What is Sales Navigator? The 2023 Guide to LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Ever feel like you’re searching for a needle in a haystack when it comes to finding potential customers? Thankfully, like metal detectors, there are prospecting tools designed to make your life easier.

The tool we’ll dive into today — LinkedIn Sales Navigator — can be your compass guiding you through uncharted territories, helping identify and connect with those elusive prospects hiding beneath the surface.

Now, we understand that starting out with such an extensive platform may seem daunting. But we’re here to help demystify Sales Navigator and empower you on this prospecting journey.

You’ll learn how to kickstart your saved accounts, leverage search filters effectively, and convert that list into enriched contacts ready for engagement. 

Sales Navigator is a game-changing tool for professionals looking to level up their prospecting efforts. It offers LinkedIn users a more targeted and efficient approach to finding, understanding, and engaging with prospects on the platform. Let’s get started.

What Does Sales Navigator Do?

Sales Navigator isn’t just any ordinary LinkedIn feature. Instead, it’s like having a personal detective that helps you find exactly who you’re looking for in the vast universe of 990 million LinkedIn profiles. It lets you cut through the noise and focus on what matters most – getting in touch with potential clients or partners.

With Sales Navigator, not only can you reach out directly to decision-makers without dealing with gatekeepers but you can also use advanced search filters based on industry type, job role, and company size – basically whatever criterion suits your needs best.

What is Sales Navigator?

Designed for the movers and shakers in sales, recruitment, and business development, LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator is a premium offering that simplifies the quest for potential leads.

With its robust search features, timely sales insights, enriched lead recommendations, and enhanced messaging capabilities, users can navigate the expansive LinkedIn landscape with ease and precision. We’ll go into more detail on each of these features below, but the most important is probably its advanced search features.

The Power of Advanced Search Filters

Let’s take this scenario: You’re trying to target marketing executives from tech startups located within New York City metro area. With traditional methods or basic LinkedIn features alone (imagine trying to sift through 990+ million users), this could feel like finding Waldo in one of his crowded pictures.

But here comes our superhero – Sales Navigator. Its powerful algorithm allows for specific targeting so precise that it’ll feel as if someone turned a spotlight onto your ideal customer profile amidst a sea of faces. This is thanks to over 40 advanced search filters. These include:

• Keywords
• Title
• Company
• School
• First Name
• Last Name
• Headline
• Skills
• Geography
• Region
• Postal code
• Company headquarters
• Relationship
• Industry
• Custom Lists
• School
• First name
• Last name
• Profile language
• Past Lead and Account Activity
• Function
• Seniority level
• Years in current position
• Years at current company
• Years of experience
• Under Company filters, you can add:
• Company
• Company headcount
• Past company
• Company type

Using these filters, you could drill down very intentionally to find the ideal prospect. For example, you could do industry-specific outreach, filter out companies that are sized appropriately for your offering, or hone in on only LinkedIn profiles that are 2nd-degree connections so you can leverage your shared connection as a way in. And remember – it’s not just about using the filters but combining them when necessary to keep your outreach as targeted and effective as possible.

A Peek Into InMail Messages

If making connections was akin to opening doors towards new business opportunities then consider InMail messages as those special keys made available by Sales Navigator. They let you connect even with individuals outside your network by sending them direct messages – something impossible using standard LinkedIn access.

With a Sales Navigator account, you get 50 InMails each month to reach out directly through LinkedIn to your prospects. If that’s not enough and your goals are bigger, read on to find out how to extract contact info directly from Sales Navigator.

Real-time Sales Insights and Updates

Keeping track of your prospects’ activities is crucial for timely engagement. But how do you keep track of the activity of hundreds, if not thousands, of prospects? You guessed it – Sales Navigator comes to the rescue again.

This platform provides real-time insights into your saved leads’ activity. If they’ve changed jobs or shared something interesting – you’ll know. These alerts give you reasons to reconnect with them in a meaningful way.

