Find a warm introduction
Start from the accounts showing intent this month, find the ones where someone on the team already knows the buyer, and spend the favor where it is likely to land.
The conversation
Sample accounts and numbers, for illustrationYouShow me the highest-intent accounts in our ICP this month where someone on the team has a warm path to the buyer through past colleagues, schools or shared investors, rank the paths by strength, and tell me who should ask for each.
Unify3 checks · Unify Intent, The Swarm and CRM
- Listed ICP accounts with website visits or category research this month.
- Checked the buyer at each against the whole team’s past colleagues, schools and shared investors in The Swarm.
- Removed customers and open opportunities; ranked paths by overlap and recency.
Twenty-three ICP accounts showed intent this month, and your team has a warm path into five of them. They are ranked by how strong the path is, with who should ask.
- 1Northwind Labs · Dana Whitfield, VP SupportStrong
- 2Merridian Systems · Nils Berg, Head of SupportStrong
- 3Halden Robotics · Tara Quinn, VP OperationsMedium
- 4Lumen Freight · Elena Marsh, COOMedium
- 5Brightwell Health · Sam Oduya, CIOWeak
A path is only as good as the memory behind it. Strength reads overlap in time, team and recency, and the person asking is always the final judge.
YouSort them: which should we ask for this week, which need a softer route, and which should we leave?
UnifyTwo are worth asking for now. Two need a lighter touch, and one is not worth the favor.
Marcus and Dana worked on the same team for three years and still talk. The account is on pricing.
Priya reported to Nils. A former manager usually takes the call.
An investor introduction carries weight and costs a favor with the board. Ask for context first, not a meeting.
A shared class from 2016. Good for a friendly note from Ana, not a formal introduction.
One overlapping year in different offices. Cold outreach with a good reason will do better than a thin name-drop.
YouTake Halden alone: show me every path to Tara Quinn, not only the best one.
UnifyThree paths lead to Tara Quinn. The investor is still the strongest, and there is a second route through her chief of staff that costs no favor with the board.
- 1Your board member · sits on Halden’s boardMedium
- 2Tom · worked with her chief of staff, Ivy ChenMedium
- 3Ana · same university as Tara, different yearsWeak
A path to someone next to the buyer is often the easier ask: Tom asks Ivy for context, and the board member is kept for when there is a meeting to win.
YouNow run the same check against our top 20 target accounts, whether or not they have shown intent.
UnifySeven of the top 20 have a warm path. Northwind and Merridian are already on the intent list, and the three below are new because they have shown no intent yet.
| Target account | Buyer | Path | Who asks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fennimore Logistics | Grace Liu, Head of Support | Marcus managed her at Cobalt, 2019 to 2021 | Marcus |
| Brightpath | Carla Mendes, VP Customer Operations | Same team as Tom at Ridgeline until 2022 | Tom |
| Calderon Health | Ravi Shah, COO | Shared investor: the lead on your Series A | Your CEO, for context first |
Two more paths were too thin to name, and without intent the ask should be lighter: context first, not a meeting.
YouWrite the ask Marcus can send for Northwind and the one Priya can send for Merridian, and track who has been asked.
UnifyBoth are short enough to send from a phone, and both make it easy to say no. Requests are tracked so nobody gets asked twice.
From Marcus to Dana Whitfield
Dana, long time. My colleague Ana works with support teams your size on routing and coverage, and I hear Northwind is looking at this. Would you be open to a short call with her? No pressure either way.
From Priya to Nils Berg
Nils, hope the team is well. We have been helping support leaders with the account-assignment problem we used to complain about. Happy to introduce Ana if it is useful, and fine if it is not the moment.
Set up
- Introduction requests tracked Each ask is logged against the account with who asked and when, so a connector is not approached twice in a month.
- Monthly refresh saved On the first of each month, new high-intent ICP accounts and the top 20 target list are checked against the team’s network.
Finding the path in, with and without Unify
Intent says which accounts are worth a favor this month. The network says who can ask.
| Without Unify | With Unify |
|---|---|
| You check your own network for one target account, because it is the only one you can actually see | Every account showing intent this month is checked against the whole team's past colleagues, schools and shared investors |
| A shared school and four years on the same team look identical in a connection list | Paths are ranked by strength, so the favor is spent on the one likely to land |
| Asking the wrong person spends a favor and gets a lukewarm forward | Unify names who should ask, whether that is your CEO or a rep two territories over |
| The introducer has to write the note themselves, so it sits in drafts | The ask arrives written, and short enough to forward without editing |
Start from this prompt
Make it your own in Unify, then review the results.
Show me the highest-intent accounts in our ICP this month where someone on the team has a warm path to the buyer through past colleagues, schools or shared investors, rank the paths by strength, and tell me who should ask for each.
What else you can ask for
The walkthrough is one path through this workflow. These are the turns people take most often.
- Find warm intros into your top accountsFind warm intros into our top 20 target accounts through my team's network, and tell me which rep should ask for each oneTry in Unify
- One target accountFind the warmest path to the decision maker at my target account through my team's past colleagues, schools and shared investors, and tell me who should ask.Try in Unify
How it changes by who you sell to
- Software
- People move between companies often, so The Swarm finds dense paths. Ask for paths through former colleagues first, rank by how recently the two people overlapped, and start with the accounts already showing intent on your site.
- Financial services
- Paths run through schools and previous institutions more than through recent employers. Ask for shared schools and prior firms, and prefer someone senior enough that the ask does not need explaining.
- Professional services
- Client alumni are the strongest path you have. Ask for anyone on your team who worked with the target's clients, and for the partner they overlapped with, before looking at employers.
- Media
- Agency and brand moves create paths that expire quickly. Ask for overlaps in the last two years only, and have Unify flag any contact who has since moved again.
- Healthcare
- Paths run through clinical networks and residency programs as much as employers. Ask for shared training programs and professional associations, and for the clinical lead rather than the executive.
- Education
- Alumni networks are dense, and the path is usually a shared institution. Ask for shared degrees and departments, then for the most recent graduate on your side who can make the ask credibly.
Next in relationships and reactivation
+6Dormant pipelineCatch dormant pipeline heating upOpen deals that went quiet are not dead. When the account comes back to your site, hires, raises or adds a stakeholder, the deal is warm again and nobody is looking. Catch it the day it happens.
+3Bad-timing repliesFollow up on 'not now' repliesSomeone said 'not now' six months ago. Find what changed at their company since, and write to that rather than to the old thread.
+1Job changesFollow your champions to new companiesSomeone who already bought from you once has just landed somewhere new.
Connect what this workflow uses
Each guide covers the connection, what Unify reads and writes, and what to check before the first run.
Questions about this workflow
Where do the relationship paths come from?
The Swarm maps your team's past colleagues, schools and shared investors; Salesforce or HubSpot adds the relationships already in your CRM.
Does Unify tell me who should make the ask?
Yes. The prompt asks who on your side has the strongest path and returns the person, the connection and how recent it is.
Does it work for small teams?
It works with whatever network your team has. Smaller teams get fewer paths, so the answer ranks by strength rather than volume.
What if there is no path?
Unify says so and returns the closest second-degree option, so you can decide whether to go direct.
Can I start from a named account instead?
Yes. Give Unify the account and it maps every path from your team to the decision maker there, ranked by strength, with who should ask. Starting from intent is the default because it spends favors on accounts that are already looking.