Mastering LinkedIn Sales Navigator with Laura Hannan

Sales Navigator can be a real game-changer if you’re looking to step up your lead generation game on LinkedIn. 

In her recent masterclass, Laura Hannan, Founder of Pitch121, shared actionable tips on how to make the most of it. 

Here’s a breakdown on how Sales Navigator can help you improve the results you get fromLinkedIn.

1. Sales Navigator is more than a directory

Too many people use Sales Navigator like a glorified phone book—searching for titles like "CTO" or filtering by company. Laura showed us that Sales Nav is much more than this, but also how saving leads and accounts into lists can make teams more efficient.. It lets you track updates, like promotions or new decision-makers, and personal posts to engage with, all helping you build a lead nurturing strategy.

2. Boolean logic: Your new best friend

Boolean search  is a powerful way to get precise results on your targeting. Laura gave examples like using “(marketing OR Sales) AND (Chief OR Director OR Global OR Froup OR EMEA)” to target senior sales and marketing roles. 

Pro tip: Keep your Boolean strings saved somewhere handy so you can copy and paste and tweak them easily.

3. Saved searches vs. saved lists

Here’s a simple but important tip: saved searches update dynamically with new account and lead results, while saved lists have the accounts and leads saved and they don’t change until you unsave them Laura’s advice? Use both and use dynamic filters like those who are new in role in the last 90 days, and those that have posted in the last 30 days. 

Go back to your saved searches regularly to find new accounts and leads that have dropped into the search to find people who are relevant now.

For the longer term?  Check your saved lists that the people are still relevant by utilising ‘exclude’.  The exclude filter is your friend when it comes to keeping your lists accurate.

4. Dial in your targeting with Advanced Filters

Laura walked through some filters that can really fine-tune your search:

• Lead filters: Focus on new decision-makers, recent job changers, or people actively posting on LinkedIn.  Search via Account Lists?  Then you don’t need any company industry or headcount info

• Category intent: This Advanced feature highlights interest in specific product categories—a goldmine for spotting potential buyers.

5. Relationship mapping & TeamLink

If you’re on an Advanced plan, Team Link is a fantastic tool for finding connections with others in your company within target accounts. Laura explained how leveraging mutual connections can make outreach way more effective. She’s seen teams achieve higher connection acceptance rates by building a network of colleagues around their targets.

6. Make content your secret weapon

Posting, commenting, and engaging on LinkedIn isn’t just for fun—it’s a strategy. Laura recommended using your Sales Navigator homepage as a daily to-do list for engagement. Even a simple like or comment on a prospect’s post can boost your connection acceptance rate by up to 10%.

7. Third-Party tools for the win

Sales Navigator doesn’t give you emails or phone numbers, but third-party tools like Apollo, Lusha, and Clay can help fill in the gaps. Laura’s advice? Use these tools to enrich your data, not replace Sales Navigator as the main advantage is the tracking and home page engagement.  Sales Nav is more than a directory!

8. Track engagement with SmartLinks

SmartLinks is another advanced feature that’s worth exploring. It lets you track who clicks on your links and how they engage with the content. It can be a great way to gauge interest from warm prospects, it will also show you who else has viewed that LinkedIn from their LinkedIn ID.

9. It’s all about the bigger picture

LInkedIn works best when it’s part of a wider strategy, deals are done when you mix up calls, meetings, texts, emails and LinkedIn. Laura stressed the importance of having a strong LinkedIn presence even if your lead generation doesn’t originate there.  People check out your team, the people who would be working with them before you pitch them for example.. 

That means a killer profile (banner, featured section, and links all up to date), consistent posting, and thoughtful engagement is important for all team members.

10. Is it worth the money, and should I do Core or Advanced?

Laura explained that if you are spending 30 mins or more on LinkedIn daily then Sales Nav will make that 30 mins more effective.  Sales Navigator is a way to direct your energies towards the people you’ve identified are important to your business.  If you use it for tracking and use it daily, the efficiencies make it worth every penny.

Most of us who are subscribed are probably on the Core version.  Depending on the company you work for, and what you sell, a few Advanced features like Category Intent and TeamLink can help you identify the people and accounts most likely to engage with you.

Category intent is also specific to LinkedIn data to show you which companies and employees have signalled intent to products similar to yours.  TeamLink finds colleagues that have connections at your target accounts.

Bonus team tips

• Coordinate your efforts: Shared account maps and lists can help your team work smarter, not harder.

• Check your team’s Sales Nav metrics: Keep an eye on connection acceptances, LinkedIn’s SSI score for engagement and regular saving to lists to see where your team can improve.

• Invest in team training: Most sales people are not using most Sales Nav features.  A team workshop could be just the thing to unlock their potential.

Wrapping up

Laura’s masterclass was a treasure trove of tips and tricks to get more out of Sales Navigator. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been using it for years, there’s always room to tweak and improve your approach.

You can access Laura’s masterclass online and all our other amazing on-demand masterclasses when you sign up as a Youngling member via here.