How To Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator For Lead Generation

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful tool built to help B2B sales professionals find the right prospects and build relationships. However, not many know how to use it effectively.

So how can you use Sales Navigator efficiently to generate high-quality sales leads and grow your business?

In this article, we explore how to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator, providing you with actionable tips and best practices to effectively use this tool to supercharge your B2B lead generation game.

Let’s get started.

What is LinkedIn Sales Navigator?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a subscription-based deep sales platform provided by LinkedIn to help sales reps and marketers effectively find, connect with, and engage potential leads and prospects on the LinkedIn platform.

The tool has a ton of advanced filtering options not available to the free LinkedIn user. This makes it ideal for B2B businesses to identify relevant leads, connect with them, and build relationships on LinkedIn. You can access the tool via the mobile app or desktop version.

How Does LinkedIn Sales Navigator Work?

Source: LinkedIn

Sales Navigator enables users to tap into LinkedIn’s massive database of over 1 billion users in more than 200 countries worldwide. The tool enables users to search for potential leads, organize them effectively, build relationships, and sell directly without leaving the platform.

It features a powerful set of advanced search functions and advanced features tailored to streamline the sales process, including:

• Advanced Search Filters: Sales Navigator provides advanced filters that allow users to create a list of leads based on factors such as industry, company size, job title, location, and more. This enables B2B sales professionals to identify specific prospects, target companies, or key decision-makers that align with their ideal customer profile to streamline the lead generation process.
• Lead Recommendations: Sales Navigator uses sophisticated algorithms and user data to provide personalized lead recommendations based on user preferences, connections, and activity on LinkedIn. This helps businesses discover new prospects who are likely to be interested in their products or services.
• InMail Messages: The LinkedIn messaging tool only allows users to send direct messages to people they are connected to. Sales Navigator unlocks access to InMail, LinkedIn’s messaging feature that allows users to send personalized sales prospecting messages directly to prospects, even if they are not connected on the platform. This feature helps sales teams to initiate conversations with potential leads and build relationships.
• Real-Time Updates: Sales Navigator provides real-time alerts and updates on leads and accounts, including job changes, company updates, and relevant news. 

Source: LinkedIn 

This helps sales teams stay informed and identify timely opportunities to engage with prospects. Besides, teams can use this information to craft personalized sales prospecting messages and engage with prospects effectively.

• Team Collaboration: Users with a LinkedIn Sales Navigator advanced account have access to LinkedIn TeamLink, a feature that allows them to view shared connections. This allows sales reps to share leads, notes, and insights, collaborate on outreach strategies, and coordinate their efforts more effectively.

Who Uses or Can Benefit from LinkedIn Sales Navigator?

Here are some key users who can benefit from using this tool:

• Sales reps: Sales Navigator is tailored for salespeople looking to identify, target, and connect with potential leads and prospects more efficiently.
• Sales managers and teams: Sales managers can use Sales Navigator to oversee their team’s performance, track progress, and strategize sales efforts effectively.
• Business development professionals: Individuals involved in business development can leverage Sales Navigator to identify and connect with key decision-makers in target companies.
• Marketing professionals: Marketers can utilize Sales Navigator to understand their target audience better, gather insights, and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.
• Recruiters: Recruiters can utilize Sales Navigator to identify and connect with potential candidates, build talent pipelines, and stay updated on industry trends.
• Entrepreneurs and startups: Small business owners, entrepreneurs, and startup founders can use Sales Navigator to expand their network, identify potential clients or partners, and grow their business.
• Consultants and freelancers: Independent consultants and freelancers can use Sales Navigator to find potential clients, showcase their expertise, and build professional relationships.
• Professionals seeking career opportunities: Job seekers can use Sales Navigator to research companies, identify hiring managers, and network with relevant professionals to explore career opportunities.
• Business owners and executives: Owners and executives can utilize Sales Navigator to stay informed about industry trends, identify potential business opportunities, and network with peers.
• Sales and marketing consultants: Consultants specializing in sales and marketing strategies can use Sales Navigator to offer tailored solutions to their potential clients and enhance their consulting services.

How to Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for B2B Prospecting?

If you want to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for effective B2B prospecting, follow these proven tips:

1. Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) 

First things first; before diving into prospecting with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Your ICP outlines the characteristics of your most valuable prospects, including industry, company size, job title, and other relevant demographics. Like this one:

Source: GBT

By clearly defining your ICP, you can use Sales Navigator’s advanced search filters to identify and target prospects that closely match your ideal criteria. 

This targeted approach ensures that your prospecting efforts are focused on qualified leads, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of your outreach campaigns.

