How to Use Sales Navigator: The Complete Guide for B2B Prospecting

What Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is LinkedIn's premium subscription service designed specifically for sales professionals, recruiters, and marketers who need to find and connect with decision-makers. Unlike the free version of LinkedIn, Sales Navigator provides advanced search capabilities, lead recommendations, and tools that make targeted prospecting significantly more efficient.

The platform offers three main tiers: Core (starting around $99/month), Advanced ($149-180/month), and Advanced Plus (enterprise pricing around $1,600/year per seat). Each tier builds on the previous one, adding features like team collaboration tools, buyer intent signals, and CRM integration.

But here's the thing most people miss: Sales Navigator is only as powerful as your ability to use it properly. Many users barely scratch the surface of what's possible with its 50+ advanced search filters. This guide will show you exactly how to leverage Sales Navigator to build highly targeted prospect lists that actually convert.

Setting Up Your Sales Navigator for Success

Before you start searching for leads, you need to configure your sales preferences. This step is often overlooked, but it directly impacts the quality of leads Sales Navigator recommends to you.

Configure Your Sales Preferences

Navigate to your LinkedIn profile image, click settings, and find "sales preference settings." Here you'll define:

• Geography: Which regions or countries you want to target
• Industry: The sectors your ideal customers operate in
• Function: The departments your prospects typically work in
• Seniority level: The decision-making level you need to reach

Think about your last 10 closed deals. What patterns do you see among those buyers? Use those patterns to inform your preferences. If your preferences aren't precisely targeted, Sales Navigator's recommendations will be off-base from the start.

Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Your ICP should guide which account filters you use (industry, headcount, growth, technologies), while your buyer personas guide which lead filters you use (job title, seniority, function, activity). Before touching any filters, document:

• Company size range (employee count and/or revenue)
• Industries and sub-industries
• Geographic focus
• Technologies they use
• Job titles of decision-makers and influencers

If you're not sure how to define your target market, try our B2B Targeting Generator. It uses AI to analyze your business and generate detailed ideal customer profiles, including firmographic criteria you can apply directly in Sales Navigator.

Understanding Sales Navigator's Three Plan Tiers

Choosing the right Sales Navigator plan can significantly impact your prospecting capabilities and ROI. Let's break down what each tier offers and who they're best suited for.

Sales Navigator Core ($99/month)

The Core plan is ideal for individual sales professionals, consultants, or small business owners just getting started with advanced LinkedIn prospecting. You get access to:

• 50 InMail credits per month (with rollover up to 150)
• Advanced search filters for lead and account targeting
• Ability to save up to 10,000 leads and accounts
• Lead recommendations based on your activity
• Real-time updates on saved leads
• Unlimited saved searches with weekly alerts

What you won't get: TeamLink access to your colleagues' networks, Smart Links for content tracking, or CRM integration capabilities.

Sales Navigator Advanced ($149-180/month)

The Advanced plan adds team collaboration features that make it valuable for sales teams who want to leverage their collective network. Additional features include:

• TeamLink to access your team's 2nd and 3rd-degree connections
• Smart Links to share content and track engagement
• Buyer intent signals showing which accounts are actively researching
• CSV upload capabilities for account list creation
• Integration with partner applications through SNAP

This tier is particularly powerful when you have multiple salespeople targeting similar accounts, as you can identify which team member has the warmest path into each prospect.

Sales Navigator Advanced Plus (Custom Pricing)

The enterprise-level plan integrates directly with your CRM and offers the most sophisticated features:

• Native CRM sync with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics 365
• Data validation to flag out-of-date contact information
• Lead and contact creation directly in your CRM from Sales Navigator
• ROI reporting to demonstrate Sales Navigator's impact
• Account IQ with AI-powered company summaries
• Single Sign-On (SSO) and advanced security features

Advanced Plus typically costs around $1,600 per seat annually and is designed for larger sales organizations that need tight integration between LinkedIn and their existing tech stack.

