LinkedIn has currently over 690 million users in more than 200 countries around the world.
Soon that number will undoubtedly be outdated. That’s because LinkedIn’s userbase continues to grow every day. When it comes to building professional relationships, LinkedIn is the linchpin.
LinkedIn is also a great network for discovering new leads, especially if you’re a B2B company. Of course, lead generation is never easy. Most salespeople need every bit of help they can get to get results.
For people who want that help, LinkedIn offers its premium Sales Navigator subscription. A product Forrester says has gone from “a promising product to table stakes in just a few years”. We’re going to discuss how the Sales Navigator works, how much it costs, and what are some of its standout features.
Let’s get right into it…
What is Sales Navigator and how does it work?
Originally introduced back in 2014, the Sales Navigator is a SaaS product that aims to help salespeople find new leads more easily and be more effective at their jobs. Essentially it’s a version of the Premium account that gives you better access to people you’re trying to reach through LinkedIn.
It provides better filters than the regular search option, which in turn allows you to find perfect leads for your business. Basically, it’s a service created for salespeople that want to get more connections, have a better understanding of their leads, and ultimately increase their lead lists.
The service is meant to be the cornerstone of every lead generation strategy.
How much does Sales Navigator cost?
The next question you probably have is how much money you need to pay to use this service? As with most SaaS products, Sales Navigator comes with a couple of different pricing plans. These plans include:
- Professional Subscription ($64.99/£49.99 monthly)
- Team Subscription ($103.33/£79 per seat monthly)
- Enterprise Subscription (Price not disclosed publically)
Although Sales Navigator will give you value for the money you invest, it’s not a standalone solution. The biggest shortcoming is the lack of InMail and email response. This omission is the reason why according to Jeff Molander so many sales reps have canceled their Navigator subscriptions in the past few years.
However, they shouldn’t have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Used in combination with the right tools, Sales Navigator will empower businesses to smash those sales targets.
Sales Navigator’s standout features
As it turns out, there’s an easy fix to the lack of communication tools. We’ll talk more about it later, for now, let’s focus on Navigator’s standout features. Here a few features that have attracted millions of lead-seeking salespeople.
1. Lead recommendations
This function allows users to discover proper leads with customized suggestions. It bases the recommendations on everything from sales preferences to profile interactions and is surprisingly accurate. If you’re looking for people within a certain organization, the option is really useful.
2. CRM integration
This feature isn’t available to Professional Subscription users, so you’ll need to invest some more money to use it. But it’s well worth your money, seeing how it allows the Navigator to seamlessly integrate with your workflow and daily sales.
3. Who’s viewed your profile
This is one of LinkedIn Premium’s most well-known features. It allows you to know how much a lead is interested in you and your company, by showing you every time they’ve looked at your profile.
4. LinkedIn Learning and Premium Career
This function is great for aspiring salespeople looking for a way to further their skills. By subscribing to Navigator, you also get access to LinkedIn Learning, the learning platform on the network. This platform allows you to pick up a few more skills, gain more knowledge, and become a better salesperson in the end.
5. TeamLink
Again, this feature is limited to the 2nd and 3rd pricing plans, but it’s worth it. The feature allows users to have a look at all of the connections made by members of their team. And that allows them to make good use of the entire sales team network and find better leads in the process as well as not reaching out to someone that their team member is already in touch with.
Our final verdict on LinkedIn Sales Navigator
When it’s all said and done, is the Sales Navigator worth your money? Yes, it is, but only if you have a tool like Beep2B that teaches you how to communicate with your potential customers. Both the Sales Navigator and LinkedIn Premium will buy you access and not much else unless you know how to make the most of them. When coupled with a tool like Beep2B, which allows you to stay in direct contact with your users, Sales Navigator can help you find targeted leads faster. With these two tools in your arsenal, you’ll be able to acquire a good number of leads, stay in contact with them, and slowly turn them into loyal customers.
