Warm paths in Stage 1

Before Stage 1 writes a cold note, it looks for someone you know who knows the buyer. Warm before cold is the rule, and the product is built to follow it.

A forwarded note from a trusted peer beats the best cold opener you'll ever write. Senior buyers read what their friends send them. The trouble has always been finding the path. Most sellers don't know who in their network knows whom, and they don't have time to check for every account on their list.

How it finds the path

Stage 1 looks through your own LinkedIn connections for people who are connected to the buyers at an account. This needs LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator.

It does this for the seats that matter. The economic buyer, the champion and the technical lead. A path to any one of them is worth having. A path to the economic buyer is worth the most.

When it finds one, the path shows up on the account. You see who you know, who they know, and which buyer they can reach.

It drafts the ask

Finding a connector is half the job. The other half is asking them in a way that's easy to say yes to.

Stage 1 drafts a short ask to your connector. It explains why you want to meet the buyer, in a sentence or two, and it includes a note the connector can forward as is. The connector doesn't have to write anything. They read it, decide it won't embarrass them, and pass it along.

The forwarded note is built the same way as any opener in Stage 1. It uses the 3x3 research on the account and follows the Hypothesis Opening. A hook, why it matters to the buyer, a guess at the problem and an easy question to answer.

Say your connector is a former colleague who now sits on the leadership team at a regional logistics company, next to a COO who started there in the spring. Stage 1 finds that the company's latest earnings release named warehouse costs as a priority. The forwardable note might read like this.

Saw you joined as COO in the spring, and the last earnings release puts warehouse costs on the priority list. In your first year, you'll be asked for a cost plan by site. My guess is the data to build it is scattered across systems that don't match. Is that accurate, or is the bigger issue something else?

You read both the ask and the note, change what you want, and approve them. Nothing goes out without you.

If the intro doesn't happen

Sometimes the connector doesn't reply. Sometimes they say they don't know the buyer that well. That's normal.

When the warm path doesn't come through, you go direct. Stage 1 already has the research and the Hypothesis Opening for each seat, and it sends from your own LinkedIn and email once you approve it. Warm first, cold second, and no account left waiting on an intro that isn't coming.

Why this matters for services

Services buyers hire people they trust. A $200K engagement is a bet on your team, and most senior buyers would rather hear about you from someone they know than from you. A warm path shortens the trust gap before the first conversation.

It works for both sides. Your connector looks good for passing along something useful. The buyer gets a note from a peer instead of a stranger. And you start the conversation with borrowed credibility you couldn't buy.

For how this fits into a full week of outreach, see a week of warm outreach, start to finish.

Where it shows up

Warm paths sit alongside the rest of the account in Stage 1. The Board tells you which accounts have the most fresh signal. Click into one and you'll see the signals, the research, any warm paths and the drafts for each seat. The Desk sorts the replies when they come back.

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