How far do you think you’d get in your real estate career without your relationships? In this industry, success is often directly tied to the way you interact with others. And we’re not just talking about your clients. We’re talking about your fellow agents, whether in your firm or sitting across the negotiation table. We’re talking about your trusted vendors; your community; your support team. Every relationship has value. A successful career in real estate means putting the needs of others first. But there’s real power in improving lives. Fortunately, helping others is the foundation for relationship building.

Look Outward to Build Relationships

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Our CEO, founder, and principal broker Harout Keuroghlian points out that real growth comes from changing the lives of others around you. It’s an unassuming path to nurturing your business. He recommends asking yourself a simple two-part question at the end of the day: “How many people benefitted from my existence today and who are they?” 

Having trouble thinking of someone who you helped today? Then you’re probably also having trouble building your real estate business. Because the most successful agents are also the most helpful.

The Foundation Stones of Relationship Building

As Harout summarizes, effective relationship building combines:

• Soft Skills
• Listening Skills
• Communication Skills
• Commitment to Personal Growth

“Soft skills” is a broader term that could be said to encompass the other three bullet points and a lot more. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that relationship building demands the development of your soft skills. 

Types of Soft Skills

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Ultimately, soft skills are the tools we use to adequately navigate the world around us. However, these aren’t technical skills. Rather, soft skills are closer akin to emotional development. 

Whether you recognize it or not, you tap into your diverse array of soft skills everyday. Don’t believe us? Just look at this list of commonly acknowledged soft skills:

• Active Listening
• Adaptability
• Communication
• Compromise
• Conflict Resolution
• Creative Thinking
• Critical Thinking
• Emotional Intelligence
• Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership
• Motivation
• Negotiation
• Positive Attitude
• Problem-Solving
• Reliability
• Situational Awareness
• Teamwork
• Time Management
• Work Ethic

The majority of soft skills can be developed through regular interaction with peers. Therefore, it’s clear that strong soft skills are integral to relationship building. 

The Importance of Soft Skills in Contemporary Business

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You might think of soft skills as those qualities you wish you could list on your resume, if you could only find the right place for them. They’re not quite as easy to quantify or measure as a technical skill. 

But finding a way to incorporate soft skills into your curriculum vitae could be in your best interest. Why? Because the contemporary workplace is putting more and more emphasis on strong soft skills. 

Technical skills can illustrate your mastery of a specific type of software or technique. And that’s fantastic for tying you to a specific role within a company. But soft skills denote an adaptability that’s highly coveted in the ever-changing business world. This goes double for an industry like real estate in which relationship building is absolutely integral. 

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You may be a savant when it comes to understanding the housing market, but where will that get you if you don’t know how to really listen to your client? Furthermore, how far will a technical skill take you with a client who doesn’t trust you?  

At this point, you might be thinking your soft skills could use improvement. Even seasoned professionals adept at relationship building could fine tune their amassed experience. With technical skills, you can simply take courses or pursue certifications. The path is clear. But how do you build soft skills? 

Methods of Developing Soft Skills for Relationship Building

The first step is to seek out a challenge to your established soft skills. And the best way to do this is by stepping outside of your comfort zone. This could mean working on a team project with colleagues you don’t know well. Maybe it’s simply pushing yourself to be more social. Or if you’re a heavy talker, perhaps challenge yourself to listen for a full day without interrupting conversation. When you regularly leave your comfort zone, your soft skills will grow by leaps and bounds. 

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Self-reflection may seem counterintuitive when developing soft skills for relationship building. But to get to where you’re going, you first need to figure out where you are. When you’re alone, consider times during the day when communication didn’t quite go as planned. View yourself with compassion while considering your words, actions, and general demeanor during the point of miscommunication. You’ll likely find a key area of improvement. 

A way that you can reinforce your soft skills on the clock is by offering to help your peers. Find another agent at your brokerage with a radically different style and compare notes. If you’re in a good place, offer to mentor a new agent. Think you know a way to improve your brokerage as a whole? Take the initiative to schedule a meeting with your principal broker. For all of these, you’ll already want some decently developed soft skills such as leadership, critical thinking, or situational awareness. But if the climate seems receptive, this kind of proactivity can really help bolster your developing soft skills. 

Real Estate is All About Relationships

Even if you have a natural gift for strategy or an uncanny understanding of the housing market, it won’t matter much without relationships. You’ll need to know the right people to provide vendor recommendations or smooth out bumpy negotiations. 

The landscape of real estate isn’t a battlefield. It’s a platform for diplomacy. Develop your soft skills so that your clients can count on you. Because if you’re not making their lives better, you’re in the wrong career. 

Catch up on JohnHart’s 12 Skills for Exponential Growth with Skill #1: Timeboxing