2. Utilize Advanced Search Filters for Targeted Prospecting

LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers powerful advanced filters that allow you to narrow down your search criteria to find the most relevant prospects for your B2B sales efforts. 

Take advantage of these filters to target specific industries, company sizes, job titles, locations, and more. As shown below:

Source: LinkedIn

By refining your search parameters, you can focus your prospecting efforts on leads that are most likely to be interested in your product or service.

This targeted approach ensures that you’re spending your time and resources on prospects who are more likely to convert into customers, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of your B2B sales prospecting efforts.

In addition to basic demographic filters, Sales Navigator also offers more advanced filters such as company growth rate, seniority level, and years of experience, allowing you to further refine your search and pinpoint the most promising prospects. 

By leveraging these advanced search capabilities, you can identify high-quality leads and prioritize your outreach efforts accordingly.

3. Save Search Preferences and Set Up Alerts for Timely Engagement

Once you’ve configured your search criteria to identify your ideal B2B prospects, you can save your search preferences within Sales Navigator and set up alerts to stay informed about new leads that match your criteria. 

This allows you to continuously monitor the platform for potential prospects without having to manually conduct searches regularly.

This proactive approach ensures that you’re always aware of new opportunities and enables you to engage with prospects promptly.

In addition, setting up alerts for your saved searches enables you to stay ahead of the competition and be the first to reach out to potential leads, increasing your chances of success in B2B sales prospecting. 

4. Leverage Lead Recommendations for New Prospecting Opportunities

LinkedIn Sales Navigator also provides personalized lead recommendations based on your saved leads, preferences, connections, and activity on the platform. 

These recommendations can help you discover new prospects who may not have appeared in your initial searches but are likely to be interested in your product or service.

By exploring these lead recommendations, you can uncover new prospecting opportunities and expand your reach within your target market.

To make the most of lead recommendations, regularly review the suggested profiles and companies provided by Sales Navigator and evaluate their potential fit for your B2B sales efforts. 

Look for commonalities or patterns among the recommended leads, such as shared connections, industry affiliations, or job roles, to identify trends and refine your prospecting strategy accordingly.

5. Use InMail Messaging Strategically for Personalized Outreach

According to LinkedIn’s data, InMail messages have a higher open rate than emails.

Source: LinkedIn

However, even though InMail messages allow direct communication with prospects even if you’re not connected, you need to use them judiciously. 

When using InMail messaging, craft personalized sales prospecting messages that resonate with your target audience. 

Avoid generic templates or sales pitches and instead tailor your messages to the individual recipient based on their profile, interests, and specific needs or pain points.

Start by referencing a common connection, mutual interest, or recent accomplishment to establish rapport and capture the recipient’s attention. 

Then, clearly articulate the value proposition of your product or service and explain how it addresses the prospect’s unique challenges or objectives. 

Finally, include a clear call-to-action that encourages the recipient to engage further, whether it’s scheduling a call, attending a webinar, or exploring your website.

In addition to personalized messaging, it’s important to respect the recipient’s time and preferences when reaching out via InMail. Keep your messages concise and focused, and avoid bombarding prospects with multiple follow-ups if they haven’t responded immediately. 

Insights from LinkedIn show that concise InMails get better response rates.

Source: LinkedIn

6. Leverage Social Selling Insights for Engaging Conversations

LinkedIn Sales Navigator provides valuable social selling tools that can help you better understand your prospects and launch personalized outreach accordingly. 

These insights include information about the prospect’s activity on LinkedIn, such as posts, comments, and engagement with content, as well as mutual connections and shared interests.

Review social selling insights in Sales Navigator to gain valuable context about your prospects’ interests, sales preferences, and priorities and tailor your messaging and approach to resonate with their specific needs and objectives. 

In addition to individual prospect insights, Sales Navigator also provides aggregated data and trends about your target accounts and industries, helping you identify broader patterns and opportunities for engagement. 

By staying informed about relevant topics and developments in your target market, you can position yourself as a trusted advisor and thought leader in your industry, further enhancing your credibility and influence with prospects.

Note that when leveraging social selling insights in Sales Navigator, focus on building genuine relationships and providing value to your prospects rather than simply pushing your products or services. 

Focus on demonstrating your expertise and understanding of their needs to establish credibility and trust. This will help you lay the groundwork for successful B2B sales prospecting and long-term relationship building.

7. Share Relevant Content to Showcase Thought Leadership

Besides allowing users to reach out to prospects directly via InMail, LinkedIn Sales Navigator provides an opportunity to showcase your expertise and thought leadership by sharing relevant content with your network. 

