Win Warm Intro Request

---
name: win-warm-intro-request
description: Prepares a Warm Introduction Request through someone you know, with the ask to the connector, a forwardable blurb they can send unchanged, the double opt-in check, the thank-you and the close-the-loop note. Use for "run win-warm-intro-request", "ask for an introduction", "can you introduce me to", "warm intro email", "forwardable blurb", "double opt-in intro", "get introduced without making it awkward", part of the Claude Guide for Finding Clients Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Warm Introduction Request

## When To Use
Someone you know knows the person you need, and you do not want to put them in an awkward spot. Run this for one named person through one connector, so the ask is easy to say yes or no to.

## When Not To Use
To ask a happy client for introductions to a type of person, use Referral Request. If the connector barely knows the person you need, the introduction will not carry trust; write directly with Trigger Outreach Email instead.

## Inputs
- The person you hope to meet: role, organisation, and why them, with a public link.
- The connector: how you know them and how well, in your words, and how well you think they know the target (your best guess, which they may correct).
- What you hope for from a first conversation; your Writing Voice Guide if you have one.
If you have none of this, I start from the two names and your reason, and mark the drafts as a first draft. Works in any chat.

## Approach
The double opt-in introduction, described by Fred Wilson on his AVC blog in 2009: the connector asks the person you want to meet before making any introduction, and introduces only on a yes. It protects the connector's relationship and the target's time. The failure it prevents: a surprise group email to a busy person who never agreed, which costs the connector goodwill and makes them stop introducing anyone.

## Workflow
1. Ask at most three questions: how well the connector knows the target (close, acquaintance, barely), what exactly you hope for, and whether there is a deadline the connector should know about.
2. Check the path. If the connector barely knows the target, say so and suggest another path; do not press them to vouch for someone they cannot.
3. Write points for the ask to the connector: why this person, what you hope for, a small first step, and an explicit easy no ("if it does not feel right, no problem at all"). You write it in your words.
4. Write the forwardable blurb, short enough to forward unchanged: who you are in one line, why this person in one line, the small ask, and nothing that puts words in the connector's mouth.
5. State the double opt-in check: the connector forwards the blurb and asks the target first. You do not contact the target before their yes.
6. Prepare the thank-you to the connector whatever the outcome, and a close-the-loop note telling them what happened after the conversation.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Warm Introduction Request
Target: [name, role, organisation] (source: [link]) | Connector: [name] | Their closeness to target (connector confirms): [level]
## Ask to the connector (my words)
[message, including the easy no]
## Forwardable blurb
[who I am in one line] [why them in one line] [the small ask]
## Double opt-in check
| Step | Who | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Connector asks the target | [connector] | [yes / no] |
| Target says yes | [target] | [yes / no] |
| Introduction made | [connector] | [date] |
## Thank-you and close the loop
Thank-you sent: [date] | Close-the-loop note: [what happened], sent [date]
## Decision
[Your name] sends the ask to the connector by [date]; the connector decides whether and when to ask the target.
```

## Done When
- The connector's closeness to the target is checked before anything is written.
- The ask contains an explicit easy no.
- The blurb can be forwarded unchanged.
- The thank-you and the close-the-loop note are planned whatever the answer.

## Quality Bar
- The target is never contacted before their yes.
- The connector is never pressed, chased more than once, or quoted without consent.
- Public work facts only about the target.
- You choose who to contact, put it in your own words and send it yourself; nothing is invented or sent for you.

## Next
Run win-event-networking-plan (Event Networking Plan) to meet new people in person.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).