This step-by-step guide walks through the workflows, filters, and tools that help you turn that scale into a targeted, repeatable prospecting motion — from finding the right accounts to engaging buyers when they’re most receptive.

Optimize your LinkedIn profile

Before you start prospecting on LinkedIn, consider how you use LinkedIn.

When someone you’ve never met sends you a connection request or InMail, what do you do?

If their headshot and headline catch your attention, you’ll likely scan their profile to see if they’d be a valuable addition to your network.

The moment you view their profile, you’re asking three questions:

Does this person look credible?
Do they understand my challenges?
Are they here to sell, or to help me solve something that matters?

Your profile needs to answer those questions in less than 3 seconds.
To do this, your LinkedIn profile should read less like a CV and more like a resource for buyers. Check that your:

Headshot clearly shows your face and presents you as approachable
Headline explains who you are and how you help
Profile banner builds on the value your headline promises
“About” section provides more details on you and your company
Featured sections give people a place to learn more
Experiences section has a clear throughline from one job to the next

Because 49% of buyers research sales professionals, the goal is to create an effective LinkedIn sales profile that reflects your customers’ values and demonstrates your interest in helping people like them.

Once you’ve established this foundation, the next step is to build your network by using advanced search to find contacts who fit your ideal customer profile.

Read customer story

Method 1

Account-based prospecting on LinkedIn

The fastest way to start prospecting with LinkedIn Sales Navigator is to start with the accounts you know you would like to sell into.  

With Sales Navigator’s 15 different account-based filters, you can quickly identify the companies where your solution would be a standout success.

The goal at this stage of prospecting is to quickly build a broad list of multiple, targeted accounts. Don’t overthink this step, because we will use tools like Account IQ to further qualify them later in the prospecting process.

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4

Identify your best-fit accounts

Prospecting with LinkedIn Sales Navigator is about specificity. Start by finding target accounts that fit the criteria of the businesses you’d like to work with.

Use filters like:

Company industry
Headcount
Annual Revenue
Department and headcount
Department growth
Job opportunities
…and more

These filters help you quickly narrow hundreds of thousands of companies into a focused list of high-potential accounts that resemble the customers you already know how to help.

The more precise your filters, the more accurate your account list, and the easier it is to find the right people within those companies.  

Click “Save search” on the top of the search filters to get notified when new accounts meet your criteria.

Add target accounts to custom lists

After you’ve identified your target accounts, click “Save” to add the account to a custom list.

If your business caters to a wide variety of companies, lists are helpful to create segments based on your different search criteria.

For example, you may use lists to organize accounts within different industries, at different growth stages, with different revenue bands or any other combination of search filters.

Give each list a unique name so you can easily identify each segment in the future.

Find your ideal buyer within the account

After saving your accounts, change the view from “Account” to “Lead” at the top of the search filters.

Then, scroll to the “Workflow” section at the bottom of the filters list.   

Click on “Account lists,” then on the list of accounts you’d like to investigate further.

Then, above the workflow section, in “Recent updates,” use the toggle “Posted on LinkedIn,” to identify people who have recently posted on the network.   

This guarantees you will connect with people who have actively used the platform in the past 30 days, increasing the odds your message will be received.

Then, using the “Role” filter, select the function your ideal buyer works in, and choose either their current job title or level of seniority.

With this combination of filters, you will now see the most relevant people within the accounts you would like to work with.   

Click “Save” to the right of the lead’s record to add that individual to a lead list.

Expand your reach with lead suggestions

As you save the lead to your custom list, Sales Navigator will provide suggestions for more people with similar titles within the company who may be worth following.   

You can save each person individually or click “Save all” to add everybody to your list.

Once your leads are saved to a list, their activity will appear in your Sales Navigator feed, giving you natural moments to comment, react, engage, and build rapport before reaching out.

This method turns prospecting with LinkedIn Sales Navigator into a disciplined, repeatable workflow.

You’re not guessing who to contact or sending cold messages at scale. You’re tracking the best-fit accounts, identifying relevant stakeholders, and using real activity signals to warm relationships before reaching out.

How Gainsight won 42% more deals using LinkedIn Sales Navigator’s advanced search.

Sales Navigator has allowed us to engage and connect with key stakeholders that were unknown to us previously.”

Harri Carroll

EMEA Customer Success Manager, Gainsight

Sales Navigator users who utilize customer account insights have typically 12% more closed deals compared to those who don't.

Request demo

Start your free trial

Source: LinkedIn data, March 2026

Method 2

Lead-based prospecting on LinkedIn

With Method 2, instead of focusing on specific accounts, you’ll find the individuals who are most likely to benefit from partnering with your business.

With Sales Navigator’s 36 different lead filters, there are many ways to identify the best prospects. Because there are so many different options, this section will focus on a basic combination of filters you can use to get started. Feel free to use as many or as little as you would like.

