Every message goes out as you

A first message from a senior seller lands differently than one from a sending domain nobody's heard of. Buyers check who wrote. Stage 1 sends invites, LinkedIn messages and email from your own accounts, so the person they find is you.

What goes out, and when

Nothing goes anywhere until you approve an account. When you do, Stage 1 picks the best person to reach first and plans their sequence.

For someone you're not connected to, it sends a LinkedIn invite, then the opener a day later. A second LinkedIn note is planned three days after that, and it only goes if something new happened at the account or with the person since your opener. If Stage 1 found a work email, an email follows a few days after.

For someone you're already connected to, there's no invite. The opener goes straight to their inbox.

If there's a warm path to the person, the ask goes to your mutual connection first. The direct opener waits six days and never goes if the intro lands.

By default, Stage 1 reaches one person per company. Everyone else at the account waits about two weeks, and any answer from the account stops them.

You see every word first

Review before sending is on by default, and only the owner can turn it off. Every message with words in it waits on the Desk, under Going out, until you approve it. Edit anything there. Stage 1 keeps what it drafted next to what you sent and learns from your changes.

An orange note flags a draft that breaks a rule, like a sentence that opens with I or We, a chase like just checking in, or a message longer than its recipe allows.

A human pace

Sends happen inside your sending hours, in your workspace's time zone. By default that's 8 to 5 on weekdays. Daily caps default to 20 invites, 40 LinkedIn messages and 40 emails. You can lower any of them, or raise them to a hard ceiling of 200. When a cap is reached, the rest stay scheduled for the next day. People at the same account are planned a day apart, so no company hears from you all at once.

Once LinkedIn starts reporting accepted invites, Stage 1 waits for each person to accept before messaging them. After five days with no accept, the message goes by email if there's an address, or keeps waiting if there isn't.

Stop means stop

Before every send, Stage 1 checks your opt-outs. An email, a whole domain or a LinkedIn profile. Anyone who replies asking to stop is added on the spot. Pass on an account as already a customer and its domain is blocked too.

Every email ends with a plain line.

If this isn't relevant, reply "stop" and I won't write again.

Any reply stops that person's sequence, apart from an out of office. A booked meeting stops it for everyone at the account.

Work emails come with the plan

With no email on file, Stage 1 looks one up inside your plan's monthly allowance. Only emails it finds count. No email means LinkedIn only.

Test it first

Under Settings, Connections, send yourself a real test email or a LinkedIn message to someone you're connected to, before any prospect gets one. Until LinkedIn is connected, Stage 1 sends nothing and marks nothing sent. You can still copy a drafted opener, send it yourself and tap I sent it, so the reply gets tracked. For how the connection works, see Stage 1 runs on your own LinkedIn and email.

Why this matters for a services sale

A services buyer is picking people. The first note is the first sample of your judgment. From your own account, in your words, it reads like a peer. Sent at volume from somewhere else, it reads like a vendor.

The pace protects your account. The opt-outs protect your name. And reviewing every word protects the relationship before it starts. For why a person approves every send, read owning every send, and for when to quit, when to stop following up.

Your accounts, your words, your pace. Stage 1 handles the schedule.