Should your team member be looking for clients, network builders or both?

Some of the people you on-board may already have a customer acquisition strategy using LinkedIn.
This strategy may be working well for them, and they may not want to disturb it.

In this case, it may be good to re-iterate that such customer acquisition strategies tend to be short-term strategies that need to be continuously applied.

Assume your team member is looking to expand their team or team building advocates so that eventually they will have a large and increasing number of others advocating for them.

Can a customer acquisition strategy be combined with a search for like-minded others who want to build their relationship-based networks?

Yes! In many cases, your team member can combine a customer acquisition strategy with a strategy to find great potential network building partners.

The key is for your team member to search for others on LinkedIn who meet the following criteria:

1. People who are potential customers or strategic partners.

2. Others that have a pay-it-forward attitude. In other words, they believe in building trusted relationships with others (by first helping them make the right contacts) without expecting any immediate return.

Your team member can then reach out to such people with the intention of helping them make the right connections rather than trying to sell them their offering.

When your team member has a conversation with such people, the person they have reached out to will likely ask your team member how they may be able to help them.

If they are a potential strategic partner for your team member, they will probably know many others who could be good contacts for your team member.

Regardless of whether your team member is looking for clients or network builders, it will work for them to add a short paragraph to the top of the “About” section of their LinkedIn profile that conveys the message that your team member is open to helping others and is not necessarily simply about trying to sell something to unknown others. This message could, for example, have words to the effect:

“Although you and I may not be able to do business together directly, it is highly likely that I will know others who are great contacts for you. I am always happy to help others who also have a “pay-it-forward” attitude.”

The main thing your team member is looking to achieve is a face to face conversation (on Zoom) with others who have a like-minded attitude. So when they are conversing with like-minded others, they will probably be able to establish a great connection in their first call.

If the person they have reached out to is a potential strategic partner, it is likely that your team member may be able to help their new associate meet some of their relevant contacts and vice versa.