Sociowizard
Quick answer
To find decision makers in LinkedIn Sales Navigator, define your ideal client first, then use the seniority, function, industry, company headcount, and geography lead filters. Add a Boolean job title search, save the best prospects into lead lists, and turn on saved search alerts so new matches come to you every week.
If you sell to businesses, your next clients are on LinkedIn. The hard part is finding the ones who can say yes. LinkedIn Sales Navigator makes this much easier, but only if you use it the right way.
In this guide, you will learn how we use Sales Navigator at Sociowizard to find decision makers for our clients, step by step.
Why Sales Navigator beats normal LinkedIn search
Normal LinkedIn search is fine for finding one person by name. But when you need a list of the right buyers, it falls short fast. You get limited filters, a cap on how many profiles you can view, and results full of people who can't buy from you.
Sales Navigator fixes this. It gives you detailed lead and account filters, saved lists, alerts when your prospects change jobs or post, and a much bigger search. For B2B outreach, it is the difference between guessing and targeting.
Step 1: Define who your decision maker is
Before you touch a single filter, write down who actually buys your service. Most founders skip this step, and it is the reason their outreach gets few replies.
Answer these four questions:
- Which industry do your best clients work in?
- What company size are they? A 10 person agency buys very differently from a 2,000 person company.
- Which job title signs off on your service? For marketing services this is often the founder, CEO, or Head of Marketing.
- Which countries do you want to target?
Tip: look at your last 5 paying clients. Their industry, size, and job title are your best starting point.
Step 2: Use the right lead filters
Open Sales Navigator, click Lead filters, and use these filters first. They do most of the work.
| Filter | What to choose |
|---|---|
| Seniority level | Owner / Partner, CXO, Vice President, Director. This removes junior staff. |
| Function | The department that buys from you, such as Marketing, Sales, or Business Development. |
| Geography | The countries or cities you serve. |
| Industry | Your best client industries from Step 1. |
| Company headcount | The company sizes that can afford your service. |
Two more filters are very useful for outreach:
- Changed jobs in past 90 days: new leaders often want to make changes and bring in new partners.
- Posted on LinkedIn in past 30 days: these people are active, so they are far more likely to see and reply to your message.
Step 3: Use Boolean search for job titles
Job titles are messy. One company says "CEO", another says "Founder", another says "Managing Director". Boolean search lets you catch all of them in one search.
Type this into the Current job title filter:
("Founder" OR "Co-Founder" OR "CEO" OR "Managing Director") NOT ("Assistant" OR "Intern")
The simple rules:
- OR means any of these words
- AND means all of these words
- NOT removes a word
- Put titles with two or more words inside quotes
Want us to do this for you?We run Sales Navigator prospecting and outreach for B2B founders, from list building to booked meetings.
See the serviceStep 4: Search by company first (for bigger deals)
If you sell to larger companies, start with Account filters instead. Filter companies by industry, headcount, location, and headcount growth. Save the best companies to an account list.
Then open each account and use Decision makers or the lead filters to find the right people inside it. This way you build a list of the right people at the right companies, not just random titles.
Step 5: Save leads into lists
When you find a good prospect, click Save and add them to a lead list. Create one list per campaign, for example "UK Agency Founders" or "US SaaS Marketing Heads".
Lists keep your outreach organized. You can see who you contacted, follow their activity, and get updates in your Sales Navigator homepage feed.
Step 6: Turn on saved search alerts
Once your filters give good results, click Save search. Sales Navigator will then alert you when new people match your filters. That means fresh, relevant leads come to you every week without starting from zero.
Step 7: Reach out the right way
Finding decision makers is only half the job. How you message them decides whether you get replies. A few rules that work:
- Keep connection requests short. One or two lines, about them, not your offer.
- Don't pitch in the first message. Start a conversation first.
- Personalize. Mention a recent post, their company, or something you have in common.
- Follow up. Many replies come after the second or third message.
- Stay within safe limits. Send a steady number of requests each day instead of hundreds at once.
Here is a simple connection request you can adapt:
"Hi Sarah, I saw your post about growing your agency team. I work with agency founders on LinkedIn growth, so I'd love to connect and follow your updates."
Common mistakes to avoid
- Filters that are too wide. 200,000 results means your targeting is too loose. Aim for a focused list.
- Filters that are too narrow. 30 results is too few to run a real campaign.
- Ignoring activity. Inactive profiles rarely reply.
- Copy and paste messages. Prospects can tell, and your reply rate drops.
- No follow up. One message is not a campaign.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to find decision makers on LinkedIn?
Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator with the seniority level, function, industry, company headcount, and geography filters, then use Boolean search in the job title filter to catch every version of a title like Founder, CEO, or Managing Director.
Which Sales Navigator filters should I use for B2B prospecting?
Start with seniority level, function, geography, industry, and company headcount. Then add changed jobs in the past 90 days and posted on LinkedIn in the past 30 days to find people who are more likely to reply.
How do I write a Boolean search in Sales Navigator?
Use OR for any of several words, AND for all words, and NOT to remove words. Put multi word titles in quotes, for example ("Founder" OR "CEO") NOT ("Assistant").
Done well, Sales Navigator gives you a steady flow of the right prospects every week. If you would rather focus on closing deals, our team can run the whole process for you. See our LinkedIn lead generation service.