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5

Find prospects by job function, title, and seniority

The fastest way to build prospect lists in Sales Navigator is to start with basic job data.

Using filters like job function, title, and seniority gives you a clear starting point for finding who you want to reach. These filters narrow the entire LinkedIn ecosystem down to people who match the roles, responsibilities, and influence levels you’re targeting.

Narrow your prospect list using company-level filters

After identifying the type of buyer you want to engage, create filters about the types of companies they work at.

Filters like company headcount, company type, industry, and geography will help you surface accounts that may have been overlooked, while putting the right people to contact right in front of you.

Prioritize buyers using activity and intent signals

Sales Navigator provides several signals to help you spot who is active, who is paying attention, and who may already be exploring your space

Start by scrolling to the “Recent updates” section in your lead filters.  

Turn on “Posted on LinkedIn” to surface people who have been active on the platform in the last 30 days.

Next, look for intent-based signals, such as:

Viewed your profile
Following your company
Account has buyer intent (Advanced and Advanced Plus only)
Category interest (new)
Job changes or other career movements

Each of these signals adds context about where a buyer might be in their decision cycle.

One intent signal worth calling out is “Category interest.” This filter surfaces prospects who are actively engaging with content, companies, or conversations related to your product category. It’s a powerful way to identify buyers who may be exploring options or comparing vendors, even if they haven’t interacted with you directly.

As you apply these signals, your broad prospect list narrows to a focused set of high-intent buyers who are more likely to engage in a conversation.

Find the warmest path in

Sales Navigator’s connection insights help you see whether someone on your team — or in your extended network — already knows the prospect you’d like to reach.

These shared relationships can add context, credibility, and familiarity to your outreach. If your organization uses TeamLink, you’ll also be able to see colleagues who can facilitate introductions into accounts you’ve never worked with before.

A warm introduction from a mutual connection often leads to faster replies and more productive conversations than a cold InMail. When you combine role criteria, company filters, intent signals, and connection insights, your outreach becomes more relevant, timely, and likely to create real business opportunities.

Save leads to a custom list

Save each contact to a custom list to keep your prospects organized and help Sales Navigator suggest similar leads who may be a strong fit for your outreach.

2.7x

Sales Navigator users who find warm paths in have typically 2.7x more accepted connection requests compared to those who don't.

Request demo

Source: LinkedIn data, March 2026

Sales Navigator users who find warm paths in have typically 2.7x more accepted connection requests compared to those who don't.

Request demo

Start your free trial

Source: LinkedIn data, March 2026

Use Account IQ to qualify accounts faster

Once you’ve built a broad list, click on a company’s name to view its company profile.

Account IQ provides a focused summary of the account to help you quickly see:

How the company describes itself

Company industry
Headcount
Annual Revenue
Department and headcount
Department growth
Job opportunities
…and more

Account IQ also generates an AI summary that recommends how to approach the account, aligning your product with their current challenges and priorities. This helps you keep your message relevant and reach out at the right time.

Use Lead IQ to learn what matters to your prospects

Once you’ve identified an individual you want to reach, click into their profile to view Lead IQ, which summarizes the most important information about that buyer. Lead IQ analyzes the lead’s background, responsibilities, and recent activity to give you a clearer picture of who they are and how they make decisions.

With Lead IQ, you’ll see:

A summary of the lead’s current role and core responsibilities
Key skills, expertise areas, and what they focus on professionally
Highlights from their career history and job changes
How they’ve been engaging on LinkedIn (posts, comments, visibility)
Signals that may indicate interest in your category or solutions

Lead IQ also includes an AI-generated summary that outlines how to approach the individual based on their role, priorities, and recent activity. It helps you understand what matters to them and how to frame your outreach in a way that feels relevant, credible, and personalized.

Instead of guessing what to say or sending generic messaging, Lead IQ helps you show up informed — and dramatically increases the chances your outreach lands at the right moment with the right angle.

Use Message Assist to draft relevant outreach

Message Assist helps you write a message that reflects what you’ve learned about the buyer. It reviews the lead’s profile, recent updates, and shared context to suggest a draft that aligns with their role and current activity.

Message Assist highlights details such as recent posts, job changes, or shared experiences that may make your outreach more relevant. You can adjust the draft to match your tone and add any specifics about your product or value.

By grounding each suggestion in real buyer context, Message Assist helps you move quickly while keeping your outreach personal and timely.

These workflows are just a starting point

The more you use Sales Navigator, the more it learns from your activity. Experiment with your own combination of the 50+ filters to build relationships, and the platform will learn about how you want to sell.   

Your saved leads, account lists, and engagement patterns help the platform recommend the leads and companies most likely to convert.