---
title: "Warm Introductions in Sales Navigator: Who Can Introduce You to the Decision Maker"
description: "Sales Navigator warm introductions: path badges in search results, a list of people who can introduce you with a reason, and paths to a company's leadership."
url: "https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-warm-introductions/"
lang: "en"
author: "Rafal Szymanski"
date: "2026-09-27"
lastmod: "2026-10-21"
---

# Warm Introductions in Sales Navigator: Who Can Introduce You to the Decision Maker

> Sales Navigator warm introductions: path badges in search results, a list of people who can introduce you with a reason, and paths to a company's leadership.

## Warm introductions in short

- A warm intro is a path to a lead through someone you both know. Sales Navigator showed these paths before, but only on the lead page, so you had to open every profile separately.
- Leads in search results now have badges such as “3 Executive TeamLink connections” and “8 Mutual connections”. Clicking a badge opens a panel with people who can introduce you.
- Sales Navigator sorts the people who can introduce you by relationship strength and gives a reason for each one, for example that they and the lead worked at the same company from 2016 to 2019. A connection the lead worked with for three years is a different request from one made at a conference.
- When you search for leads at one company, Sales Navigator shows an “Intro paths to senior leaders” badge and a list of that company’s leaders sorted by path strength. In LinkedIn’s example there are 12 leaders, each with a number of paths, for example “5 intro paths”.
- The Sales Navigator release notes list warm intros on all three licenses, but paths through **TeamLink**, meaning your colleagues’ connections, are only on Advanced and Advanced Plus. On Core you will most likely see paths through your own network.
- For me, the “Get introduced” option always suggests the same single person, a professional networker, as the way to anyone in Poland. It is now supposed to pick the best people for a warm intro based on the actual strength of the relationship, not just the number of mutual connections and shared employers.

The "Get introduced" option, which shows who can introduce you to a specific person and why, lives in the details of the lead card in Sales Navigator. For me it works terribly, because it always shows that the same single person will introduce me to anyone in Poland: the famous Grzegorz in the red jacket, a professional networker. And while Grzegorz probably does know a lot of people, and a lot of people know Grzegorz, I doubt he is really LinkedIn's best pick for every introduction. So I was curious to read that Get introduced is now supposed to show the best people for a warm intro based on the actual strength of the relationship, not just the number of mutual connections and shared employers.

## What is a warm intro in Sales Navigator

It is a path to a lead through someone you both know. Instead of sending yet another cold LinkedIn message that goes unanswered, you ask a mutual acquaintance to introduce you. An old method in a new place. Sales Navigator used to show these paths already, but on the lead page, so you had to open every profile separately.

What changed in September 2026? The place. The paths are visible right in search results, sorted and with an explanation of why a given person is a good route to the lead. LinkedIn describes this as four new features, which I go through below.

[Image: Four new warm introduction features in Sales Navigator: badges in search results, a list of people who can introduce you with a reason, a badge for intro paths to company leaders and leaders sorted by path strength]

## Badges in search results

Leads in search results now have new badges showing that a warm path to them exists. In LinkedIn's graphic these are, for example, "3 Executive TeamLink connections" and "8 Mutual connections" under the lead's name. That said, either I have too many new Sales Navigator accounts or this was already there on Advanced Plus, because I checked the slides from my training and I had these badges before.

[Image: Sales Navigator search results with 3 Executive TeamLink connections and 8 Mutual connections badges and a Get introduced to Emery Levin panel listing people who can introduce you, with an Ask for intro button]
*Warm path badges in search results and a panel with the people who can introduce you, along with the reason. Graphic: LinkedIn, September 2026 Sales Navigator release announcement.*

Clicking a badge opens a panel with a list of people who can introduce you. The list is sorted by relationship strength, and each person comes with a reason. In LinkedIn's example: she and the lead worked at the same company from 2016 to 2019. Under each person there is an "Ask for intro" button. One click. Nice, because before you had to dig into the details on the contact card.

