82% of B2B marketers report that their greatest success comes from Linkedin. With over 1BN users worldwide, Linkedin is undoubtedly the best place for lead generation. However, to get great results, you have to spend your time on the right accounts. This is where Sales Navigator comes in.
Being one of the top prospecting tools, you can get data and insights that will help you target the right prospects. But how exactly do you get your money’s worth after investing in this tool?
To generate leads with your sales navigator account, here’s what this article will cover;
Prospecting always starts with getting a list of high-quality leads you want to target. On Sales Navigator, you can automatically search for your ideal customers and group them in your contact list. Here’s how to do that efficiently;
On a regular LinkedIn account, you get 18 filters to help you narrow down who your prospect is. While that might seem like a lot, there are no lead search filters to help you get the list you need.
But on your Sales Navigator account, you have 36 lead filters with an additional 16 filters for account searches giving you more room to narrow down on the accounts that matter.
To find this option, simply;
The major difference between lead and account filters is that leads focus on specific people while accounts focus on specific companies. So your customer profile will determine what filter category you’ll use. There are also no limits to the number of searches you can make so use this to your advantage.
Pro Tip
Use the Boolean search operators available to make your list even more specific. Sales Navigator has five of them; AND, OR, NOT, Quotes and Parentheses. You can use these Boolean operators under the Job title filters or the keyword field.
So for example, in the image above, this search filter is looking for prospects whose job titles are sales managers and sales directors.
Once you have a drop-down of all your target accounts or ideal contacts, segmenting them into a list helps you organize, find and target them even faster. To create a lead list on Sales Navigator simply follow these steps;
When you need to find your lead lists, you’ll see them on the homepage under “Lead lists”
Pro Tip
You can add the same contact to more than one list. However, we recommend not sending messages at the same time if there’s a contact in both sequences to avoid spamming them. To add your contact to more than one list on Sales Navigator, just;
There’s a feature on Sales Navigator called Relationship Explorer. With this feature, you can create a persona of your ideal customer profile using job title, location, and more.
Based on your ICP, for each new company or account assigned to your team, you immediately get recommendations on the top people you should contact.
Pro Tip
A great way to build your persona is to make a search first and then edit the details of the persona to match your preferred profile
Once you have your contacts neatly segmented with details you can use for outreach, it's time to reach out to them. At this stage, personalization is an important key to getting results, especially in B2B sales.
Automation is also helpful in letting you reach all of your saved contacts within a short period. Here’s how to nurture your leads with LinkedIn Sales Navigator;
You can reach out to your contacts via connection messages or InMails.
Connection requests help you to bring 2nd or 3rd-degree connections into your inner network. So when they agree to connect, you can see each other’s posts, send messages and more. You can choose to either send a connection request with a note or without one, but we recommend adding one.
LinkedIn InMails on the other hand, is a premium feature that allows you to send messages to leads you do not want to connect with. This feature is especially handy because you cannot send more than 100 connections per week.
So if you need to reach more people within a short period, you should use this.
To send an InMail, simply follow these steps;
Pro Tip
Since connection requests and InMails have character limits, you have to personalize your messages and doing it manually will take forever. We recommend connecting your sales navigator to an outreach tool that will allow you to send personalized messages at scale.
51% of companies today use multiple channels to interact with their customers because it's more effective.
This means while sending Linkedin messages can be a great first approach, nurturing them should involve a multichannel outreach.
While using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can export your contacts to your CRM or your outreach tool, get email addresses from this export and send even more tailored messages that’ll get you that booking call. Unfortunately, while it’s great, currently, you cannot export contacts on the sales navigator.
To export leads from Sales Navigator, you can use lemlist Chrome Extension. With lemlist, you can use smart enrichment to get their email addresses and even send them multichannel outreach (emails, linkedin messages, cold calls and more) directly from the software.
Here’s how to export your LinkedIn contacts with lemlist;
i. From individual leads’ profile
ii. In bulk, from LinkedIn or Sales Navigator search
You can also check out which leads are already in your outreach campaigns so you avoid over-prospecting duplicates.
Pro Tip
With lemlist, you can also get email templates and personalize them with custom text, images and even dynamic landing pages.
There’s also an AI email generator that generates custom emails to help you get conversions faster like the one below.
On the Sales Navigator Advanced Plus plan, there are more features designed to help you improve your sales process. For one, you get access to an additional 50 InMail credits every month. Some you should consider include;
With this feature, you can increase the size of your current network with your team. So put simply, your colleagues can see if a lead is connected to you already and can ask you to make an introduction for them. But that’s the only thing they can see on your account.
The way it works is that you invite other members of your sales team to see your lead connections. Usually, they’ll receive a link via email to join you. To send a TeamLink Extend invitation simply;
A smart link is a way for you to group and share content in Sales Navigator. With this feature, you can merge content like your pitch deck, product demos, YouTube videos and more in one link that you can share with your prospects. Once they view your smart link, you can track their viewing behavior and see what exactly they want in your product/service.
To create a smart link, simply follow these steps
Most recruitment teams use either LinkedIn Recruiter or Sales Navigator for getting new leads and applicants so it’s definitely useful for recruitment. So if your sales team already has access to Sales Navigator, you can save costs by using it for recruiting.
With the advanced search filters, you can find specific applicants that match what you’re looking for. So, simply filter based on the job profile or candidate you’re looking for. In the example below, you can tell this filter is looking for senior software engineers.
Plus, once you save this search, LinkedIn will automatically update the list to include new candidates that fit your criteria.
