A warm introduction is when someone the buyer already trusts introduces you to them. The connector knows both sides, vouches for you, and the buyer responds to that trust rather than to a cold pitch. It is a specific event: an email forward, a Slack connect, a "you two should talk."
Cold outreach asks a stranger to trust you based on a message. A warm introduction asks the buyer to trust someone they already know. The buyer’s guard comes down, the context is built in, and the conversation starts from credibility instead of skepticism. B2B buyers are far more likely to engage when a mutual connection makes the introduction.
This is the highest-trust point on the spectrum from cold to warm outbound, and it is why teams that systematize intros tend to shorten their sales cycle.
The one thing every working intro shares is that the connector has a genuine relationship with the buyer, not just a social link. The best asks are lightweight and give the connector an easy out. The path the intro travels is the warm path; the intro is the moment someone walks it.
Via shows you who in your team’s network can make the introduction and why the path is strong. You pick a target, and Via surfaces the connectors with real relationships, so you know exactly who to ask and how to frame it.