Cold calls aren’t dead, but they’re on life support. The most successful sellers are building relationships before they sell because they know that the fastest deals start long before the first pitch.
Warm introductions are the new foundation of modern outbound.
What Is a Warm Intro?
A warm introduction is when someone in your network; a customer, colleague, investor, or mutual contact; connects you directly to a prospect. It’s not a cold email or a random LinkedIn message. It’s a transfer of trust.
When a mutual connection vouches for you, they lend you their credibility. That’s the power of social proof and trust transfer, two of the strongest psychological drivers in B2B sales. Instead of starting from zero, you’re stepping into a conversation with built-in legitimacy.
Consider the difference:
- Cold Email: You’re an unknown name in a crowded inbox. Response rates hover below 2%.
- Mutual Intro: You’re introduced by someone the buyer already knows and respects. Response rates jump several times higher, and deals move faster.
- Self-Referred Lead: The buyer comes to you because they heard about your impact from someone in their network, the ultimate form of inbound trust.
In every case, the path of least resistance is paved with relationships.
The 7 Types of Connectors In Your Network
Referrals don’t come from strangers, they come from Connectors. These are the people who already know and trust you, and whose networks overlap with your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
Each type of Connector plays a unique role in helping you find, reach, and build relationships with your next customers.
Below is the Connector Framework, a way to identify and activate the people who can open doors to new opportunities. There are seven main types of Connectors that can introduce you to your target customers.
Employees
Employee networks are the easiest and most immediate to activate for warm introductions. Anyone who works at your company can technically be an Employee Connector, but the best ones are those who naturally interact with your ICP.
If you sell to CTOs, your engineering team might have relevant relationships.
If you sell to marketing leaders, your marketing team is likely best positioned.
It’s in every employee’s best interest to help drive company success; when the company wins, they win. By encouraging employees to surface or share introductions, you unlock a massive, often untapped network of warm paths.
Champions
Champions are your power users; the customers who love your product, talk about it often, and want to see it succeed. They’re living proof of your value and make the most authentic advocates.
You can spot Champions by their behavior:
- They consistently use your product or services.
- They’ve expressed clear success or satisfaction.
- They actively share their experiences publicly or with peers.
Because they deeply understand what you offer, Champions make phenomenal Connectors; their word carries weight, and their intros come with built-in credibility.
Fans
Fans are the people who love what you do, even if they’re not direct customers. They could be peers, friends, or professional connections who cheer you on and want to help however they can.
They often:
- Engage regularly with your company’s content or team.
- Post organically about your brand or share your wins.
- Ask how they can support or get involved.
Fans are great Connectors because their motivation is simple: They want to see you succeed. Bringing them into a formal referral motion helps make their enthusiasm mutually beneficial.
Influencers
Influencer Connectors are people who already have strong access and credibility within your ICP. They’re often creators, consultants, or community builders who are directly connected to your target customers.
Look for those who:
- Are visibly connected to your ICP on social platforms.
- Manage communities or client bases that match your ICP.
- Have previously worked within your target industry or role set.
Influencers are effective because they can bridge you directly to your ICP using their own established trust. In a formal referral program, they can also authentically monetize their network by helping both sides win.
Formal Partners
Formal Partners are other companies or organizations that share your ICP or customer base. These relationships are strategic, both parties benefit from shared access and aligned growth goals.
The best partners are those who:
- Sell to similar audiences or verticals.
- Share overlapping customer ecosystems.
- Operate with similar values, culture, or brand ethos.
An example of a formal B2B partnership is Hubspot and Chatfuel. (breezy.io)
When you partner intentionally, both organizations can leverage each other’s networks to shorten sales cycles and close more deals, together.
Investors
Investors are some of the most powerful Connectors you have. They’ve already demonstrated belief in your business by investing capital, and they typically hold deep networks across their portfolios.
A best practice: ensure that network leverage is built into your investment agreement, making warm introductions part of the relationship, not an afterthought.
Investors have a vested interest in your success, and their portfolio access often includes the very decision-makers you’re trying to reach. Use that access strategically.
Advisors
Advisors sit at the intersection of expertise and connection. They’re trusted guides who lend their experience and, often, their network to help your company grow.
The best Advisors are those who:
- Have worked with or sold to your ICP before.
- Understand your market and how your buyers think.
- Are motivated by your success as a reflection of their own.
When you activate Advisors as Connectors, you’re not just gaining advice, you’re gaining access to doors that open with a single credible introduction.
The Connector Framework isn’t about chasing new contacts, it’s about activating the trust you already have. Each of these groups holds unique access to your next opportunity. When you engage them intentionally, you turn your network into a living, breathing growth engine.
How to Identify and Prioritize Warm Intro Opportunities
Every strong referral motion starts with visibility, seeing not just who you know, but how those connections can move deals forward. That’s where network signals come in.
Network signals surface the hidden connective tissue inside your CRM, LinkedIn, and internal relationship data. They show you:
- Which teammates, customers, or investors already know someone at your target account.
- How strong those relationships are.
- Where you have warm paths that can turn a cold list into a connected one.
Think of them as a live map of your company’s collective network.
How to Identify and Prioritize Network Signals
Not every connection is equal. To find the most actionable intro paths, use three simple prioritization criteria:
- Connection Strength: How well do you (or your teammate) actually know the contact? A mutual LinkedIn connection isn’t the same as a former coworker, customer, or close collaborator. Prioritize relationships with real context and trust.
- ICP Alignment: Are they connected to the right people, the ones who match your Ideal Customer Profile? A strong connection to a non-ICP company may not help much, while a light connection to a perfect-fit prospect might be worth pursuing.
- Willingness to Help: Even the best-connected people won’t always make intros. Identify the folks who have shown genuine enthusiasm for your brand.
When you layer these three dimensions together, you get a referral roadmap, one that tells you not just who you know, but where to act next.
Cold outreach might build lists, but warm introductions build relationships. And relationships are what actually close deals.
The most successful sellers today aren’t just chasing prospects; they’re activating the trust they already have. Every customer, coworker, investor, or fan holds a connection that could open a door. When you learn to see those signals, ask intentionally, and recognize the people who help, your pipeline starts to grow itself.
That’s the power of a referral motion: it compounds. Each introduction builds more trust, creates more advocates, and fuels the next opportunity.
So before sending your next cold email, take a look at your network map. The warmest path to your next deal is probably already one connection away.
Ready to put this into motion? Learn how to build and scale your own referral flywheel inside GTN University, where sellers turn relationships into revenue.