Next, send a personalized connection request or a message if you’re already a connection, sharing details about the job opening and if they are interested in the role. It’s also helpful if you use a tool like lemlist to help you draft the perfect message.
Pro Tip
Alternatively, if you want to reach out to multiple candidates, you can use the lemlist Chrome extension to find their emails and send them messages directly from the outreach tool. It’s easier to track who’s interested and who isn’t.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a sales tool you should maximize in your B2B company. Some more ways to take advantage of this tool for growth include;
Chances are you’re going to make the same search more than once, and when you use a combination of several filters, it can be hard getting it right again. With saved searches, you can get updated results every day with the same search. To do this;
You can export your leads or prospects from Sales Navigator to LinkedIn Ads for an even more tailored ad strategy. To do this simply follow these steps;
If you get an error it simply means your file wasn’t modified for LinkedIn’s preferred format. Simply modify the headers on LinkedIn and upload again.
Cold outreach works better when you have a reputable personal brand. Don’t be a bot. A great way to do this is to interact with the content on your feed and with your connections.
With Taplio, you can automate leaving comments, DMs and even creating Linkedin posts. Get a list of the best-performing posts in your network, your best-performing posts and more to inform your content creation on the platform.
In addition to this, you can also import a list of contacts that engage with your content for a wider reach. For even more tailored reach, connect it with your sales navigator account.
Alternatively, you can install the Taplio free Chrome extension.
Once you find contacts you want to connect with or reach out to using the sales navigator filters, automate how you reach out to them.
Choose to either focus your outreach strategy on Linkedin through highly personalized messages or export your contacts for a more multi-channel approach like this example below.
Remember, businesses that use two or more channels in a campaign have experienced 166% more engagement rates. Start by duplicating any of the preset campaign templates from other B2B marketers crushing their sales goals.
Linkedin Sales Navigator is a great tool for B2B sales teams and recruiters. Just make sure you’re fully maximizing its potential by using this guide.
Don’t forget to integrate your Linkedin with other tools for success in taking your sales outreach to the next level.
G2 Rating | Price | Best for | Standout feature | Con | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.9 star star star star star | $30/mo $75/mo $2,999/mo | Large, distributed sales teams | AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs | Lack of tracking system | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Sales operations and finance teams | Powerful configurability | Limited training resources and complex to navigate | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Mid-market and enterprise businesses | Comprehensive incentive management | Potentially high cost and steep learning curve | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $15/user/mo $40/user/mo Enterprise: custom price | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Collaborative teams | Connected planning | Complexity and steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with complex sales structures | Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy | Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts | Simplicity and ease of use | Lack of features like redirection | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $30/user/mo $35/user/mo Custom: upon request | Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software | Ease of use and adoption | Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs | |
4.8 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights | A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility | Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow | |
4.9 star star star star star | $30/user/mo $50/user/mo | Smaller sales teams | Powerful automation | Lesser user base and average user interface | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with scalable needs | Automated Commission Calculations | Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app |
PRM Tool | Rating | Feature | Pro | Con | Mobile App | Integrations | Free Plan | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.65 star star star star star-half | Org-wide alignment | User-friendly layout and database | Suboptimal as a personal CRM | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-check | Team: $20/month Business: $45/month | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Social Media Integration | Easy contact data collection | No marketing/sales features | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-xmark 7-day trial | $12/month | |
4.75 star star star star star-half | Block Functions | High customization capability | Not a dedicated CRM | square-check | Limited | square-check | Plus: €7.50/month Business: €14/month | |
N/A | Open-source | Open-source flexibility | Requires extensive manual input | square-xmark | Limited | square-check Self-hosted | $9/month or $90/year | |
3.1 star star star | Simple iOS app | Ideal for non-tech-savvy users | iPhone only | square-check iOS only | Limited | square-xmark 1-month trial | $1.49/month or $14.99/month | |
3.6 star star star star-half | Smart Contact Management | Feature-rich and flexible | Reported bugs | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 7-day trial | Premium: $13.99/month Teams: $17.99/month | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Customizable Interface | Customizable for teamwork | Pricey for personal use | square-check | Rich | square-xmark | Standard: $24/member Premium: $39/member | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Integrated Calling | Integrated Calling | Too sales-oriented & pricey | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | Startup: $59/user/month Professional: $329/user/month | |
4.8 star star star star star | Business Card Scanning | Business Card Scanning | Mobile only | square-check | Limited | square-check | $9.99/month | |
4.45 star star star star star-half | 160+ app integrations | Comprehensive integrations | No free app version | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | $29.90/month or $24.90/month (billed annually) |
Capterra Rating | Free Trial | Free Plan | Starting Price (excluding the free plan) | Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan) | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-check | €15/month/seat billed annually | €792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat | Versatility and free plan | |
4.2 star star star star | square-check 30-day | square-xmark But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations | €25/user/month | €500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI) | Best overall operational CRM | |
4.3 star star star star star-half | square-xmark | square-check Limited to 3 users | Comprehensive incentive management | €52/user/month billed annually | Small-medium businesses and automation | |
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-xmark | €14/seat/month billed annually | €99/seat/month billed annually | Sales teams and ease of use | |
4.1 star star star star | square-xmark | square-check Limited 10 users | $9.99/user/month billed annually | $64.99/user/month billed annually | Free plan for very small teams up to 10 |
CRM goal | Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months. | ||||
SMART Breakdown | 1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation). | 2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking. | 3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements. | 4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives. | 5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date. |
Actions | Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation. | Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior. | Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads. | Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up. | Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization. |
Outcomes | Increased sales and revenue | Improved marketing automation ROI | Marketing and sales alignment | Data-driven marketing optimization |