Sales Navigator is LinkedIn's search tool for prospecting — the version of LinkedIn built to answer one question: who, at which companies, fits my ICP, and what changed recently that gives me a reason to reach out? The skill is combining two filter types: a people filter (title, seniority, function) and an account filter (industry, geography, company size), so every result is a person you'd actually want to contact at a company you'd actually want to sell to. Then you use a recent signal — a hire, a role change, a launch — as your hook. Sales Navigator finds the names; it doesn't write the message. That part is still you.
The search-filter cheat sheet — here is the asset
Think of a search as two stacked filters, people on top of accounts:
People filters (who)
- Title / keyword. Exact titles beat vague ones — "Head of Revenue Operations" over "operations." Add current-title-only unless you want former holders too.
- Function. Narrow to the department that owns the problem you solve (Sales, Marketing, Ops, Finance…).
- Seniority. Pick the level with buying power and pain: Director to C-level for most B2B; add Manager if they're the day-to-day owner.
- Years in current role / location. Fine-tuning knobs for when a list is too big.
Account filters (which company)
- Industry. Match your ICP's industries — don't leave it open if your product is industry-specific.
- Geography. Region, country, or metro — match your territory.
- Company size (employee count). A strong proxy for whether they have the pain and the budget you target.
- Account type / headcount growth. Find companies in motion — hiring, expanding — which usually have the budget.
Boolean & keywords. Combine terms with OR, exclude with NOT, and quote exact phrases (e.g. "revenue operations"). A title field of Head OR VP OR Director + "revenue operations" beats one keyword.
The signal layer (the part that wins).
- Recently changed roles / recently hired. The person is new and looking — the single best cold hook.
- Posting recently about [topic]. They're thinking about the space; engage before you pitch.
- Saved searches + alerts. Save your best filter combo and let it surface new names weekly, so your list never goes stale.
The mistake to avoid. Searching one keyword, grabbing 500 names, and bulk-connecting. Sales Navigator's value is precision, not volume — a tighter search that returns 40 ICP-fit names beats a broad one that returns 5,000 strangers. If your search returns a thousand results, you haven't filtered hard enough; add seniority, geography, or an account filter until it's a list a human can actually research.
From a name to a conversation
A Sales Navigator result is a lead, not a conversation. The discipline that turns a filtered list into meetings is what you do with each name: research the person and their trigger, find their email if you're going cold email, or send a tailored connection request. The tool hands you the "who" and the "why now"; you supply the reason and the ask. A list built this way — right title, right company, real signal — is what makes personalized outreach possible instead of aspirational.