How to get 40%+ reply rates on LinkedIn (Stef Curcio’s warm outreach system)

Stef Curcio’s warm outreach system starts before the first LinkedIn DM: choose the right people, become a familiar name through useful comments, then send a message that is easy to answer. In his Extrovert session, he described a 40%+ first-message reply-rate target and a lifetime first-message reply rate near 59%.

Stef is the founder of Scale Acquisition AI and has worked with 200+ founders and creators. This recap covers his list-building rules, five messaging methods, example scripts, and Pivot → Probe → Invite flow. The session was recorded on January 22, 2026. Watch the replay and get the slide deck.

What the 40%+ reply-rate claim means

The numbers in the session describe Stef’s experience and the target of his outreach system:

• 40%+ is the first-message reply-rate target.
• Around 59% is his reported lifetime first-message reply rate.
• 10–20% is the lift in reply and connection-acceptance rates he has seen from warming up accounts before reaching out.

The reader’s job is to test the approach with their own buyers and track what happens after the opener. Stef warned that a conversational first message can get nearly 100% replies while the second and third messages lose people. A reply, a qualified conversation, and a booked call are different outcomes.

For a broader view of the metrics, see LinkedIn acceptance and reply-rate benchmarks. The rest of this article follows Stef’s session rather than treating his results as a market-wide benchmark.

Start with people who already know you

Stef prioritizes three sources of warm traffic: profile visitors, inbound connection requests, and new followers. Each person has already taken a small action toward him. His message can continue that interest rather than introduce a stranger and an offer at the same time.

For people outside those groups, he or his VAs leave a couple of comments on their posts before reaching out. By the time the connection request arrives, the prospect has seen his face. That is the practical starting point for warm outreach.

He also posts content and asks his clients to do the same. When someone checks the profile behind a connection request, the posts help explain who they are and what they work on.

Test 15–20 leads per script before scaling

Stef’s starting routine is small enough to run manually:

1. Add about 10 new leads a day.
2. Build a batch of at least 15–20 leads for each script.
3. Give each script its own batch so you can compare the replies.
4. Check whether the method feels natural to use as well as whether it gets responses.

In Stef’s approach, 15–20 leads is enough to get an initial feel for a manual script. He advises larger batches when using automation. A small first test helps you choose what to try next; it does not settle how a script will perform across your whole market.

Keep the audience fit in view. A casual question that suits a solopreneur may be awkward for a buyer at a large company. The five methods below give you different ways to start a relevant conversation.

Warm up before the connection request

Stef recommends a few genuine comments over a week or two before the first message. He has seen that increase reply and connection-acceptance rates by 10–20%. He considers the warm-up especially important when the addressable market is small and each potential buyer matters.

The sequence is straightforward: read the prospect’s posts, contribute a couple of relevant comments, then send the connection request. The comment needs to fit the discussion. Repeated generic praise does little to establish why you are worth talking to.

You can run the test manually. As the list grows, the work becomes remembering whose posts to read and whom to follow up with. The Extrovert campaign workflow supports that routine by finding posts from people you track and preparing comments and DMs. You choose what to review or automate.

Five LinkedIn messaging methods from the session

Stef uses the first two methods mainly with solopreneurs and companies under roughly 50 employees. The exploratory question also fits larger companies. Name dropping and direct value propositions depend on credible, relevant proof or a strong offer.

Method	Best fit in Stef’s system
Compliment + casual question	Solopreneurs and companies under about 50 employees
This-or-that conversation	Solopreneurs and small companies
Exploratory question	A broad range of buyers, including larger companies
Name dropping	Buyers who recognize the relevant client or peer
Value proposition	Buyers with a clear fit for a distinctive offer

1. Compliment + casual question

Reference something real from a recent post. If the person does not post, Stef suggests looking at their bio, experience, or banner. Add a personal observation and a question they can answer without much effort.

His example:

“Hey, I saw your post on productivity. I also put a sign outside my door so my kids don’t disturb me when I’m working. How’s life in [city]?”

Stef described this as one of his highest-reply approaches for solopreneurs and small companies. The personal detail needs to be yours; the script is a structure, not a reason to invent a shared experience.

2. This-or-that conversation

Give the prospect two relevant options so the response is easy. Stef’s example asks about how a local business gets customers:

“Hey, I saw you run a cookie store in London. Just out of curiosity, do you work mostly with regular customers, or do you rely on new customers coming into the store?”

The question begins with what the person does and lets them explain their situation.

3. Exploratory question

For a wider range of buyers, including larger companies, Stef recommends asking whether a problem is on their radar. Reference a pattern you genuinely hear from peers.

“I hear from other founders in fintech that lowering developer turnover is often top of mind. Is decreasing developer turnover something you’ve explored, or not really a priority right now?”

The prospect can confirm interest or say it is not a priority. Stef uses this as a default when a more conversational opener or a direct offer would be a poor fit.

4. Name dropping

Use proof the buyer will recognize. A relevant peer or competitor can mean more than a famous company with a different business.

“I did this exact work for [relevant company] and got [result]. I’ve got the process ready for [their specific use case]. Is that something worth exploring?”

Stef’s example was a manufacturing client targeting a group of roughly 100 large companies that knew one another. A result for a recognizable competitor helped start conversations. Names such as Apple or Microsoft would not carry the same relevance for a small agency.

Use a real result you can substantiate and are allowed to share. The placeholders in the script are for your evidence.

5. Value proposition

A direct offer can work when it is distinctive or carries a meaningful guarantee. Stef shared this example of an offer he replied to:

“We sell aged LinkedIn accounts, and some clients make the cost back in 3–6 months just by renting them out. Worth exploring a fit for you?”

