the background.
Be A Solutions Provider
While you may not have every answer to address their challenges, you can probably suggest one or multiple ways to deal with their issue and at least point them in the right direction. Having been in the industry for over 25 years has allowed me to amass a wealth of information and contacts that I am constantly putting to work for the benefit of my clients. Discovering commonalities with the other person and sharing how you have solved or would solve a particular issue can be very powerful and impactful. Many times you will have to think outside the box and provide them with options that may not have worked for you but perhaps will work for them. In providing different solutions, you may find yourself exploring things that are unrelated to your line of work but can make a significant difference and impact on someone else’s life.
Create A Greater Social Awareness
According to psychologists, “Empathy promotes helping behaviors. Not only are you more likely to engage in helpful behaviors when you feel empathy for other people, but other people are also more likely to help you when they experience empathy.”
In a competitive industry such as real estate, it is important to encourage more empathy as we deal with so many different types of people. It does not have to be a win-lose proposition. Even as we try to encourage children to be empathetic to others, as adults, we often forget how to be empathetic ourselves. Becoming more aware of its importance will help us all better deal with not only the business challenges, but the personal ones as well.
As we all navigate the uncertainties of a global pandemic, let us not forget that we all have the health and well-being of our loved ones as a priority. To that end, we should keep in mind the people we are interacting with also have the same goals and concerns. Approaching our business and conversation from that standpoint will not only make us better businesspeople, but more importantly, better people.