LinkedIn Sales Navigator & ICP Framework Guide
Sales Navigator Advanced Search
Lead Filters
| Filter |
Description |
Plan Required |
| Keywords |
Searches across profile text |
Core |
| First/Last Name |
Direct name search |
Core |
| Title (Boolean) |
Current job title with boolean operators |
Core |
| Company |
Current employer |
Core |
| Company Headcount |
Employee range (1-10 to 10,001+) |
Core |
| Seniority Level |
CXO, VP, Director, Manager, etc. |
Core |
| Function |
Sales, Marketing, Engineering, etc. |
Core |
| Geography |
Region, country, city, metro area |
Core |
| Industry |
413 industry options |
Core |
| Years in Current Position |
Less than 1, 1-2, 3-5, etc. |
Core |
| Years at Current Company |
Same ranges |
Core |
| Changed Jobs |
Past 90 days |
Core |
| Posted on LinkedIn |
Past 30 days |
Core |
| Company Revenue |
Revenue ranges |
Advanced+ |
| Technologies Used |
35,000+ technologies |
Advanced+ |
| Buyer Intent |
LinkedIn intent signals |
Advanced+ |
| Company Headcount Growth |
Growth percentage ranges |
Advanced+ |
Account Filters
| Filter |
Description |
| Company Headcount |
Employee range |
| Revenue |
Annual revenue range |
| Industry |
Industry vertical |
| HQ Location |
Headquarters location |
| Technologies Used |
Tech stack (35K+ options) |
| Headcount Growth |
Company growth signals |
| Job Opportunities |
Companies actively hiring |
| Recent Activities |
Company posts, news |
Boolean Search
Operators
| Operator |
Syntax |
Example |
What It Does |
| AND |
AND |
VP AND Marketing |
Both terms must match |
| OR |
OR |
CEO OR "Chief Executive" |
Either term matches |
| NOT |
NOT |
VP NOT assistant |
Excludes term |
| Quotes |
"exact phrase" |
"Vice President" |
Exact phrase match |
| Parentheses |
(group) |
(CEO OR CTO) AND SaaS |
Group operations |
Limitations:
- Boolean works in Title, Company, and Keywords fields
- Does NOT work in Industry, Geography, or dropdown filters
- No wildcard (
*) support (unlike Recruiter)
- Max ~1,000 characters per boolean string
- Nested parentheses work 2-3 levels deep
Boolean Formulas by ICP
SaaS Decision Makers
Title: (VP OR "Vice President" OR Director OR Head OR Chief) AND (Marketing OR "Demand Gen" OR "Growth" OR "Digital")
Company Keywords: (SaaS OR "B2B software" OR "cloud-based" OR "subscription")
Seniority: VP, Director, CXO
Industry: Computer Software, Internet, IT & Services
Headcount: 51-500
C-Suite Targeting
Title: (CEO OR "Chief Executive Officer" OR Founder OR "Co-Founder" OR "Managing Director" OR President OR Owner)
NOT: (assistant OR intern OR student OR "job seeking")
VP of Sales at Mid-Market Tech
Title: ("VP Sales" OR "Vice President Sales" OR "VP of Sales" OR "Head of Sales" OR CRO OR "SVP Sales")
Industry: Computer Software, Internet, SaaS
Headcount: 201-1000
HR / People Decision Makers
Title: (CHRO OR "Chief People Officer" OR "VP HR" OR "Head of People" OR "Head of HR" OR "Director of Talent")
NOT: (recruiter OR coordinator OR assistant OR intern OR generalist)
IT Decision Makers
Title: (CTO OR CIO OR CISO OR "VP Engineering" OR "VP IT" OR "Head of Engineering" OR "Director of IT")
NOT: (intern OR junior OR associate OR student)
Startup Founders (Seed to Series B)
Title: (Founder OR "Co-Founder" OR CEO OR "Chief Executive")
Company keywords: (seed OR "series A" OR "series B" OR startup OR "early stage")
Headcount: 1-200
Changed jobs in past 90 days: Yes
Multi-Role Targeting (Buying Committee)
Search 1 (Economic Buyer): CEO OR CFO OR "VP Finance"
Search 2 (Champion): "Head of Marketing" OR "Marketing Director" OR "VP Marketing"
Search 3 (User): "Marketing Manager" OR "Digital Marketing" OR "Demand Gen Manager"
Search 4 (Blocker): "General Counsel" OR "Head of Legal" OR "Compliance"
Exclude False Positives
Title: (Director OR VP OR Head) AND Marketing NOT ("Account Director" OR "Art Director" OR "Creative Director" OR assistant OR associate)
ICP Framework
Firmographic Criteria (Company-Level)
| Criterion |
Description |
Sales Nav Filter |
| Industry |
Primary vertical |
Industry filter |
| Company size |
Employee count |
Headcount filter |
| Revenue |
Annual revenue |
Revenue (Advanced+) |
| Geography |
HQ location |
HQ location |
| Growth rate |
Headcount growth % |
Growth filter |
| Funding stage |
Seed to IPO |
Keywords + external |
Technographic Criteria
| Criterion |
Source |
| Tech stack |
Sales Nav Tech filter (35K+), BuiltWith, Wappalyzer |
| CRM |
Sales Nav Tech filter |
| Marketing automation |
Sales Nav Tech filter |
| Competitive tools |
Sales Nav Tech filter + intent data |
Behavioral/Intent Criteria
| Signal |
Source |
| Job postings |