That was the offer he received, not a step in the warm outreach workflow. His point was that a specific proposition can earn a response.

He also described an HR client who offered the first month, or three months, free unless agreed KPIs such as employee satisfaction or turnover were met. That put the risk reversal in the terms of the offer. “We guarantee results, pay in advance” did not do the same job.

Stef calls methods four and five pitchy. They need genuine relevance and credible proof. For larger companies without a distinctive offer, he favors the exploratory question.

Turn a reply into a call with Pivot → Probe → Invite

Stef’s conversation flow has three parts. He may skip a step when the fit is already clear.

Pivot toward the business context

Acknowledge the reply, add a short observation, then ask a question that lets the person identify their goal.

“Ha, London rain. Been there, felt that. I saw you’re pretty active on here. Are you using LinkedIn mostly to generate clients, or more to expand your network?”

If they want clients, the answer gives you a reason to continue. If they are only networking, Stef lets the conversation stay there rather than trying to persuade them to need his service.

Probe for the problem and fit

When the prospect shares a goal or challenge, ask what they have tried and what did not work.

“Got it, so you tried running campaigns before but it didn’t really land. What have you tried so far?”

Stef uses this step when company size, budget, or fit is unclear. With an obviously good-fit larger company, he sometimes goes straight to the invitation.

Invite with specific time slots

Once the fit is clear, describe what you can help with and suggest a call.

“This is exactly what I’m good at, and I’m confident I can help. Want to grab a quick call to see what it’d look like? I’ve got an open slot [day/time in their timezone]. Send your email if that works. If not, I’ve also got [alternative slot].”

Stef offers one or two time slots before sending a calendar link. He finds that links get lost and people forget to book. He presents this as a preference from experience, rather than a measured A/B-test result. Test it with your own audience.

Track the conversation after the first reply

Keep track of first-message replies, continued conversations, qualified prospects, and booked calls separately. Stef’s warning is that an easy opener can make the first metric look strong without producing the later outcomes.

People can stop replying at any stage, including after a demo. A follow-up and nurture routine keeps those conversations from depending on memory. The relationship-building principles in how to network on LinkedIn apply here too: continue with context and give people a reason to respond.

Stef’s tool stack and Oleg’s nurture demonstration

In the session, Stef described four parts of his stack:

• Sales Navigator for prospecting and checking whether an ICP is active on LinkedIn. Stef called it a near-must for his workflow and said LinkedIn Premium was not enough for his prospecting needs. In his experience, a search challenged the “my buyers aren’t active here” assumption 70–80% of the time.
• A CRM for recording leads and conversation stages. Stef described it as nice-to-have and “basically free”; he used a Notion template that pulled leads from LinkedIn.
• Kondo as a DM to-do list at medium-to-high volume.
• Extrovert for his outreach workflow, including the warm-up comments before reaching out.

These were the tools and preferences he described in that session. The recap does not require you to buy the same stack before testing a script.

Oleg then demonstrated a nurture campaign with separate comment and DM streams. He set a roughly weekly comment touchpoint so daily posters did not absorb all his attention and less frequent posters were not missed. His DM suggestions appeared every 20–60 days, based on elapsed time or a relevant new post, with drafts using his playbook and voice. In the demonstration, he reviewed the drafts before sending.

Continue a quiet conversation with a relevant post

Extrovert’s Conversation Restarters connect a new prospect post with the history of a conversation and suggest a DM. This supports the nurture part of the session: you have a concrete reason to reconnect, rather than sending a context-free follow-up.

The current Extrovert product supports review and optional automation. You can keep a reviewed workflow like Oleg’s demonstration while choosing the settings for your own campaigns. The session’s approximately 15-minute daily routine is a way to organize the work, not a guarantee of reply rates.

Do you need a large personal brand first?

Stef’s answer was no. A brand can help conversational messages land, but client results, a track record, recognizable clients, and a distinctive offer matter too.

He described a revenue-share offer that achieved a 40% reply rate through cold outreach with no warm-up. In that case, the offer itself gave people a reason to reply. Keep that case separate from the warm-up result: it illustrates the role of the offer, not a requirement to abandon the commenting workflow.

Watch Stef’s full session

Watch the replay and download the slide deck for the walkthrough, examples, and audience Q&A. The recording is “Warm outreach: how to get 40%+ reply rates?” with Stef Curcio of Scale Acquisition AI, recorded January 22, 2026.

Stef is also an Extrovert done-for-you partner. If you want help setting up the workflow, you can explore that service rather than assembling everything yourself.

FAQ

What LinkedIn reply rate does Stef’s system target?

Stef described a 40%+ first-message reply-rate target and a reported lifetime first-message reply rate around 59%. Track continued conversations and booked calls as well as replies, because a strong opener can lose people in the next messages.

How many leads should you test per script?

Stef recommends starting with at least 15–20 leads per script for a manual test, adding about 10 leads a day. He advises larger batches for automation. Use the first batch to judge both the responses and whether the method suits how you communicate.

Should you comment before sending a connection request?

Stef recommends a few genuine comments over a week or two, especially for a small addressable market. He reported seeing a 10–20% lift in reply and connection-acceptance rates from warming up accounts first.

Which message works best for larger companies?

Stef favors an exploratory question as a broad default. Name dropping and direct value propositions can also work when the proof or offer is relevant to the specific buyer.

Why offer time slots before a calendar link?

Stef finds that calendar links get lost and prospects forget to book. He offers one or two slots first and shares a link if neither works. This is his preference from experience, not a reported A/B-test result.

Do you need a big personal brand?

Stef says no. He described a 40% reply rate on a cold revenue-share offer without warm-up. His emphasis is on relevant proof and a compelling offer, with branding helping the conversational methods.