Once your leads are scored (see Why ICP scoring comes first), the next question is how much effort each one deserves. The answer is not "the same for everyone." A lead who is a perfect fit is worth a phone call. A lead who might be a fit is worth an email.
Why routing matters
Your LinkedIn account can only take so many actions in a week. The Safety Center paces every action like a person and counts each one against your account's limits. Connection requests are the scarcest of all.
So every connection request is a choice. If you spend this week's requests on maybes, your best-fit leads wait until next week. Routing by fit makes sure the scarce channels go to the leads most likely to buy, and the cheap channels catch everyone else.
What each score gets
| Score | What they get | Pace |
|---|---|---|
| 5 (Strong fit) | Every channel: warm-up touches, a connection request, LinkedIn messages, InMail if they don't accept, and email. Add your own phone call when the deal is big enough. | 1 to 2 a day per sender |
| 4 (Strong fit) | The LinkedIn core: warm-up touches, a connection request, four messages if they accept, and email if they don't. | Your main daily volume |
| 3 (Moderate fit) | A light email fit check: three short emails asking honestly whether there's a fit. No LinkedIn actions. | Email volume |
| 2 or below (Weak fit) | Nothing. Don't contact them. |
5s: every channel, a few a day
A 5 is your ideal customer with a reason to talk now. You might only find one or two a day, and that's fine. Each one gets the warmest version of everything: a profile view, a like and a comment before the invite, a shorter wait for the accept, then an InMail and email if they don't connect.
For a high-value deal, add the touches only a person can make: a phone call, or a short voice note you record yourself. Never hand a phone call to an AI.
4s: the LinkedIn core
A 4 is a strong fit. These leads are the bulk of your outreach. They get three warm touches before the invite, up to four messages if they accept, and up to three emails if they don't. Every 4 gets a full try on the channel that suits them.
3s: an email fit check, never your LinkedIn limits
A 3 is a maybe. Maybes are worth a try, but not worth a connection request that a 4 or 5 could have used. Email doesn't draw on your LinkedIn limits, so a short, honest email sequence lets the right 3s raise their hand at no cost to your best leads.
The tone matters too. Don't pitch a maybe. Ask: "Just seeing if there's a fit." Then name the problem they may have. Then check once more. The ones who reply have told you they're a better fit than the score said.
2 and below: never
Don't contact them. Not by email, not "just in case." Low-fit outreach drags down your reply rates and trains your team on the wrong people.
Other routing signals
Score is the first split, but not the only one:
- LinkedIn activity. Only a small share of any list is active on LinkedIn. A 4 who never logs in should be email-led. See Active vs quiet on LinkedIn.
- No LinkedIn profile, a local business, or a small deal: email only.
- Your short list of most-wanted accounts: InMail, backed up by email.
- Deal size. Small deals: email only. Medium deals: email and LinkedIn. Large deals: add a human phone call, and consider a gift.
How to route in Zevari today
A campaign runs one plan for everyone in it. Branches inside a campaign split leads on whether they accepted your invite and whether they have an email, but not on score. So you route by choosing the campaign:
- Create one campaign per route: one for your 5s, one for your 4s, one email-only campaign for your 3s.
- When you choose who goes into each campaign, each person shows their fit and score. Add only the scores that belong in that campaign.
- Or ask Zevari AI to build each campaign's list by score for you.
Keep the campaigns separate even when they share most of their steps. Separate campaigns also give you separate reply rates, so you can see which route is working.
Templates that use this
- 5/5 MVP (score 5, active on LinkedIn)
- 5/5 quiet: InMail + email (score 5, quiet on LinkedIn)
- LinkedIn-active core (score 4, active)
- Quiet on LinkedIn: email-led (score 4, quiet)
- Fit check: three emails (score 3)
- Three cold emails (no LinkedIn profile, small deals)
- InMail, then email (your most-wanted accounts)