Mastering Sales Navigator Search Filters

Sales Navigator offers 50+ filters for searching leads and accounts. The most powerful results come from layering Lead Filters + Account Filters + Spotlight Filters together. Here's how to use the most important ones:

Essential Lead Filters

Job Title Filter: This is arguably the most important filter. Rather than relying on the "Seniority Level" filter (which depends on inconsistent self-reported data), use specific job titles with Boolean operators. For example: "VP Sales" OR "Director of Sales" OR "Head of Sales"

Geography Filter: Start broad and narrow down. If you sell across the US, consider breaking your outreach into regions so you can tailor messaging and manage time zones effectively.

Company Headcount: One of the most reliable filters for targeting your ICP. A SaaS tool for SMBs might target 11-50 employees, while enterprise software sellers might focus on 1,000+ employee companies.

Keywords Filter: Search for specific words or phrases within a prospect's profile. This is powerful for finding people with specific skills, certifications, or interests. For example, searching "data analytics" coupled with "healthcare" can pinpoint professionals with relevant expertise.

Advanced Lead Filters That Most Users Miss

Posted on LinkedIn: Find leads who are active on the platform and more likely to see and respond to your outreach. Prospects who have posted content in the past 30 days are significantly more engaged and responsive.

Changed Jobs: Filter leads who have changed jobs in the past 90 days. New executives often have fresh budgets and are more open to new vendor relationships. They're also establishing new processes and evaluating tools, making them prime targets for outreach.

Past Company: One of the most underrated filters. Search for people who used to work at your existing customers-they already know your product and represent potentially warm leads. This is especially valuable for identifying champions who have moved to new companies.

Shared Experiences: Find leads who share schools, groups, or previous employers with you. Shared connections create instant rapport and provide natural conversation starters, dramatically increasing response rates.

Groups: Target prospects who belong to specific LinkedIn groups related to your industry or their interests. This filter helps you identify highly engaged professionals who are actively participating in relevant communities.

Account Filters for Company Targeting

Technologies Used: Target companies using specific tools. This is incredibly useful if you integrate with certain platforms or are trying to reach competitors' customers. The filter includes technologies from Google, Microsoft, Meta, as well as tools like Stripe, Mailchimp, AWS, and more.

If you need more detailed technology data than Sales Navigator provides, our Tech Stack Scraper can help you identify what technologies any website is using-similar to tools like BuiltWith.

Company Headcount Growth: Find rapidly growing companies that are more likely to have budget for new solutions. Companies adding employees often face scaling challenges that your solution might solve.

Annual Revenue: Filter by company revenue when employee count isn't the right proxy for your ICP. This is particularly useful for targeting established companies in specific revenue ranges.

Recent Funding: Identify companies that have raised capital in recent months. Newly funded startups often have budget allocated for new tools and are actively building out their tech stack.

Spotlight Filters: Finding High-Intent Prospects

Spotlight filters help you identify leads showing active buying signals or who are more likely to engage. These behavioral filters include:

Posted Content on LinkedIn: Leads posting in the last 30 days are 64% more likely to respond to InMail messages. Active users are simply more engaged with the platform and more receptive to outreach.

Mentioned in the News: LinkedIn's algorithm monitors 800+ news sources. This filter surfaces leads who have been featured in news articles in the past 30 days, giving you perfect conversation starters.

Followed Your Company: Prospects who have followed your company page are showing direct interest in your brand. These warm leads should be prioritized in your outreach.

Viewed Your Profile: If someone has looked at your profile in the past 90 days, they're already aware of you. This creates a natural opening for connection.

Relationship Filters for Warm Introductions

Connections of: Find leads who are connected to specific people in your network. This is invaluable for getting warm introductions from mutual connections.

TeamLink (Advanced plan only): See which team members have the best path into target accounts through their 2nd and 3rd-degree connections. Sales professionals with mutual connections are 90% more likely to book meetings.

