Many people talk about it, but very few use it consistently. Yet the biggest lever is often already in the search.
If you’re not yet familiar with Sales Navigator in detail:All features and plans at a glance.
In practice, the standard LinkedIn search shows you around 1,000 results, while Sales Navigator shows up to 2,500, with more than 50 filters such as industry, job title, region, and company size (source:LinkedIn: Sales Navigator Plans Compared, accessed on September 29, 2026). The knowledge base article explains why you should still keep your search below 2,500 results.Why you should have fewer than 2,500 results in Sales Navigator.
My favourite filter?
➡️ “People who posted something in the last month.”
Why? Because you can immediately see who is actually active – and your connection requests are much more likely to get a “yes.”
But that’s just the beginning:
1. You can save your best matches directly as leads and organise them with notes.
2. You see confidential updates on job changes, posts or mentions – without the contact knowing.
3. You get automatic recommendations that perfectly match your previous search behaviour.
4. And you can use InMails to message leads even if you are not connected.
This not only saves time, but also makes your LinkedIn outreach predictable and measurable.
💡 Many underestimate Sales Navigator because they see it “only as an expensive add-on”. But once you have experienced how much more strategically you can grow your network, you realise: it is more than an upgrade – it is a multiplier.
But the multiplier only works when you give it a clear direction. Before you filter, you describe your ideal customers with theICP Generator, which uses your product, target market, and best customers to build a profile of roles and buying triggers. You decide what happens after a match with theOutreach sequence planner. The full process, from finding contacts to following up, is shown in theStep-by-step Sales Navigator guide; how you can narrow it down further using the “Interest in category” filter, the postFind relevant leads by interest.
The favourite filter also works for job searches. Combine “posted in the last month” with your preferred employer and a function, such as engineering or marketing, and you’ll find team leads who are currently active on LinkedIn. Lead lists help you keep track of them until a position opens up. Recruiters use Recruiter Lite for the same approach, with its dedicated candidate filters. CompLeadly can use searches from both Sales Navigator and Recruiter as a target audience, visit profiles, send connection requests with an opening message, and follow up. You’ll need your own Navigator or Recruiter subscription for this. After the 10-day trial, CompLeadly remains free, with basic features subject to a daily limit and up to 2 saved target audiences. To see how recruiters use it, read Active Sourcing with CompLeadly.
