What I love so much about my job is working with the most diverse people and the many stories. Lately I've been hearing more and more, "I didn't want to tell you all that, but you have such a calm demeanour". Apparently I also attract problem cases or people just need someone to listen to their problems and where they can release their pressure.

The personal dialogue counts

I often have the feeling that I'm acting as a psychologist, which is probably also because I have always been fascinated by psychology and used to consider working in this field.

In our hectic times, personal dialogue is often neglected anyway, and WhatsApp, text messages and emails are often a substitute for it.

Customer service is increasingly only available via digital assistants, who then don't understand many things for the first time. And then ask them to express themselves differently - no fun, I've only just experienced that. Even bookings and orders are almost exclusively online. So I'm not surprised that more and more people are becoming lonely or depressed.

I'm often told about terrible events and I often think to myself that everyone has to "carry their own little pains". On the outside, many of these people don't seem to be struggling, but on the inside they are fighting their own battle.

It's really good for them to talk about it with a neutral person and they feel they are in good hands with me.

Even if it doesn't come to a conclusion with this person, I'm sure it will come back in another form. I also notice this in the fact that customers still remember me many years later and contact me again.

Experiences that touch

I myself had an experience with a tenant in one of my investment flats. It was 5 years ago now, but it still bothers me:

A flat was given to a very nice, likeable and attractive young man. He worked quite successfully in a fitness centre. He had ambitious plans and informed me after a year that he would probably be giving up the flat soon. He was going to set up another gym in another federal state, he told me. A month later, his father suddenly called me and told me that his son had died. This hit me like a bolt of lightning. I started to investigate what the reason was, as his father didn't want to tell me anything more. It eventually turned out that the tenant's notice to quit the flat was planned as his departure. The details, that I read in the newspaper were shocking. No one knew about his depression or was denied. Fortunately, this happened outside my flat.

That's why it's important to me to take time for the customer at every appointment, whether it's a viewing or the sale of a new property. Perhaps this conversation will help this person at the right time and bad things can be averted.

It's not always just about selling, I put people at the centre and Corona has divided us long enough as people. There were long times when meeting up together was forbidden and gatherings were denied.

This makes personal communication all the more important, without digital assistants where you are just a number.

Of course, I have to release the negative energy that I often absorb from all these events. I manage this very well with strength training or other sports, where I can really let off steam and clear my head again - for the next case!