Sales Nav "Job Opportunities" filter |
| Funding events |
Crunchbase, Sales Nav alerts |
| Leadership changes |
Sales Nav "Changed jobs" filter |
| Content engagement |
Sales Nav Buyer Intent, Bombora |
| Web visits |
6sense, Clearbit Reveal, Leadfeeder |
ICP Scoring (Tier System)
Tier A (90-100 pts) — "Perfect Fit"
- ALL firmographic match, complementary tech, active intent, has budget
- Action: Maximum resources, multi-threaded outreach, ABM campaigns
Tier B (70-89 pts) — "Strong Fit"
- Most firmographic match, partial tech match, some intent
- Action: Targeted outreach, personalized sequences
Tier C (50-69 pts) — "Moderate Fit"
- Some firmographic match, limited tech data, no clear intent
- Action: Automated nurture, content marketing
Tier D (<50 pts) — "Poor Fit"
- Significant mismatches
- Action: Exclude from outreach, inbound-only
Scoring Matrix
| Criterion |
Weight |
Scoring |
| Industry match |
20 pts |
Exact = 20, Adjacent = 10, None = 0 |
| Company size |
15 pts |
Sweet spot = 15, Adjacent = 8, Outside = 0 |
| Revenue range |
15 pts |
Sweet spot = 15, Adjacent = 8, Unknown = 0 |
| Geography |
10 pts |
Primary = 10, Secondary = 5, Other = 0 |
| Technology fit |
15 pts |
Complement = 15, Neutral = 8, Competitor = 5 |
| Growth signals |
10 pts |
High = 10, Moderate = 5, Stagnant = 0 |
| Intent signals |
15 pts |
Strong = 15, Some = 8, None = 0 |
| Total |
100 pts |
|
List Building Best Practices
Bypassing the 2,500 Result Limit
Sales Navigator shows max 2,500 results per search. Bypass strategies:
- Geographic Segmentation — Split by state/city
- Industry Segmentation — Same title across different industries
- Company Size — Break 51-500 into 51-200 and 201-500
- Seniority Stacking — Separate searches per role level
- First Name Split — Filter A-F, G-L, M-R, S-Z
- Time Filters — "Changed jobs in 90 days", "Years in position"
List Segmentation
- By buying stage: Cold, Warm, Hot
- By persona: One list per buyer persona
- By intent level: High/Medium/Low
- By timezone: For cadence timing
- Keep lists under 1,000 for personalization
- Naming:
[Tier]-[Persona]-[Vertical]-[Geo]-[Date]
Export & Scraping Tools
Tool Comparison
| Tool |
Type |
Price |
Risk Level |
Best For |
| Evaboot |
Chrome extension |
$29-99/mo |
Medium |
Clean, verified data |
| PhantomBuster |
Cloud automation |
$69-439/mo |
Higher |
Multi-step workflows |
| Captain Data |
Cloud extraction |
$399/mo |
Medium-High |
Agencies, repeatable flows |
| Clay |
Enrichment platform |
$149-800/mo |
Low |
Waterfall enrichment |
| Apollo.io |
Sales intelligence |
Free-$119/mo |
Low |
Own database, not scraping |
| Linked Helper |
Desktop app |
$15-45/mo |
Medium |
Budget automation |
Recommended Workflow
1. BUILD LIST in Sales Navigator
- Advanced filters + boolean
- Segment to stay under 2,500 per search
- Save to organized lists
2. EXPORT with Evaboot (or CRM sync)
- Extract: Name, Title, Company, LinkedIn URL, Location
- Auto-clean titles, filter false positives
3. ENRICH with Clay or Apollo
- Waterfall email finding (multiple providers)
- Phone number enrichment
- Company data (revenue, tech stack)
4. VERIFY with ZeroBounce or NeverBounce
- Run all emails through verification
- Remove invalid, flag catch-all
- Target: 95%+ valid rate
5. SEGMENT for outreach
- Tier A/B/C based on ICP score
- Personalization variables from enrichment
- Route to appropriate cadence
6. MAINTAIN
- Re-verify before each campaign
- Quarterly full refresh
- Monitor bounce rates in real-time
ABM List Building
Target Account List
- Tier 1 (1:1 ABM): 10-50 accounts, fully custom
- Tier 2 (1:Few): 50-200 accounts, segment-based
- Tier 3 (1:Many): 200-1,000 accounts, programmatic
Contact Mapping Per Account
| Role |
Typical Title |
Purpose |
| Economic Buyer |
CEO, CFO, VP |
Final budget approval |
| Champion |
Director, Head of |
Internal advocate |
| Technical Evaluator |
Manager, Architect |
Evaluates technical fit |
| End User |
Analyst, Specialist |
Daily user |
| Blocker |
Legal, Compliance |
Can slow/stop deal |
| Coach |
Any level |
Provides inside info |
Intent Data Layering
First-party: Website visits, content downloads, webinar attendance, pricing page views
Second-party: G2 Buyer Intent, TrustRadius, Capterra
Third-party: Bombora, 6sense, ZoomInfo Intent, TechTarget
LinkedIn-native: Buyer Intent signals, ad engagement, page followers
Lookalike Building
- Export top 10-20 customers (by revenue, LTV, NPS)
- Analyze common attributes (industry, size, geography, tech stack)
- Build lookalike search in Sales Navigator
- Use "Similar Companies" feature on company pages
- External tools: Ocean.io, Clearbit, Apollo.io, Clay