Sales Navigator promises a path to more leads and new business, but it does come with a considerable caveat. It needs to be set up with the right structure in place.
Let’s face it, the onboarding for Sales Navigator is non-existent. When you sign up and enter Sales Navigator, within the brief process they take you through, you only need to add one lead (which is what most do), click Next, and then you’re thrown into the lead search with that lead, the account, and a myriad of search filters. Then exit stage left, and it’s over to you!
The problem isn’t Sales Navigator or the tool’s functionality. The problem lies in the fact that new users are left to fend for themselves. To take a self-tour of the functionality of the tool and try to figure out the best way to use it.
In this article, I will guide you through the process we follow with our clients to set up Sales Navigator, to ensure they are organised and know where to focus their attention when executing lead generation and prospecting campaigns.
Firstly, let’s look at why you should invest time in the setup.
Why You Should Invest the Time in Setup
Out of the box, Sales Navigator isn’t ready to be used by you. It knows nothing about you and is designed to learn from what you enter into it.
Adding incorrect data will generate noise, waste time, lead to frustration, and necessitate the deletion of data. In one instance, a new client had to delete 7,500 saved leads!
Failing to add any data or useful data will result in missed opportunities and miscommunications.
To achieve the best results and avoid numerous problems and inefficiencies going forward, it is best to set up your Sales Navigator foundations correctly on day one.
This requires you to do the learning, the setup, and tailor it for your needs. If you do, you’ll win more clients on LinkedIn and generate a healthy ROI from Sales Navigator.
The Five Essential Steps to Set Up in Sales Navigator
1. Add Known Contacts
You should add all known contacts into Sales Navigator for the following reasons:
You can include or exclude them from receiving messages. You don’t want to treat a contact at a prospect account like a client.
If they’re not added, opportunities will be missed.
Adding them enables Sales Navigator to learn and improve at delivering you more relevant data based on the data you provide.
Known contacts to add include: existing clients, existing pipeline, past clients, and other known potentially useful contacts.
💡 As well as adding Leads, add the Accounts too, so these can be included or excluded from searches, and you’ll get insights on them when saved.
2. Create Your Master Search – Target Accounts and/or Leads
One of the major benefits of Sales Navigator that is not discussed enough is the amount of time it saves users.
One time-saving aspect we set up for our clients (and for consistency reasons) is to create a master search. This is a base-level search that includes the main filters to find your target audience, enabling you to use this search as the starting point for all your campaigns.
Filters may include: Current job title, Company headcount, Industries, Geography, and all other filters you use to find your best target prospects.
💡 As part of this process, you should invest a significant amount of time in doing a targeting exercise. There is no point filling the top of the funnel with people who may buy. We want to have the most likely group of people in our funnel.
3. Add Personas
Personas is a section that is important to set up because, once again, it helps Sales Navigator learn and improve at delivering you more relevant data, i.e. who your ideal customer profile is.
But it is also incredibly useful on Account pages, as you can filter directly on the page to find the people at that account who are the people at the company you want to build relationships with, rather than having to go into the search.
Some Sales Navigator ‘experts’ teach that you should use the Personas filter within the advanced search; however, from my experience and testing, I have found it is best to just use the other filters.
The reason for this is that Personas only have 4 filters (Function, Seniority level, Current job title, and Geography), so targeting is not as accurate as using many more filter options within the Advanced search, especially as Boolean search isn’t available in Personas.
Definitely set it up, but use it where appropriate.
💡 Boolean search lets you combine keywords and phrases using special operators (quotes, parentheses, NOT, AND, OR) to get highly targeted results. Instead of just using basic filters, you can craft complex queries that pinpoint exactly who you want to find.
4. Add Sales Intelligence
In addition to adding known contacts to Sales Navigator, also include the relevant insights and information you have about the targeted contacts in your network.
What marketing insights do you have about targeted contacts in your network?
Are there any particular segmental information you have about targeted contacts in your network that makes them more likely to buy from you?
💡 Every client is different and brings different insights and information. If it helps you to focus on the ‘best’ accounts and leads, get that data in Sales Navigator so you can use it.
5. Implement a Segmentation System
As part of your Sales Navigator set-up, you should organise all your data and insights into a robust structure that creates visibility, understanding, and facilitates flow. This structure should enable you to organise, run, update, and review the effectiveness of your campaigns.
For our clients, we implement our segmentation system so that they know who to prioritise when planning and running various lead generation and prospecting campaigns to prospects and other audiences.
This organised structure enables them to use their time as effectively as possible, focusing on the contacts most likely to convert at any given time.
💡 Client Feedback on the importance of a solid structure:
Captions are auto generatedPlay
Closing Thoughts
Most Sales Navigator users never progress beyond basic keyword searches and random saving because the onboarding process for Sales Navigator is poor.
However, those who invest their money or time in learning what a good set-up looks like, who load all their real-world data into Sales Navigator, and implement effective campaigns, will be the ones who win more clients and surpass their targets.
It’s simple. Invest up front, and your sales workflow and win rates will pay off every single day.
