How to Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to Generate Leads
Sales Navigator's filters are the most precise way to turn a buyer profile into a list of real people. The method is the same every time: layer filters from broad to narrow, write every variation of each job title, turn on posted-in-the-last-30-days, check the count lands between 500 and 5,000, then paste the search URL into Reachium and let it scrape at roughly 2,500 profiles an hour.
Run it when: the ICP is defined by role, seniority, company shape, or a LinkedIn-native signal.
Time: 20 minutes to build the search, then scrape time at roughly 2,500 profiles an hour.
Last reviewed September 2026.
Before you build the search
A connected account with a Sales Navigator or Recruiter seat. Without one, run a standard LinkedIn search instead, which works from any account
The ICP one-liner and its trigger
A target result size, 500 to 2,000 for a targeted campaign
How to build a Sales Navigator search that returns the right people
1. Layer filters in priority order.
Keyword search, then function, then job titles, then seniority, then company headcount, then geography, then industry, then company type. Adding filters in this order means you narrow from the broadest cut down, and you can watch the result count fall as you go.
Every filter you add cuts results, so only add the ones that define the ICP.
2. Write keywords as boolean strings, never single words.
(sales enablement OR revenue operations OR RevOps) with parentheses around the whole expression. One generic word returns noise; a boolean OR-string returns the language your buyers actually use about themselves.
3. List job titles with every variation.
LinkedIn matches strings, not meaning. "CTO", "Chief Technology Officer" and "Chief Tech Officer" are three different searches. Write all three. This is the single most defining filter, and the one most often left half-finished.
4. Use the exact predefined values where they exist.
Seniority, function, headcount, company type and connection degree come from fixed lists. Industry names are LinkedIn's, not yours: "Computer Software" not "SaaS", "Hospital & Health Care" not "Healthcare". Anything else silently matches nothing.
5. Separate the person's location from the company's.
Person geography and company HQ geography are different filters. A remote employee in Austin working for a San Francisco company matches one and not the other. Using both at once only makes sense when you genuinely mean both.
6. Turn on posted in the last 30 days.
This is the strongest narrowing filter available and it cuts results by 80 to 90 percent. The people it keeps are the ones active enough to see a connection request and reply to it. Default it on, and only drop it when it starves the list below your target.
7. Add an intent signal if there is one.
Changed jobs in the last 90 days is the highest-value one: new in role means new budget, new tools and a mandate to change something. Also available: follows your company page, viewed your profile, shares a group or a school, worked with you previously. Small audiences, unusually warm.
8. Check the count against the target.
Under 500, remove a filter or broaden the title list. Over 5,000, add the posted-recently filter or narrow headcount. Between 500 and 5,000, stop fiddling and scrape it.
9. [Paste the search URL into Reachium](https://app.reachium.io/scraper/sales-navigator?utm_source=sop&utm_campaign=sales-navigator-search-guide) and run it.
The scrape runs from the account holding the Sales Navigator seat, at roughly 2,500 profiles an hour and up to 10,000 a day. It cannot be cancelled once started, so read the filters one more time first.
The scrape runs on Reachium's side, not in your browser, so you can close the tab and check the job when it finishes.
Sales Navigator searches: do this, not this
Do this | Not this |
|---|---|
|
|
Exactly the industries LinkedIn names | "SaaS", "Healthcare", "Fintech" |
Posted in the last 30 days on by default | Scrape 40,000 dormant profiles |
Three or four seniority levels that match the buyer | All nine levels, which filters nothing |
One location filter, chosen deliberately | Person location and company HQ together by accident |
Add changed-jobs when the offer suits new hires | Add filters "just in case" |
Check the count before scraping | Find out the search returned 63 people two hours later |
Rather not build the search yourself? This is the step people get wrong quietly, then wonder why the list is 40,000 people who will never reply. Book a call and we build it for you.
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Questions people ask
How do I use Sales Navigator to generate leads?
Build a filtered search that matches your buyer, confirm the result count sits between 500 and 5,000, then paste the search URL into a scraper that turns it into a lead list. The filters do the work; the scrape is mechanical.
Do I need Sales Navigator to build a LinkedIn lead list?
No. A Sales Navigator seat is only required to scrape a Sales Navigator search URL. A standard LinkedIn search works from any connected account, with fewer filters but no subscription.
Is there a free version of Sales Navigator?
There is a free trial, not a free tier. One seat in the workspace is enough for scraping, because the scrape runs from whichever account holds it. Paying for it on every seat is money spent on nothing.
How long does a Sales Navigator scrape take?
Roughly 2,500 profiles an hour, up to 10,000 a day. A 5,000-lead scrape is a two-hour job. It runs on Reachium's side rather than in your browser, so you can close the tab, but it cannot be cancelled once started.
You are done when
Every filter in the set can be justified against the ICP line
Job titles include variations
Predefined values used exactly as LinkedIn writes them
Result count sits between 500 and 5,000
The search URL is scraping into a correctly named list
The expected finish time is known
Do it yourself. Open the Sales Navigator scraper in Reachium
Have our team do it for you. We build the lists, write the copy, run the campaigns and work the inbox. Book a call
Already a customer. Stuck on something? Book a support call
Or run it from Claude. Reachium's MCP puts every step above inside a chat window. Works with any account.