Focus on sharing informative articles, industry insights, case studies, and other valuable resources regularly. This will help you establish yourself as a trusted authority in your field and attract the attention of potential leads.

When sharing content on LinkedIn, focus on providing value to your audience by offering practical tips, actionable advice, or unique perspectives on topics relevant to your target market. 

Avoid overly promotional or sales-focused content and instead aim to educate and engage your audience in meaningful conversations.

To maximize the impact of your content sharing efforts, consider the preferences and interests of your target audience and tailor your content accordingly. 

In addition to sharing your marketing content, engage with and amplify the content shared by others in your network, including prospects, customers, and industry influencers. 

Also, participate actively in relevant conversations and contribute valuable insights to expand your reach, build relationships with potential leads, and position yourself as a trusted resource in your industry.

8. Collaborate with Team Members to Maximize Effectiveness

Effective B2B sales prospecting often requires collaboration and coordination among team members, especially in larger sales organizations with multiple stakeholders involved in the buying process. 

LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers advanced features and tools to facilitate team collaboration, allowing sales teams to share leads, insights, and best practices, and coordinate their efforts more effectively.

One of the key collaboration features in Sales Navigator is LinkedIn TeamLink, which allows team members to leverage each other’s networks and connections to identify mutual contacts and warm introductions to prospects. 

Connect your LinkedIn accounts with TeamLink to access a broader pool of potential leads and leverage existing relationships to establish credibility and trust with prospects.

In addition to leveraging shared connections, Sales Navigator also enables team members to collaborate on lead lists, notes, and activities within the platform. 

This allows for seamless communication and alignment across the sales team, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and working towards common goals.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Best Practices

LinkedIn Sales Navigator simplifies lead generation and prospecting for B2B businesses. However, if not used appropriately, it can be a waste of time and resources.

Here are the best practices for using this tool.

Be Smart with Sales Navigator Search Filters 

To ensure laser-focused prospect targeting, you need to learn how to use Sales Navigator search filters. The tool offers over 30+ search filters for sales teams to find leads and accounts including:

Source: LinkedIn

All you have to do is play with filters that matter to your business without setting your parameters too broad or too small.

Create Custom Lists

Sales Navigator allows you to save a list of prospects that you can keep an eye on in real-time. Having a list of people you want to target with your marketing messages enables you to organize your approach effectively. 

Save your leads from save searches to know who you should reach out to and when. You can organize your list by top leads, most recent updates, date of last contact, etc.

Sell When Buyers Are Ready

If you think a great product and a compelling pitch are enough to get people buying your product right away, think again. Even if you have a targeted list of people, you have to sell to them at the right time.

Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator’s Buyer Intent Data to keep track of your buyer’s journey and understand when they are ready to buy. This information will allow your sales teams to understand when to engage with prospective customers and sell to them.

Use Sales Navigator Boolean Search

If you want to limit or expand your potential leads to certain criteria, use keywords and Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT). This will help you add or exclude specific accounts to your save lead list, allowing you to target the right prospective buyers.

Sync Sales Navigator with your CRM

If you are subscribed to the LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus plan, integrate your popular CRM with Sales Navigator. This will help you keep your data synchronized at all times so you can understand where you are in your outreach.

Sales Navigator for Account-Based Marketing 

With LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can target certain accounts that are highly likely to be interested in your product or service. Here are four essential tips for effectively using LinkedIn Sales Navigator in your Account-Based Marketing (ABM) efforts:

Utilize Advanced Filters to Search for Target Accounts

Leverage Sales Navigator’s advanced search filters to pinpoint specific criteria aligning with your ideal target accounts. You can filter by industry, company type and size, location, and more to narrow down your search and focus on prospects most likely to yield success in your ABM strategy. 

This precision ensures you’re targeting the right organizations and maximizes the efficiency of your outreach efforts.

Curate a Target Account List

Create a well-defined list of accounts that fit your ABM objectives. Consider factors like revenue potential, industry influence, and strategic fit. Prioritize accounts based on their alignment with your business goals and sales team’s capacity.

Identify Key Decision-Makers and Influencers

Use the Account Map feature in Sales Navigator to identify decision-makers, influencers, and key stakeholders within your target accounts. 

Look for individuals with relevant job titles and responsibilities, such as C-suite executives or department heads, who hold the authority to make purchasing decisions. Connecting with these influencers enables you to personalize your outreach and engage with the individuals most likely to champion your solution within their organization.

Integrate Sales Navigator with LinkedIn Ads

Integrate Sales Navigator with LinkedIn Ads to enhance your ABM strategy.

Utilize Sales Navigator’s insights to refine your ad targeting criteria, ensuring your ads reach decision-makers within your target accounts. 