Shared Connections: Prioritize prospects who share multiple connections with you. The more mutual connections, the stronger the potential relationship.

Boolean Search: The Secret Weapon

Boolean search allows you to create precise, complex queries using logical operators. Mastering Boolean syntax dramatically improves search accuracy and helps you find exactly the prospects you need.

Boolean Operators Explained

• AND: Both terms must appear. "Marketing AND Automation" finds profiles with both words.
• OR: Either term can appear. "CEO OR Founder OR Owner" expands your search.
• NOT: Excludes terms. "Director NOT Associate" removes junior roles.
• Quotation Marks: Searches exact phrases. "Vice President" finds that exact title.
• Parentheses: Groups terms. ("VP" OR "Director") AND "Sales" finds VP of Sales or Director of Sales.

Here's a practical example: Let's say you're targeting marketing leaders at mid-size tech companies. Your Title filter might be: ("VP Marketing" OR "Director of Marketing" OR "Head of Marketing" OR "CMO") NOT "Assistant"

Pro tip: The Title filter is more reliable than the Industry filter, which relies heavily on self-reported data. If you're targeting a specific industry, consider using Boolean in the Company filter instead (e.g., entering "Manufacturing" in the Company field).

Advanced Boolean Strategies

When building complex Boolean strings, layer your logic carefully. Start with the broadest category (like function), then narrow with specific titles, then exclude irrelevant variations:

Example for targeting sales operations professionals:
("Sales Operations" OR "Sales Ops" OR "Revenue Operations" OR "RevOps") AND ("Manager" OR "Director" OR "VP" OR "Head") NOT ("Assistant" OR "Intern" OR "Coordinator")

This approach ensures you capture all relevant variations while filtering out junior positions that don't match your ICP.

For targeting specific technologies or methodologies, use the Keywords filter with Boolean logic:
("Salesforce" OR "SFDC") AND ("Administrator" OR "Developer" OR "Architect")

Building and Saving Your Lead Lists

Once you've built a targeted search, here's how to work efficiently with your results:

Save Your Searches

Sales Navigator provides unlimited saved searches and 15 saved search alerts per week. When a new lead matches your criteria, you'll receive an email notification. Set up alerts for your best-performing searches to catch new prospects automatically.

Name your searches descriptively so you can easily identify them later. Instead of "Search 1," use names like "CMOs at Series B SaaS Companies - West Coast" or "Finance Directors at Healthcare 100-500 EE."

Organize with Lead Lists

Create custom lead lists based on different segments, campaigns, or stages. For example:

• Hot prospects (showing buyer intent signals)
• Recently changed jobs
• By industry vertical
• By geographic territory
• Champions at new companies
• Active on LinkedIn (posted in last 30 days)

Use the "Saved Leads and Accounts" feature to track interactions, set follow-up reminders, and ensure you're consistently engaging with high-value prospects. You can save up to 10,000 leads in Sales Navigator Core and Advanced plans.

Exclude Previously Contacted Leads

Use the "People you interacted with" filter to exclude leads you've already saved, viewed, or messaged. This keeps your searches focused on fresh opportunities and prevents you from reaching out to the same prospects multiple times.

Similarly, if you have CRM sync enabled (Advanced Plus only), you can filter out people already in your CRM to focus exclusively on net-new prospects.

Leveraging AI-Powered Features: Account IQ and Lead IQ

LinkedIn has integrated AI capabilities into Sales Navigator to help you research accounts and understand leads faster than ever before.

Account IQ: AI-Powered Company Research

Account IQ uses generative AI to create comprehensive company summaries in seconds. Instead of spending 15-20 minutes researching a company across multiple sources, Account IQ aggregates information about:

• Company overview and recent news
• Business priorities and strategic initiatives
• Recent organizational changes
• Growth indicators and market position
• Competitive landscape

This feature is particularly valuable when preparing for discovery calls or account planning sessions. You can quickly understand a company's context and tailor your approach accordingly.

