Networking can be about building relationships with people who can help, advise, challenge and support us. Sometimes the most valuable connection isn't somebody who gives you business. It is somebody who knows something you don't.
This week on IPSA Kind Of Magic, Gareth Wax and Hamish McLay will be joined by Sharon Whitney, who does a great deal of networking across the property profession.
Sharon recently attended an event where she delivered a five-minute "Weather Report" about helping people become more "move-ready". It is a good example of what networking can produce. You go along to share your own knowledge, yet you also come away having listened to other people, heard different experiences and perhaps made connections you didn't have before.
We want to ask Sharon what she has learnt from all those conversations.
What makes a networking event worthwhile? How do you approach a room full of people you may never have met before?
And how do you turn a five-minute conversation into a professional relationship that could last for years?
There is also another side to networking which doesn't always get talked about.
It can create a support network.
Property is a huge profession. Search agents, conveyancers, estate agents, surveyors, lenders, local authorities and many others all have their own areas of knowledge. None of us can possibly know everything.
Sometimes being good at what you do means knowing when to pick up the phone and speak to somebody who knows more about a particular subject than you do.
That has always been an important part of IPSA.
Our members may be independent businesses, yet independence doesn't have to mean isolation. Having people around the country with local knowledge and years of experience gives members somewhere to turn when they come across something unusual.
That raises an interesting question for the three of us this week.
When you don't know the answer, do you know somebody who does?
Perhaps that is one of the greatest benefits of building a strong professional network.
We will also talk about what Sharon has personally gained from networking, the lessons she has learnt along the way and whether some of the best connections have come from places she never expected.
There is a temptation in today's world to believe that technology gives us access to everything we need. We can search online, send an email, join a video call or ask AI for an answer within seconds.
All of those things have their place.
Yet there is still something rather special about knowing the person at the other end of the telephone.
Someone you trust. Someone whose experience you respect. Someone who will tell you what they really think rather than simply what you want to hear.
And, of course, networking works both ways.
The strongest networks aren't simply about asking, "What can this person do for me?" They grow when people share knowledge, make introductions and help each other without keeping score.
Perhaps that is why networking remains so important.
It isn't simply about collecting contacts.
It is about building relationships.
Join Sharon Whitney, Gareth Wax and Hamish McLay for IPSA Kind Of Magic: More Than Just Networking, live this Wednesday at 1pm.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpillingTheProper-Tea
For IPSA enquiries:
For podcast/media info: