Most Account Executives show up to discovery calls as complete strangers. The prospect briefly remembers your SDR calling them, but they Google you 30 seconds before the meeting, skim your LinkedIn profile, and then you spend the first 10 minutes building rapport from scratch.
But what would happen if your prospects already knew, liked, and trusted you before you joined the call?
In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the 30-minute workflow that top-performing Account Executives are using to strengthen their discovery calls by automatically connecting with prospects 24-48 hours before the call.
Why this strategy works
Think about your last discovery call. Your SDR did the hard work of qualifying and booking the meeting. But when you joined the call, the prospect still didn't know you. They were guarded, distracted, and probably checking their emails while you were speaking.
Now imagine that you hop on the call, and the prospect says, "Hey! I saw your post about [topic] yesterday and loved it!"
That's the difference between a cold discovery call and a warm conversation, and the benefits are pretty endless.
1. Prospects actually show up to the meeting
No-shows are a complete waste of time and energy. You block out your diary, prep for the call, wait five minutes, wait five more minutes, give up, get a coffee, and go back to what you were doing before.
On the other hand, when prospects have already accepted your LinkedIn connection request before the call, they’ve made a micro-commitment to you. You’re no longer just a random discovery call in their calendar; you’re a person they can put a face, a name, and a LinkedIn profile to.
2. You can skip the awkward rapport-building phase
Every discovery call has that awkward first 5 to 10 minutes:
"So, tell me about yourself..." "How long have you been at the company?"
These aren't bad questions, but they take up time that could be spent diving into discovery, addressing their pain points, or moving the deal forward.
When you connect on LinkedIn 24-48 hours before the call, prospects have time to:
- Read your profile and understand your background
- See your recent posts and thought leadership
- Check your recommendations and credibility signals
- Become familiar with who you are and what you do
3. Your content does some pre-selling for you
Most people don’t realize that when someone accepts your LinkedIn connection request, the algorithm prioritizes showing your content to them for around two weeks. Plus, if they reply to one of your DMs, they’re 90% more likely to see your next post!
This means that when prospects accept your LinkedIn connection request, they immediately start seeing your content in their feed.
So, if you're posting valuable content that speaks directly to your prospects (which you should be doing, by the way!), they’ll start consuming that content before the call happens.
As a result, by the time you join the meeting:
- They've already seen your expertise
- They understand your perspective
- They've self-educated on your approach
- They'll be more receptive to your recommendations
4. LinkedIn DMs beat emails by 5-6x
Most pre-call confirmation emails get a 10-15% engagement rate. LinkedIn DMs to new connections, however, get a much better response (50-70% on average).
This workflow is like having a pre-call nurture sequence that occurs organically through LinkedIn's algorithm, rather than forced email sequences that they’ll likely ignore.
5. It makes you look pretty damn organized
When a prospect books a discovery call and immediately receives a LinkedIn connection request from you, they’ll probably think something like:
"Wow, this person is organized. They're taking this seriously."
First impressions matter. Even if it’s automated, a personal-feeling LinkedIn connection shows that you're professional, systematic, and invested in the relationship from day one.
6. You’ll retain the relationship even if the deal doesn’t close
Not every discovery call results in a closed deal, but that doesn't mean the relationship has to end.
When you're connected on LinkedIn, you maintain visibility with prospects who:
- Weren't ready to buy right now
- Need to get budget approval
- Want to evaluate other options first
- Are planning to purchase next quarter
Instead of being forgotten, they’ll continue to see your content, which will help you stay front-of-mind. Then, when they're ready to buy, you'll be the obvious choice because you've been consistently adding value.
How to set up this workflow (step-by-step)
The beauty of this strategy is its simplicity. Here's exactly how to implement it:
1/ Choose your trigger events
You can automate LinkedIn connections for multiple sales touchpoints:
High-intent triggers (start here):
- Discovery call bookings (Calendly, Chili Piper, etc.)
- Demo requests submitted
- Pricing page visits + contact form filled
Secondary triggers (add later):
- LinkedIn post engagement (likes/comments)
- Event attendee lists
- Referral introductions
- Conference connections
Pro tip: Start with discovery call bookings - this is the highest-intent action where warming the relationship matters most.
2/ Set up email enrichment
When someone books a discovery call through Calendly, you capture their email. But to connect on LinkedIn, you need their LinkedIn profile URL.
That's where email enrichment comes in.
ReverseContact is a reliable pay-as-you-go email enrichment service that finds LinkedIn profiles from email addresses:
- Cost: ~$0.06 per successful enrichment
- Hit rate: ~80% success rate
- Best for: Any volume - you only pay for successful matches
- Integration: Works seamlessly with Zapier
- Free trial: 20 requests included to test the workflow
The enrichment process searches for the LinkedIn profile associated with each email address and returns the profile URL you need for automation. Since it's pay-as-you-go, you're not locked into expensive monthly subscriptions - you only pay when it successfully finds a LinkedIn profile.
3/ Build your pre-call automation sequence
Once you have the LinkedIn profile URL, it's time to automate the outreach. Here's the exact sequence that gets 84% acceptance rates and 66% response rates:
1/ Connection request (24-48 hours before discovery call):
“Hey {{firstName}}, Nick from Botdog here! Looking forward to our call :)”
2/ Follow-up (2-4 hours after acceptance):
“Thanks for connecting {{firstName}}!
Looking forward to diving into {LinkedIn automation} during our call.
Anything specific you'd like to hear more about (aside from the obvious)?”
Pro tip: Replace {LinkedIn automation} with the specific challenge your product solves (e.g., "lead generation," "team scaling," "LinkedIn outreach").
Why this works:
- It’s simple and conversational (not salesy)
- It opens the door for pre-call discovery
- It shows you're prepared and thinking about their needs
- It creates a direct communication channel for questions
4/ Connect everything with Zapier
The Zapier flow:
- Trigger: New discovery call booking
- Optional: Use Zapier’s delay function to ensure requests go out 24-48 hours before the call, regardless of when it was booked
- Action 1: Send signup email to ReverseContact API
- Action 2: If LinkedIn profile found → Add to Botdog campaign
- Action 3: If no profile found → Log in spreadsheet for manual review
- Optional: Send Slack notification for successful additions
Pro tip: Many teams use Slack notifications as triggers. If your product already sends "New discovery call!" Slack messages, you can trigger the workflow directly from those.
5/ Scale with AI filtering (for high volume)
Even on a LinkedIn Premium/Sales Navigator account, you only get 800 connection requests per month. So, if you’re running cold outreach campaigns from your LinkedIn account, you might not want to waste too many requests on prospects who have booked discovery calls (especially if your SDRs often book calls that are unlikely to convert).
This is where Botdog's AI lead review feature comes in. On our Professional + AI plan, you could add filters like:
- "Only proceed if the person has a LinkedIn Premium subscription AND works at a company with 50+ employees"
- "Only send requests to people with decision-maker titles (CEO, Founder, VP, Director, Head of) at B2B companies"
These filters ensure you're using your limited connection requests on prospects who are likely to convert.
What other salespeople are seeing
You don't have to take our word for it; other salespeople have seen similar results.
LinkedIn outreach converts at 5-6x the rate of traditional email because it feels more personal and natural. Prospects expect automated emails and have been trained to ignore them, but a LinkedIn connection often comes as a surprise. It feels human and intentional, even when it's automated.
Advanced workflows that close more deals
1/ Email reply warming
Got a prospect who replied to your cold email but hasn't booked a call yet? Connect with them immediately.
- Trigger: Positive email reply detected
- Timing: Send connection request within 2 hours
- Message: "Hey {{firstName}}! Just spotted your email - sending a connection request so we can stay in touch here too.”
- Result: Warmer, less formal ongoing conversation, higher meeting booking rate
2/ Post-call relationship building
Not every discovery call closes immediately. Use LinkedIn to nurture longer sales cycles.
- Trigger: Discovery call completed in CRM
- Timing: 24 hours after call (if not already connected)
- Message: "Great chatting yesterday, {{firstName}}!”
- Result: Stay top-of-mind during the evaluation period, share content that reinforces your solution
3/ Event follow-up at scale
Attended a conference and collected 50+ business cards? Automate the follow-up.
- Trigger: Import contact list CSV to Zapier
- Timing: 24-48 hours after the event
- Message: "Great meeting you at {{eventName}}, {{firstName}}!"
- Result: Convert conference connections into LinkedIn relationships while you're still fresh in their mind
4/ Referral introduction warming
Got a warm introduction from a mutual connection? Connect immediately.
- Trigger: Referral email received or CRM tag added
- Timing: Same day
- Message: "Hey {{firstName}}! {{mutualConnection}} mentioned we should connect :)”
- Result: Leverage the warm introduction and strengthen the referral relationship
Common objections (and why they're wrong)
"Won't prospects think I'm stalking them?"
Think about it from their perspective - they've just booked a discovery call with you, so a LinkedIn connection request isn't creepy; it's professional.
Prospects are conditioned to ignore automated pre-call emails, but a personal LinkedIn connection feels intentional and human, even when it's automated.
"I don't have time to respond to all these LinkedIn messages."
That's the beauty of automation. The connection request and first message are automated. You only engage when prospects reply (which means they're interested, engaged, and worth your time).
"What if they don't accept before the call?"
Then you're in the exact same position you would've been without trying - except now there’s a chance they’ll accept your request later, see your content, and be interested in a call.
Actually, this works even better for enterprise sales with longer cycles.
In complex B2B sales, building relationships over time is more important than ever. When you're connected on LinkedIn:
- You stay visible during 6-12-month sales cycles
- Multiple stakeholders can see your content and expertise
- You can engage with their posts and build multi-threading naturally
- You maintain the relationship even when deals stall
Enterprise sales are all about persistence and relationship-building. LinkedIn connections provide a natural and non-intrusive way to stay engaged.
The bottom line
Most Account Executives treat discovery calls like isolated events. Your SDR books the call, you show up, and hope for the best. However, the best performers know how to initiate the conversation before the call even begins.
By automatically connecting with prospects on LinkedIn 24-48 hours before your meeting, you can easily:
- Increase show-up rates (prospects are more committed)
- Warm up discovery calls (they know, like, and trust you already)
- Shorten sales cycles (prospects are pre-educated through your content)
- Build long-term relationships (stay connected even when deals don't close immediately)
- Appear professional and systematic (first impressions matter)
And you can do it all automatically with a workflow that takes <30 minutes to set up and runs indefinitely.
Botdog makes this entire workflow simple. With LinkedIn-focused automation, smart scheduling, and safety features built in, you can:
- Automatically connect with prospects before calls
- Track acceptance and response rates in real-time
- Scale with AI-powered filtering as your pipeline grows
Start your 7-day free trial today and see why 1,000+ sales professionals use Botdog to turn cold discovery calls into warm conversations.
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