In-Depth Lead Recommendations

This feature is like having your own personal assistant who never sleeps. Sales Navigator recommends potential leads based on the criteria you’ve set. It continuously scans LinkedIn’s vast array of profiles to find those hidden gems you might otherwise miss.

The algorithm uses not only your preferences but also the activity and engagement level of prospects to give you quality recommendations — leading to more meaningful conversations.

Synchronized CRM Integration

If juggling between various platforms isn’t really your thing, then Sales Navigator’s seamless CRM integration will be a breath of fresh air. This feature allows for a streamlined connection between your preferred CRM and prospecting activities, keeping all data up-to-date and accessible.

Now, tracking conversations, follow-ups, and lead nurturing activities has never been more efficient.

Sales Spotlights

Imagine having x-ray vision for LinkedIn profiles. Sales Spotlights give you up-to-the-minute details about potential clients. You can see if they’re buzzing on LinkedIn, just switched jobs, or have ties with your coworkers.

How Does Sales Navigator Work?

When it comes to B2B prospecting, Sales Navigator is a game-changer. But why? Let’s unpack the key benefits that make this tool indispensable for sales professionals.

In-depth Targeting Capabilities

Sales Navigator allows you to find leads with unmatched precision. You can use its advanced search features to filter prospects based on factors like job title, company size, and even past employers. This helps you tailor your outreach strategy and focus on high-potential leads.

Rich Insights into Prospects

Beyond finding potential contacts, Sales Navigator offers deep insights into these individuals or companies. It shows relevant updates from your saved leads—changes in their roles or recent posts—that give context for personalized messaging.

Premium InMail Feature

This platform provides an exclusive communication channel: LinkedIn InMail. As a premium feature, it lets you directly reach out to anyone on LinkedIn—not just those in your network—increasing chances of getting responses significantly. Not everybody uses LinkedIn but those who do will be more likely to respond on the platform as opposed to, say, cold emailing.

Gaining Competitive Edge with Wiza Integration

Wiza, when paired with Sales Navigator takes lead generation up several notches by automating contact info extraction.

Instead of manually visiting each profile and noting down details, which is time-consuming, you can let Wiza do all the hard work in the background.

By using its Chrome extension together with Sales navigator searches, you can extract up to 2500 contacts’ information at once. That’s efficiency redefined.

As an outbound sales professional or startup founder, Sales Navigator can help you make the most of LinkedIn’s vast professional network. Coupled with Wiza’s automation capabilities, it becomes an even more powerful tool for prospecting.

No fluff—just results.

How to Get Sales Navigator

The first step in using Sales Navigator effectively is creating an account. Currently, there are plans available for $71.99 per month if billed annually, but this is subject to change, and if you’re looking for more details on pricing (including different plans such as LinkedIn Premium), you should check out our article on Sales Navigator pricing. 

If you’re concerned about whether or not Sales Navigator is worth it based on the price, we highly recommend giving the free trial a go so you can at least try it out. It may or may not be worth it to you, but it’s a pretty powerful tool for the price, and it does occasionally go for a discounted rate.

Please note – you will have to use a credit card, even if you are signing up for the free trial. We’ve found that you’ll have the opportunity to get more than one free trial over time, but the best part is that you can still get most functionality with the free trial version. And you can still use the Wiza Chrome extension with the free trial version. 

Tailoring Your Preferences

In Sales Navigator, tailor your preferences based on the kind of businesses or individuals you want to connect with. This customization allows LinkedIn’s algorithm to suggest relevant leads that match your criteria – think industry type or company size. The more detailed information provided by users in their profiles makes these suggestions quite accurate too.

Saved Leads and Accounts

Here’s a quick guide on how to save leads in Sales Navigator:

Saving a Lead from a Company’s Account Page:

1. Navigate to Sales Navigator’s homepage.
2. Type the company’s name in the search bar for lead suggestions.
3. Under the ‘People tab’, view:
4. Recommended leads (suggested based on your LinkedIn data).
5. My saved leads.
6. Account Map (to understand account trends and lead relationships).
7. Save a lead by clicking ‘Save lead’ under Recommended leads or ‘Add to map’ and then ‘Save’ on the lead’s info card.