Does the reason help? Yes, because a mutual connection the lead worked with for three years is a different request from a connection who just clicked accept on an invitation at a conference. It certainly won't replace the preparation you can do with Lead IQ (I describe it in the [post on Lead IQ in the CRM](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/lead-iq-crm/), also a new feature), but it will definitely speed up the work.

[Image: Tip: before you click Ask for intro, read the reason next to the person, because a contact the lead worked with for three years is a different request than one from a conference]

## Paths to a whole company's leadership

The second pair of new features is about the company, not a single person. When you search for leads at one company, a badge appears: "Intro paths to senior leaders". Click it and you see a list of that company's leaders, sorted by the strength of the introduction paths. In LinkedIn's graphic that is 12 leaders, each with a number of paths, for example "5 intro paths". Now that is something I was missing.

[Image: Sales Navigator search results for a single company with an Intro paths to senior leaders badge and a Senior leaders panel where 12 leaders are sorted by intro path strength]
*Paths to senior leadership: the company's leaders sorted by how close they are to you. Graphic: LinkedIn, September 2026 Sales Navigator release announcement.*

What is it good for? Sales where several people decide. In other words, most B2B sales. Instead of looking for a way to one director, you see which board member you are closest to, and you can start there. Working out the whole buying committee, who works with whom and where everyone sits in the hierarchy, used to be a real pain. If this works the way they describe it, great.

## What you see on Core and what on Advanced

The release notes list warm intros on all three licenses. But some of the paths in LinkedIn's graphics go through **TeamLink**, meaning your colleagues' connections, and TeamLink is on Advanced and Advanced Plus, not on Core. I broke this down in the [Sales Navigator pricing post](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/linkedin-sales-navigator-pricing/).

So what will a Core user see? Most likely paths through mutual connections in their own network, without TeamLink badges. Still useful, if it starts showing a list of colleagues or more variables than before.

[Image: Warm introductions by license: on Core most likely paths through mutual connections in your own network, on Advanced and Advanced Plus also through your colleagues with TeamLink]

The full overview of the September update, with a table of availability by license, is in the [post on Sales Navigator 2026 features](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-2026-features/). In my [Sales Navigator training](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/services/linkedin-sales-navigator-training/) we look for warm paths to your most important customers on your own account.

**The whole series on the September Sales Navigator release**

- [Sales Navigator alerts in Microsoft Teams](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-microsoft-teams/)
- [Lead IQ in the CRM](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/lead-iq-crm/)
- [Sales Navigator alerts in LinkedIn notifications](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-alerts-linkedin-notifications/)
- [Personalized onboarding](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-personalized-onboarding/)
- [Alerts after the update and the new weekly email](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-alerts/)
- [The new Sales Navigator search](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-search-2026/)
- [Notes and calls logging to the CRM](https://rafalszymanski.pl/en/blog/sales-navigator-activity-logging-controls/)

## Sources

- [LinkedIn Sales Navigator release notes, July to September 2026](https://www.linkedin.com/help/sales-navigator/answer/a16010005)

## Frequently asked questions about warm introductions in Sales Navigator

### What is a warm introduction in Sales Navigator?

It is a path to a lead through someone you both know: a mutual connection or, on team licenses, a colleague through TeamLink. Sales Navigator shows who can introduce you and why, and the Ask for intro button lets you ask that person for the introduction.

### Do warm introductions work on Sales Navigator Core?

LinkedIn lists this feature on all licenses. TeamLink, meaning paths through your colleagues' connections, is only on Advanced and Advanced Plus, though, so users of those licenses see one more type of path.

### How does Sales Navigator sort introduction paths?

By relationship strength. Each person comes with a reason, for example that they and the lead worked at the same company in the same years or studied at the same university.

### What are paths to a company's senior leaders?

When you search for leads at a single company, Sales Navigator shows a badge with paths to its leaders and a list of that company's leaders sorted by how many paths you have to them and how strong they are.