Mine Your Network for Fast Warm Leads

After ten years in sales, Mark realized he’d been chasing strangers on LinkedIn and dreading cold calls. At a conference over coffee, a colleague—now a client—glowing about his new CRM, asked how Mark was doing. Mark admitted he was back to zero after switching industries.

His friend smiled and introduced him to three people at a nearby table. Within two days, Mark closed a deal worth five times his previous month’s target—and it didn’t cost a marketing dollar.

Shock turned to strategy. Mark spent the next weekend writing personalized update emails to old friends, college teammates, and former managers. Each email had a simple ask: “Can you point me to someone who might need X?” The responses poured in—he felt like he’d hit a jackpot of warm leads.

Social science shows that shared social ties dramatically increase trust and willingness to engage. When you leverage your power base, you skip the anonymity of cold outreach and start with an introduction. That initial trust cut days off the sales cycle and led to higher-value conversations.

Tonight, pick ten people you haven’t contacted in at least a year. Send each a quick note celebrating something they’ve achieved since you last spoke, then say, “I’m working on X right now—who do you think I should call next?” Keep it friendly and specific. The next morning, scan replies and schedule calls with every name they suggest. You’ll be amazed how warm your pipeline immediately becomes.