Lead IQ: Understanding Your Prospects

Lead IQ aggregates and summarizes everything you need to know about a buyer using LinkedIn's proprietary data. It provides:

• Background and career trajectory
• Recent activities and interests
• Shared connections and commonalities
• Recommended talking points
• Suggested engagement strategies

By synthesizing information that would normally take 10+ minutes to gather manually, Lead IQ helps you personalize outreach at scale without sacrificing quality.

Understanding and Using Buyer Intent Signals

Buyer intent is one of Sales Navigator's most powerful features, but it's also one of the most misunderstood. Here's how to actually use it effectively.

What Triggers Buyer Intent Signals

Sales Navigator's buyer intent data comes from 180+ distinct signals that indicate active interest in your company or product category. These signals include:

• Employees visiting your company's LinkedIn page
• Leadership viewing your website (if you have LinkedIn Insights Tag installed)
• Prospects following your company page
• InMail acceptance or responses from account stakeholders
• Engagement with your content or ads
• Profile views of your sales team members
• New connections with your colleagues

When multiple employees from the same company show these signals within a 30-day window, the account receives a "high" or "moderate" buyer intent designation.

How to Access Buyer Intent Data

You can find buyer intent information in several places:

Account Hub: This dashboard shows all your saved accounts ranked by intent level. You can see which accounts are most actively engaged and prioritize your outreach accordingly.

Account Pages: View specific activities that triggered intent signals, including which individuals performed which actions.

Search Filters: Use the Buyer Intent filter to find new accounts showing interest even if you haven't saved them yet.

Homepage Alerts: Get notified when saved accounts begin showing intent signals.

Product Category Intent

Beyond company-specific intent, Sales Navigator also offers Product Category Intent. This shows you prospects researching specific product categories related to your solution-even if they haven't engaged with your company specifically.

For example, if you sell marketing automation software, you can identify prospects who are actively researching "marketing automation," "email marketing platforms," or "lead nurturing tools" based on their LinkedIn activity.

How to Interpret Intent Signals Correctly

Here's what many users miss: not all intent signals are equally valuable. A single profile view might be curiosity; multiple stakeholders engaging over several weeks indicates genuine interest.

Look for these patterns that indicate real buying intent:

• Multiple people from the same account showing interest
• Leadership (VP-level and above) engagement
• Sustained activity over multiple weeks
• Engagement with product-specific content (not just brand awareness)
• Website visits to pricing or product pages

Be aware that your own outreach can influence intent signals. If you start prospecting into an account, team members may check out your profile or company page, which triggers intent signals. This doesn't necessarily indicate buying interest-just awareness of your outreach.

CRM Integration: Connecting Sales Navigator to Your Tech Stack

For Advanced Plus subscribers, CRM integration transforms Sales Navigator from a research tool into a core component of your sales workflow.

Supported CRM Platforms

Sales Navigator currently integrates natively with:

• Salesforce
• Microsoft Dynamics 365
• HubSpot

These integrations enable bi-directional sync, meaning data flows both from your CRM to Sales Navigator and back.

Key CRM Integration Features

Automatic Data Sync: Accounts and contacts in your CRM automatically appear in Sales Navigator, enriched with LinkedIn data. This eliminates manual data entry and keeps information current.

Activity Writeback: InMails, connection requests, and messages sent through Sales Navigator are automatically logged as activities in your CRM. This gives sales leaders visibility into outreach volume without requiring manual logging.

Lead and Contact Creation: Create CRM records directly from Sales Navigator. When you find a promising lead, you can add them to your CRM with a single click, with fields pre-populated from their LinkedIn profile.

Data Validation: Sales Navigator flags CRM contacts whose information has changed (new job, different company, etc.). This helps you keep your database clean and prevents wasted outreach to outdated contacts.

Embedded Profiles: View LinkedIn profile information directly within your CRM interface without switching tabs. This keeps all your prospect intelligence in one place.