Saving a Lead from a Lead’s Page:

1. On the homepage, enter the lead’s name in the search bar.
2. On the lead’s page, click the blue ‘Save’ button.

Saving from Search Results:

1. Start from the homepage.
2. Use the ‘All filters’ and ‘Lead filters’ next to the search bar to refine your search.
3. Click ‘Save’ next to desired profiles. For bulk saves, select the checkbox above the results and ‘Save to list’ to save 25 at once.

InMail Messages

A Sales Navigator account comes with 50 monthly InMail credits. Using InMails smartly can open doors towards better conversations leading eventually to conversions.

Now here is something interesting…

If you’re not keen on only relying on InMail for prospecting and you’d rather contact your prospects via email, Wiza paired with Sales Navigator will take your prospecting game to new heights. 

You see, LinkedIn doesn’t have a way to easily export contact information directly from LinkedIn. 

With the Wiza Chrome extension, you can run a search in Sales Navigator and easily export the contact info of up to 2500 profiles with just a few clicks. Every single profile will be verified in real-time with the best available data on the market, giving you a complete prospect picture with as many as 30 or more data points added.

And it runs in the background so you can continue to focus on other tasks until all the data is pulled.

Pairing Sales Navigator with Wiza not only takes the manual, tedious grunt work out of prospecting, but also amps up its effectiveness – pretty neat, right?

How to Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator

For many, LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator is a powerful tool. But it’s not about just using the platform; it’s about using it smartly. Let’s dig into some practical tips to maximize your sales prospecting efforts.

Create an Effective Search Strategy

First off, you need to be clear on who your ideal prospects are. This will help you create more targeted searches. Be specific with industry keywords and job titles to find potential leads that align best with your offering.

Avoid too broad or generic search terms as they may lead you astray from high-quality leads. Use advanced filters in Sales Navigator, such as geography, company size, function among others for a laser-focused approach.

Maintain Active Engagement

Sending connection requests is only half the battle won; staying active on their feeds helps maintain visibility and credibility. Engaging authentically with their posts shows genuine interest which can open doors for further conversations.

Use InMail Wisely

InMails are a great way to reach out directly to prospects without needing an introduction or connection first. However, be mindful that it’s not just about pitching your product straight away but building relationships.

Using Tools with Sales Navigator

The beauty of Sales Navigator lies not just in its standalone capabilities, but also how well it integrates with other tools to make your prospecting efforts more effective. Let’s do a brief exploration of some helpful tools you can use alongside Sales Navigator.

Dux-Soup for Automated Actions

A tool like Dux-Soup automates actions such as visiting profiles or endorsing skills on LinkedIn. It’s a real time-saver and lets you focus on more important tasks while it handles the less personal aspects of LinkedIn prospecting.

Crystal Knows for Personality Insights

If understanding the personality type of your prospects is key, then check out Crystal Knows. This tool provides insights into an individual’s communication style based on their online presence to help you engage with them more effectively.

Zapier for Workflow Automation

To streamline workflow between different apps, consider using Zapier’s LinkedIn integration. For instance, new connections could automatically be added to your CRM system.

How to Get Started with Wiza

If you are interested in trying Wiza, you can create a free account today. All you need is an email and you can get started today.

In fact, if you create your free account today, you’ll get 20 free email credits and 5 free phone credits.

Once you create your account, all you have to do is install the Wiza Chrome extension to start pulling contact info from LinkedIn profiles. It’s that easy to get started and start saving time prospecting today.

Conclusion

It starts with understanding the platform and its features. That’s step one in your journey.

You’ve discovered how Sales Navigator can be a game-changer for finding potential customers hiding beneath the surface. And you’ve seen how using tools like Wiza can help export up to 2500 contacts at once!

Prospecting is no longer an overwhelming haystack but rather, an exciting field of opportunities waiting to be unearthed. Your path forward? Start with patience, leverage smartly, and engage effectively.

This journey may seem daunting but remember: every gold miner started from scratch too! So let’s start digging together towards sustainable growth – right here, right now!