Listen actively. You'll learn more about building strong relationships than by reading books or attending classes.
One of the most common things people do to build strong relationships is listen to their friends' problems. They talk about what's going on in their life in an attempt to learn how to improve their own situation. That's how relationships are built. It's very difficult to build a relationship without listening actively, though. Most people think they need to do some form of talking, but actually they do most of their listening.
When you listen actively, you are taking part in what's happening in your friend's lives, in their words. You are actively listening and listening well. That means you're actively observing their faces, body language, and gestures to help you understand what they mean.
The problem with many people is that they take for granted that someone they care about knows what they want and has already decided what's best for them. But it's not the same with everyone. We've all heard the stories of friends that have had to make hard decisions or move cross-country due to divorce, illness, job loss, or just plain old bad luck. Even people who seem to have everything they want sometimes don't. So listening to your friends and family members in order to learn what they want and need is a good idea, but so is listening actively.
As a professional, you might think that it's difficult to listen actively because you don't speak the same language as your clients. But the truth is, we all speak the same language. In fact, there are only two languages - the English language and our own native language. We all know what we want, we all understand our emotions, we all express our feelings, we all express our needs and wants and desires. We all use similar words to express those needs and wants.
So instead of focusing on the content, which might be vague, try focusing on active listening. Active listening allows you to learn what your friends and family really want and need from you. It gives you the ability to provide what they want and need, which helps you to build a long-term relationship.