CRM Sync Benefits

According to Forrester research, Sales Navigator's CRM integration saves salespeople an average of 15 minutes per day, adding up to $2.4 million in productivity savings over three years for the average company.

The integration also improves data quality. Instead of relying solely on information salespeople manually enter (which is often incomplete or outdated), your CRM stays automatically enriched with current LinkedIn data.

Turning Sales Navigator Leads into Conversations

Finding leads is only half the battle. Here's how to actually reach them:

InMail Best Practices

Sales Navigator Core gives you 50 InMail credits per month (unused credits roll over for up to three months, maxing at 150). Recent data shows InMail achieves response rates of 10-25%-significantly higher than cold email's 1-5% average.

To maximize your InMail response rates:

• Keep it under 400 characters: Messages under 400 characters get 22% higher response rates than average. Messages over 1,200 characters perform 11% worse than average.
• Personalize beyond first name: Reference specific profile details, recent posts, or shared connections. Individually sent InMails see roughly 15% higher response rates than bulk sends.
• Lead with value, not pitches: Ask thoughtful questions or offer relevant insights rather than immediately pushing your product.
• Time it right: Avoid sending InMails on Friday (4% below average response rate) and especially Saturday (8% below average). Tuesday through Thursday perform best.
• Use compelling subject lines: Your subject line is truncated at 30-40 characters on mobile devices, so front-load the most important information.

Multi-Channel Outreach

Don't rely solely on LinkedIn. The most effective sales teams use Sales Navigator for prospecting, then reach out via multiple channels:

1. Use Sales Navigator to identify and qualify leads
2. Find verified email addresses using tools like our Email Finder
3. Send personalized cold emails with tools like Instantly or Smartlead
4. Follow up with LinkedIn connection requests
5. Use phone outreach for high-value targets-find mobile numbers with our Mobile Number Finder
6. Engage with their LinkedIn content to stay on their radar

This multi-touch approach dramatically increases your chances of getting a response compared to single-channel outreach. Most successful sequences include 6-8 touchpoints across email, LinkedIn, and phone over a 2-3 week period.

Warm Introduction Strategies

Before sending cold outreach, always check for mutual connections. Warm introductions from shared contacts dramatically increase response rates.

Use the "Connections of" filter or TeamLink (Advanced plan) to identify who in your network can introduce you. A simple message to your mutual connection like "I noticed you're connected to [prospect]. I'm reaching out because [relevant reason]. Would you be comfortable making an introduction?" can open doors that cold outreach can't.

Advanced Search Strategies and Workflows

The Layered Search Approach

The most effective Sales Navigator users don't just apply one or two filters-they layer multiple filter types to create highly specific searches:

Layer 1 - ICP Firmographics: Start with account filters that match your ideal customer profile (company size, industry, location, revenue).

Layer 2 - Buyer Personas: Add lead filters for the specific roles you target (job title, seniority, function).

Layer 3 - Intent and Timing: Include spotlight filters that indicate readiness (changed jobs, posted recently, showing buyer intent).

Layer 4 - Relationship: Filter for shared connections or TeamLink to prioritize the warmest paths.

This layered approach might reduce your total results from 10,000+ to 100-200, but those remaining prospects are far more likely to convert.

Account-Based Prospecting

For account-based sales strategies, flip the traditional search process:

1. Start with Account Search instead of Lead Search
2. Apply your account-level filters (Technologies Used, Company Growth, Buyer Intent)
3. Save the target accounts to a custom list
4. Then use Lead Search with your account list as a filter
5. Add job title and seniority filters to find decision-makers within those specific accounts

This ensures you're only spending time on leads at companies that truly fit your ICP.

