I Dislike Kissing Up to Clients and Clout Chasing. It Feels Very Degrading. What Are Other Alternatives to Building an Audience/Network?

It’s good to hear you don’t like kissing up in order to network because that’s really not the best approach to networking anyway. As with any relationship-building situation, the best way to relationship-building is to provide value to another person, and you’re likely coming up with new ways to provide that value all the time to clients anyway.

But then you want to establish real connections. Invite your potential clients out to lunch. Get to know them more and see how you can benefit those people. But be upfront about your meeting. Explain that you have a service to offer so they understand that the lunch is a sales pitch of sorts before hand, and they aren’t caught off-guard. But if you are able to have a stronger and more meaningful relationship, you are more likely to be able to move the needle. Lunch may take up more of your day than a phone call, but it will be worth it. But make sure you go into the meeting prepared. Take notes, ask the right questions, and be sure to execute on all of your promises.

This post originally appeared on Quora