When Should You Ask for an Intro?

Asking for warm intros and referrals is one of the best ways to drive new business.

Deals source this way close more often, close more quickly, and usually churn less than those sourced from colder channels.

Most of us already know this.

But when should you ask for a warm intro?

Most people think of intros only when looking for new leads to fill the top of their funnel. While thats a great time and place to use an intro request, you can actually leverage them throughout the entire sales process.

Whether you’re sourcing new leads, multithreading existing deals, or getting a deal unstuck, intros can be incredibly powerful.

Here are four key moments in a sales process when you should lean into warm introductions (with templates):

🎣 Sourcing A New Lead

This is the most common time to ask for a warm intro.

You’ve identified someone at a target account that would be a great buyer for you. Rather than sending them an email or making a cold call, you can check if someone in your network can open that door for you. This will drastically increase your chances of getting a meeting booked.

Here’s a Template for This Intro Request:

I'd love to connect with {contact} at {company} to chat about {topic}.

If you have a chance to introduce us, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Here's a bit about {topic}:

{1-2 sentences about you & the topic}

🧵 Multithreading An Enterprise Deal

Multithreading is critical, especially for larger deals.

You’ve already booked or held a meeting with a contact at a target account. Rather than waiting for them to loop in other key stakeholders, you can use warm intros to source meetings with other important contacts from that account.

Here’s a Template for This Intro Request:

Hey {name}, I just spoke with {name} about {your_company}.

Saw you’re connected with {other_name} at {account_name} who would be relevant to this deal.

Appreciate you forwarding the below note to them!

{context for the target person}

☎️ After A Good Sales Call

You know those awesome sales calls that go well—engaged prospect, good fit, etc.—but for whatever reason they decide to pass at the moment?

Maybe timing isn’t right, or their budget isn’t quite there. This can be a perfect time to ask for an open ended referral.

Here’s a Template for This Intro Request:

Hey {name}, I know this is a really big ask, so please tell me to kick rocks if you're not comfortable with it. Won't hurt my feelings.

Do you know any other {title} that are dealing with {pain 1}, {pain 2}, {pain 3} that we could help with? Our strongest customers tend to come from people we already know.

I'm happy to ghostwrite you a message if that makes it easier. Appreciate it!

🍭 When A Deal Gets Stuck

There’s nothing worse than a hot deal that suddenly goes cold for seemingly no reason. Weeks go by and you’re starting to wonder what happened to your prospect.

An intro from your network can help get it unstuck with a friendly backchannel message. Or, worst case, they can help you get closure to figure out why the deal isn’t moving forward.

Here’s a Template for This Intro Request:

Hey {name}, saw you know {name} at {accountName}.

We had a great sales conversation a few weeks ago. They seemed super interested but have since gone silent on me.

Could you nudge them for me to see if they’re still interested in moving ahead with {reminder about what you do}.

Thanks!

Your company’s network of investors, advisors, customers, partners, etc. can offer huge value in helping you open up new deals and close existing deals.

You just have to know when and how to make the ask!

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