An article by Peter O'Brien (Victoria)

Emotional intelligence, also called EQ, is the ability to be aware of and to manage emotions and relationships. No wonder people who excel in Property Management have a very high level of EQ. When dealing with clients in property management many of the issues that cause concern and are difficult to manage are problems caused by personal circumstances such as rental arrears, the eviction process, unexpected expensive maintenance issues, and the list goes on.

A process to effectively deal with these issues is for the Property Manager to use their Emotional intelligence to successfully negotiate an outcome that will benefit all parties to the best it can. The Property Manager needs the ability to identify, use, understand the client’s emotions and work towards an outcome that will be able to direct their emotions in a positive way to overcome specific challenges and defuse conflict. It is a learned approach that comes with maturity and experience however once mastered will be beneficial in day to day dealings with tenants and owners. It will also have a huge impact to relieve your own stress, and we all know our role can be highly stressful at times.

The most important elements to using this method in our dealings is to communicate effectively and empathize with others. We must not forget that we too are human and we can connect with people at a personal and emotional level when required to better understand a situation or when it will help us communicate more effectively.

More and more we see Emotional Intelligence being used by Business Development Managers when negotiating with clients to gain new business.

IQ will get you in the door, but it is your EQ, your ability to connect with others and manage the emotions of yourself and others, that will result in a new client signing with you and happy to use your services.