Inline help marks in Stage 1

The moments you need help are the moments Stage 1 makes a call. A door you didn't expect. A relationship you never told it about. A score that looks high. You want the reason right there, not in a menu.

Stage 1 now puts a small question mark beside the things worth explaining.

Where the marks sit

On an account, there's one beside the signal strength score at the top. There's one beside the heading Who to thread, and the way in, which covers warm paths and intros. Each person has one beside their door, and when Stage 1 has a read on how you know them, one beside that relationship.

On the Desk, there's one beside Intros out under Replies, and one beside Review before sending under Going out.

In Settings, Workspace, there's one beside Past clients.

Seven marks. Each one points at a single topic.

What a tap does

Tap a mark and the help panel opens with that topic already open and scrolled into view. The topics for the rest of the screen sit around it, and the ask box is at the top if the answer raises a new question.

Tap the mark beside a door and you get this.

Before anything is written, Stage 1 picks how you earn the open with each person. Cold doors use research, like a filing or a fresh event. Warm doors use a relationship, like a former buyer or someone you worked with. When no door opens, nothing goes out to that person, and the reason is shown under their name.

Tap the one beside a relationship and you learn where it came from. Stage 1 compares your LinkedIn work history with each person's, checks them against your past clients, and counts real LinkedIn conversations you've had. Then it tells you how to clear it or set it yourself.

Why these seven

They mark the places where Stage 1 decides something for you. Which way in. Who gets asked for an intro. How hot an account is. Whether a message waits for your review. Which accounts count as past clients. Those are the calls a seller has to trust before approving anything.

A mark is small on purpose. It sits next to the thing, it doesn't cover it, and you can ignore it until you want it.

What it means for a services seller

You approve every account in Stage 1 before anyone there hears from you. Owning every send explains why. Approving is only worth something when you understand what you're approving. The marks put the reason one tap from the decision.

For the doors and paths the marks explain, see warm paths in Stage 1 and how Stage 1 ranks accounts on the Board.

See a question mark, tap it. The reason is right there.