Today, the volatile age of digital disruptions, COVID-19 pandemic, and unprecedented levels of global change, have pushed many organizations to adopt rapidly changing environments through newer ways of working. As technology becomes an integral part of day-to-day business, there is limited scope for things to be conducted manually while we race into the future. However, in such digital chaos, the fundamental human trait that upholds the key to success is the involvement of Emotional Intelligence (EI). Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage your internal emotions and identify the emotions of the surrounding people. 

In today’s digital era, Emotional Intelligence has become one of the most essential skill-sets to adopt by corporates to harness and cultivate a meaningful and socially strong human infrastructure within the organization to withstand any adverse situation. The World Economic Forum (WEF) in their skills for the 2020 workplace included EI as one of the top 10 skills required to stay relevant in a dynamic world. 

Role and need for EI in improving employee performance and productivity in the real estate industry:

Emotional Intelligence is also considered one of the most valuable skills for the new age of business generation across various industries, especially real estate as it more strategically includes the business of people. In the evolving world of real estate, along with technology, the human trait of emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in the sector’s success. According to a 2019 Capgemini Report “Organizations benefit from employees who display a high EI quotient: – Top benefits for organizations include enhanced productivity, high employee satisfaction, increased market share, and reduced attrition”.

The effectiveness of different functions of the real estate sector such as sales, marketing, channel partners etc. depends on the skillful adoption and application of the emotional intelligence quotient. Hence, it is very important to keep a constant check on what motivates the employees to maintain a higher level of EQ that translates into improved productivity and performance. Some of the best practices adopted by many organizations globally and in India that helps cultivate emotional intelligence amongst the employees and boost productivity includes, Adoption of Apps to detect employee satisfaction and happiness at work, Hiring technology consultants to track and evaluate employee moods, Demonstration of high EQ leadership, Develop employee-value culture, Assertiveness training and stress management programmes for employees and more. 

Emotional Intelligence and its correlation with changing marketing dynamics

EI has long been ignored by real estate organizations. However, with the changing times, real estate companies are now realizing the importance of Emotional Intelligence and its benefits in the industry where people and Human-to-Human (H2H) approach play a fundamental role. 

In today’s modern times of a rapidly changing environment, the real estate industry is adopting unique trends and methods to create a connection between its brands and prospective customers. One of the trends observed recently is that brands now come across as personalities with human traits that have high Emotional Intelligence (EI). Today, this trend is leading to the advent of the emotionally intelligent marketing model in the real estate sector. In today’s modern times, the People (External & Internal Customers) relate to brands that are reflective of their own personal values and belief systems. This further emphasizes the need for adopting changing marketing dynamics in the real estate sector to serve its brand’s purpose and connect with the right customers. 

Some of the significant strategies required to be inculcated in the future of real estate marketing includes; Increased emphasis on the brand personality positioning than product positioning, Combined use of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the entire efficiency of the marketing campaign, Need of employees with higher Emotional Quotient (EQ) and more. 

• Increased emphasis on the brand personality positioning than product positioning: A larger emphasis and spending on the brand personality positioning is essential as it helps mid-scaled brands garner high mindshare than focusing only on the product attributes. Also, consumer engagement on a larger scale is vital as Emotional content is more effective than campaigns with rational content.
• Combined use of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the entire efficiency of the marketing campaign: AI supports marketers to analyze past data points and use predictability for developing marketing campaigns based on past behaviour. However, Emotional Intelligence (EI) shall allow brands to recognize, understand their consumer’s emotions and help regulate their own. Application of AI and EI in tandem shall have a direct impact on the overall efficiency of running marketing & sales campaigns.
• Need of employees with higher Emotional Quotient (EQ): Organizations need to hire a sales & marketing workforce that has a reasonably high Emotional Quotient (EQ) for consistent consumer communication. Many research-based studies show that jobs that require a huge amount of personal interaction, for example, sales or real estate jobs can benefit from workers who possess high emotional intelligence. Organizations can achieve returns up to four times higher by investing in EI skills such as emotional learning & development, and should consider making EI pre-screening mandatory especially for customer-facing roles. 
• With this, Emotional Intelligence certainly proves to be one of the most essential skill-sets required at the disposal of a modern-age real estate professional to connect better with the audience. It further helps to enhance the brand’s overall ecosystem and purpose within the organization across stakeholders such as employees, existing and potential customers, society and associated agencies and consultants.