By combining the precision of Sales Navigator’s targeting capabilities with the reach of LinkedIn Ads, you can deliver personalized sales prospecting messages directly to key stakeholders, increasing brand visibility and driving engagement within your target accounts.

How To Use Sales Navigator Advanced?

The Sales Navigator Advanced plan offers all the features in the Core plan and more.

Users with this account get several strategic advantages in maximizing their prospecting and networking efforts on LinkedIn. Here are three ways to leverage Sales Navigator Advanced effectively:

Upload a CSV of Your Accounts

This feature is useful if you’re using data from other sources other than LinkedIn.

Seamlessly import a CSV file containing your target account list into Sales Navigator. This enables you to efficiently track and monitor key accounts, ensuring you stay informed about relevant updates and developments within your target organizations.

Track Prospects with Smart Links

Utilize Smart Links feature to track prospect engagement with shared content. Gain insights into which prospects are interacting with your content, allowing you to prioritize follow-up and implement personalized outreach more effectively.

Use LinkedIn TeamLink to Identify Warm Introductions

Use LinkedIn TeamLink functionality to leverage your team’s network for warm introductions. Identify mutual connections within your team’s networks and utilize these connections to facilitate introductions to key prospects, increasing your chances of engagement and success.

How To Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus?

The LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus comes with all the features offered in Core and Advanced plans. 

Here is how to leverage the features offered in this plan efficiently.

• Utilize LinkedIn TeamLink Extend: With TeamLink Extend, you can discover prospects who are connected to other people within your company other than sales teammates.

• Integrate your CRM with Sales Navigator: With this plan, you can seamlessly integrate Sales Navigator with popular CRM solutions to streamline your daily sales and relationship workflow operations.
• Keep your contact lists updated: When people change positions or leave a company, you need to update this on your contact list. With the LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus account, you get real-time updates and alerts when contacts in your CRM change jobs, positions, or companies.

How To Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator For Recruiting?

According to Jobscan, 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to source and vet candidates. Sales Navigator can be a powerful tool for recruiters looking to connect and hire top talent.

Here, you can use advanced search filters, InMail messaging, LinkedIn groups, and all the other features you use to identify leads to find and connect with potential candidates.

Here are practical tips to use Sales Navigator in your recruiting efforts:

• Utilize advanced search filters in Sales Navigator to narrow down candidates based on specific criteria such as job title, industry, and location.
• Set up saved searches and alerts to receive notifications when new candidates meeting your criteria join LinkedIn or update their profiles.
• Craft personalized InMail messages to reach out to potential candidates directly, highlighting why you’re reaching out and why they would be a good fit for the role.
• Collaborate with your recruiting team by sharing leads, notes, and insights within Sales Navigator to work more effectively together.

Challenges While Using Sales Navigator 

Here are the potential challenges you’ll encounter while using Sales Navigator for B2B lead generation:

• Complexity of filters: For new LinkedIn users or those unfamiliar with Boolean search logic navigating and understanding the intricacies of Sales Navigator’s advanced search filters can be challenging. 
• Limited response rates: Despite personalized outreach via InMail, getting responses from prospects can be difficult due to factors like message volume, recipient preferences, and the quality of the outreach message.
• Data accuracy and completeness: Sales Navigator relies on user-provided data, which may not always be accurate or up-to-date. This can lead to challenges in identifying and qualifying leads accurately, affecting the effectiveness of lead generation efforts.
• Cost considerations: Sales Navigator is a premium business tool with subscription fees, and costs can increase for businesses targeting multiple segments or industries. 
• Integration CRM with Sales Navigator: Integrating Sales Navigator with existing CRM systems can be challenging, especially if there are compatibility issues or limited support for seamless data transfer and synchronization. 

Sales Navigator Pricing

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is available in three different plans as shown below:

Source: LinkedIn

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core: $99/mo. or $959.88/year 
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced: $149/mo. or $1,300/year
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus: Pricing available upon request

Conclusion

Hopefully, this in-depth guide will help you master LinkedIn Sales Navigator to enhance your sales and prospecting efforts.

If you want to take your lead generation and prospecting game a notch higher and increase conversion rates, leverage our email finder extension.

With this tool, you can streamline prospecting, filter leads, and scale outreach.

Here are key features and functionalities of the Adapt’s email finder extension:

• Discover accurate and verified email addresses anywhere on the web and reduce your prospecting time so you can focus on building relationships and take your cold email game to the next level.
• Access high-quality leads and enhance your lead generation efforts at a fraction of the cost and speed up revenue growth.
• Uncover the decision-makers’ contact data you need and create hyper-targeted email lists for personalization.