The Smart Connect is well-designed. It does what it promises: it gets you in the room with people who might become referral partners.
Most people tag the connection, send a LinkedIn request, and wait. Six weeks later they can't remember why the name sounded promising. The relationship — which was genuinely warm — has already cooled.
This guide covers the five-step follow-up, how to read where a connection actually stands after a first conversation, and what the next right move is for each one. It takes about ten minutes to read and changes how you work every session after it.