Persona-Based Search Workflows

Create separate saved searches for each buyer persona in your sales process. For example, if you sell to both marketing and sales leaders, you might create:

Search 1 - CMO/VP Marketing: Titles focused on marketing leadership at your target company profile

Search 2 - Sales Leadership: CRO, VP Sales, Head of Sales Development at the same company profile

Search 3 - Revenue Operations: RevOps, Sales Ops roles that influence buying decisions

Set up weekly alerts for each search. When new matches appear, you can quickly identify whether they're primary decision-makers or influencers and adjust your approach accordingly.

Sales Navigator Limitations (And How to Work Around Them)

Sales Navigator isn't perfect. Here are the main limitations and solutions:

No direct email export: Sales Navigator doesn't provide email addresses. You'll need a tool like Findymail or Galadon's Email Finder to get contact information for your leads.

Export restrictions: You cannot export lead lists directly from Sales Navigator in CSV format. You'll need third-party Chrome extensions or data enrichment tools to extract and export your search results.

Search result accuracy issues: Sales Navigator's search accuracy is estimated at around 33%. Even with precise filters, you'll find leads that don't actually match your criteria (wrong industry tagged, outdated job title, etc.). Always review results manually before mass outreach.

Self-reported data issues: Filters like Industry and Seniority Level rely on what users enter, which isn't always accurate. Use Boolean searches in the Title and Company fields for more reliable targeting.

Can't use lists in LinkedIn Ads: Sales Navigator lists can't be directly used for LinkedIn advertising. If you need to run ads to your prospect list, you'll need to export and upload separately.

Commercial use limits: LinkedIn restricts certain activities to prevent spam. You're limited to approximately 100 connection requests per week and 50 InMails per month (Core plan). Exceeding these limits can result in account restrictions.

Limited teamwork features on lower tiers: The Core plan doesn't include TeamLink or shared lead lists, making collaboration difficult for sales teams. You'll need Advanced or Advanced Plus for team features.

Sales Navigator vs. LinkedIn Premium: Key Differences

Many people wonder whether they should get Sales Navigator or regular LinkedIn Premium. Here's the breakdown:

LinkedIn Premium Business ($60/month): Gives you 15 InMail credits monthly and the ability to see who viewed your profile, but has very limited search capabilities. You cannot use advanced lead search filters or save unlimited leads.

Sales Navigator Core ($99/month): Offers 50 InMail credits plus 50+ advanced search filters, unlimited searches, ability to save 10,000 leads, lead recommendations, and buyer intent signals.

For anyone doing B2B sales or business development, Sales Navigator is worth the extra $39/month. The advanced search capabilities alone save hours of prospecting time weekly. LinkedIn Premium is better suited for job seekers or those focused on personal branding rather than active sales prospecting.

Alternatives and Complementary Tools

While Sales Navigator is powerful for LinkedIn-based prospecting, it's not the only option:

For ICP Development: If you're struggling to define who to target, use our B2B Targeting Generator to create detailed ideal customer profiles based on your product or service.

For Email Finding: Since Sales Navigator doesn't provide email addresses, pair it with Findymail or our Email Finder to get verified contact information for your leads.

For Email Verification: Before sending campaigns, verify your email lists with our Email Verifier to avoid bounces and protect your sender reputation.

For Automation: Tools like Expandi can help you automate LinkedIn outreach sequences safely, combining Sales Navigator searches with personalized messaging at scale.

For Cold Email: Once you have contact information, use Instantly or Smartlead to execute multi-touch email sequences with AI-powered personalization.

For Data Enrichment: Platforms like Clay let you combine Sales Navigator data with dozens of other data sources to create highly enriched prospect lists.

For CRM Management: If you're not on Advanced Plus but need CRM integration, Close offers strong LinkedIn integration features and is built specifically for sales teams.

For Lead Qualification: Use our Background Checker to research prospects and verify their professional history before high-stakes meetings.

Common Sales Navigator Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Not Configuring Sales Preferences First

Many users skip the sales preferences setup and wonder why their lead recommendations are irrelevant. Take 5 minutes to configure your preferences based on your actual target market-it dramatically improves recommendation quality.