If you don’t, be prepared to face a lot of muddling along, or even quitting.
How to Set Up Sales Navigator to Win More Clients
How to Set Up Sales Navigator to Win More Clients
Sales Navigator promises a path to more leads and new business, but it does come with a considerable caveat. It needs to be set up with the right structure in place.
Let’s face it, the onboarding for Sales Navigator is non-existent. When you sign up and enter Sales Navigator, within the brief process they take you through, you only need to add one lead (which is what most do), click Next, and then you’re thrown into the lead search with that lead, the account, and a myriad of search filters. Then exit stage left, and it’s over to you!
The problem isn’t Sales Navigator or the tool’s functionality. The problem lies in the fact that new users are left to fend for themselves. To take a self-tour of the functionality of the tool and try to figure out the best way to use it.
In this article, I will guide you through the process we follow with our clients to set up Sales Navigator, to ensure they are organised and know where to focus their attention when executing lead generation and prospecting campaigns.
Firstly, let’s look at why you should invest time in the setup.
Why You Should Invest the Time in Setup
Out of the box, Sales Navigator isn’t ready to be used by you. It knows nothing about you and is designed to learn from what you enter into it.
Adding incorrect data will generate noise, waste time, lead to frustration, and necessitate the deletion of data. In one instance, a new client had to delete 7,500 saved leads!
Failing to add any data or useful data will result in missed opportunities and miscommunications.
To achieve the best results and avoid numerous problems and inefficiencies going forward, it is best to set up your Sales Navigator foundations correctly on day one.
This requires you to do the learning, the setup, and tailor it for your needs. If you do, you’ll win more clients on LinkedIn and generate a healthy ROI from Sales Navigator.
The Five Essential Steps to Set Up in Sales Navigator
1. Add Known Contacts
You should add all known contacts into Sales Navigator for the following reasons:
Known contacts to add include: existing clients, existing pipeline, past clients, and other known potentially useful contacts.
💡 As well as adding Leads, add the Accounts too, so these can be included or excluded from searches, and you’ll get insights on them when saved.
2. Create Your Master Search – Target Accounts and/or Leads
One of the major benefits of Sales Navigator that is not discussed enough is the amount of time it saves users.
One time-saving aspect we set up for our clients (and for consistency reasons) is to create a master search. This is a base-level search that includes the main filters to find your target audience, enabling you to use this search as the starting point for all your campaigns.
Filters may include: Current job title, Company headcount, Industries, Geography, and all other filters you use to find your best target prospects.
💡 As part of this process, you should invest a significant amount of time in doing a targeting exercise. There is no point filling the top of the funnel with people who may buy. We want to have the most likely group of people in our funnel.
3. Add Personas
Personas is a section that is important to set up because, once again, it helps Sales Navigator learn and improve at delivering you more relevant data, i.e. who your ideal customer profile is.
But it is also incredibly useful on Account pages, as you can filter directly on the page to find the people at that account who are the people at the company you want to build relationships with, rather than having to go into the search.
Some Sales Navigator ‘experts’ teach that you should use the Personas filter within the advanced search; however, from my experience and testing, I have found it is best to just use the other filters.
The reason for this is that Personas only have 4 filters (Function, Seniority level, Current job title, and Geography), so targeting is not as accurate as using many more filter options within the Advanced search, especially as Boolean search isn’t available in Personas.
Definitely set it up, but use it where appropriate.
💡 Boolean search lets you combine keywords and phrases using special operators (quotes, parentheses, NOT, AND, OR) to get highly targeted results. Instead of just using basic filters, you can craft complex queries that pinpoint exactly who you want to find.
4. Add Sales Intelligence
In addition to adding known contacts to Sales Navigator, also include the relevant insights and information you have about the targeted contacts in your network.
What marketing insights do you have about targeted contacts in your network?
Are there any particular segmental information you have about targeted contacts in your network that makes them more likely to buy from you?
💡 Every client is different and brings different insights and information. If it helps you to focus on the ‘best’ accounts and leads, get that data in Sales Navigator so you can use it.
5. Implement a Segmentation System
As part of your Sales Navigator set-up, you should organise all your data and insights into a robust structure that creates visibility, understanding, and facilitates flow. This structure should enable you to organise, run, update, and review the effectiveness of your campaigns.
For our clients, we implement our segmentation system so that they know who to prioritise when planning and running various lead generation and prospecting campaigns to prospects and other audiences.
This organised structure enables them to use their time as effectively as possible, focusing on the contacts most likely to convert at any given time.
💡 Client Feedback on the importance of a solid structure:
Captions are auto generatedPlay
Closing Thoughts
Most Sales Navigator users never progress beyond basic keyword searches and random saving because the onboarding process for Sales Navigator is poor.
However, those who invest their money or time in learning what a good set-up looks like, who load all their real-world data into Sales Navigator, and implement effective campaigns, will be the ones who win more clients and surpass their targets.
It’s simple. Invest up front, and your sales workflow and win rates will pay off every single day.
If you don’t, be prepared to face a lot of muddling along, or even quitting.
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