Mistake #2: Using Too Few Filters

Searches with only 1-2 filters return thousands of results, most of which won't be qualified. Layer at least 4-5 filters to get to truly targetable lists of 100-500 prospects.

Mistake #3: Relying Only on InMail

With 50 InMail credits monthly, you can only contact 50 new prospects. Successful users extract leads from Sales Navigator then reach them via email, phone, and LinkedIn connection requests-not just InMail.

Mistake #4: Ignoring the "Changed Jobs" Filter

People who recently changed roles are 3x more likely to consider new vendors. This filter surfaces prospects in active evaluation mode, yet most users never apply it.

Mistake #5: Not Using Boolean Search

Basic keyword searches miss many qualified prospects and include many unqualified ones. Boolean operators dramatically improve search precision.

Mistake #6: Forgetting to Save Searches

Building the perfect search can take 15-20 minutes. If you don't save it, you'll have to rebuild from scratch next time. Save every search and set up alerts for automatic updates.

Mistake #7: Treating All Intent Signals Equally

Not all buyer intent signals indicate genuine purchase interest. Focus on accounts with multiple stakeholders showing sustained engagement over time, not isolated incidents.

Measuring Sales Navigator ROI

To justify the investment in Sales Navigator, track these key metrics:

Time Saved: Measure how much time Sales Navigator saves in prospecting versus manual LinkedIn searches. Most users report saving 5-10 hours per week.

Lead Quality: Compare the meeting-booking rate and conversion rate of Sales Navigator sourced leads versus other channels.

Pipeline Generated: Track how much pipeline (in dollar value) originates from Sales Navigator prospecting.

InMail Response Rates: Monitor your InMail response rates. If you're below 10%, something needs optimization. Top performers hit 25-40%.

Cost Per Meeting: Calculate total Sales Navigator cost divided by meetings booked from the platform. Compare this to your cost per meeting from other channels.

For most B2B sales teams, Sales Navigator pays for itself if it generates just 1-2 additional qualified meetings per month.

Is Sales Navigator Worth It?

For sales professionals who rely on LinkedIn for prospecting, Sales Navigator is almost certainly worth the investment. The advanced search filters, lead recommendations, and buyer intent signals can significantly improve efficiency and ROI.

However, it depends on your sales process. If you're doing high-volume outbound to a clearly defined market, the time saved on prospecting easily justifies the cost. If you're a small operation doing occasional LinkedIn outreach, the free version combined with free tools like Galadon's B2B Targeting Generator might be enough to get started.

Sales Navigator makes the most sense if you:

• Target B2B decision-makers who are active on LinkedIn
• Have a clearly defined ICP that you can filter for systematically
• Do consistent outbound prospecting (not just responding to inbound)
• Need to identify new prospects weekly or daily
• Value time savings in research and data gathering
• Want to leverage buyer intent signals for better timing

Start with the free trial (available for Core and Advanced plans for 30 days) to test whether the advanced features match your workflow before committing to an annual subscription.

Quick-Start Checklist

Ready to put this into practice? Here's your action plan:

1. Define your ICP and buyer personas before touching Sales Navigator
2. Configure your sales preferences to match your target market
3. Start with core filters: Geography, Company Size, Job Title
4. Layer in advanced filters: Posted on LinkedIn, Changed Jobs, Technologies Used
5. Use Boolean operators in Title and Company fields for precision
6. Save your best searches and set up alerts
7. Create segmented lead lists for different personas and campaigns
8. Extract contact information using Galadon's Email Finder
9. Export leads to a multi-channel outreach sequence
10. Track response rates and ROI by source
11. Refine your filters based on what converts
12. Set a daily routine: 15 minutes checking alerts and engaging with new matches

The salespeople who win with Sales Navigator aren't the ones who just have access-they're the ones who master the filters and build systematic processes around prospecting. Now you have the playbook to do exactly that.