The short answer
A LinkedIn prospecting tool helps you find and qualify buyers on LinkedIn. Sales Navigator is the core one, with advanced lead and account filters, saved lists and alerts. Data tools such as Apollo add contact details, and research tools help you understand each company before you message. Edithly suggests matching companies and researches their websites.
On this page
- LinkedIn Prospecting Tools by Job
- Sales Navigator Filters Worth Using
- Narrowing Thousands of Results to 20 Prospects
- Building a List Without Breaking LinkedIn's Rules
- Getting Contact Details for LinkedIn Prospects
- Research the Company Before the Message
- A Weekly LinkedIn Prospecting Routine
- Find matching companies and research them in three steps
- FAQ
Key takeaways
Filter on change, not title: Job changes, recent posts and headcount growth narrow a big list to people with a reason to talk now.
LinkedIn shows people, not context: A profile tells you who someone is. The company's website and news tell you what they need.
Contact data lives elsewhere: LinkedIn gives you profiles and InMail. Work emails and phone numbers come from separate data tools.
Research before you reach out: Five minutes on the company's site beats an hour of profile scrolling. It hands you the reason for your first message.
LinkedIn Prospecting Tools by Job
Prospecting on LinkedIn is three jobs: finding the people, getting their contact details, and understanding their company. Each tool below does one of them well.
| Job | Typical tool | What it gives you | What it doesn't |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search and filter | LinkedIn search, Sales Navigator | People and accounts matching your filters | Context on what the company needs |
| Track | Sales Navigator lists and alerts | Job changes, activity and account news | A reason to reach out today |
| Contact data | Apollo and similar databases | Work emails, phone numbers | Anything about fit or timing |
| Company research | The company's own site, news, research tools | Priorities, changes, their language | Contacts |
| Shortlisting | ICP-matching tools | Companies that fit, with reasons | The right person inside each one |
Most teams overinvest in the first row. Finding names is easy. Picking which twenty matter this week, and knowing what to say to each, is where meetings come from. For the rest of the outreach stack, see our LinkedIn outreach tool guide.
Sales Navigator Filters Worth Using
Sales Navigator's value is in its filters, and a few do most of the work. LinkedIn lists 50+ filters at the time of writing; names may shift as the product changes.
Lead filters:
- Seniority and function. Target the level and department that own your problem, instead of guessing from titles.
- Years in role or at company. People new in a role often review tools and processes early.
- Spotlights for recent activity. Filters for recent job changes and recent posts surface people who are active and in motion.
- TeamLink (higher plans). Shows prospects connected to your colleagues, the warmest route in.
Account filters:
- Company headcount and headcount growth. Growth is one of the clearest signs that a team is under strain.
- Department headcount and growth. A sales team that doubled is a different conversation from one that's flat.
- Industry and headquarters location. The basics, but set them first to keep the list focused.
Save the search, not just the list. A saved search with alerts surfaces new matches over time, so your list keeps refreshing without a rebuild. Pair it with the buying signals you care about most.
Narrowing Thousands of Results to 20 Prospects
A good search still returns far more people than you can contact well. Tier the results so your best research time goes to the accounts most likely to talk.
Here's an example for Northwind, a fictional seller of quoting software for freight brokers. The search: transportation and logistics companies, 50 to 500 employees, with directors and above in pricing or operations.
| Tier | What qualifies an account | What you do this week |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fits the ICP, headcount growing, and a new leader in the buying role | Research deeply, connect with a specific note, email in parallel |
| 2 | Fits the ICP and headcount is growing | Research briefly, connect with a note |
| 3 | Fits the ICP, nothing has changed | Save to a list with alerts on, wait for a trigger |
Tier 3 isn't a waste. Those accounts become tier 1 the day an alert fires on a job change or a hiring push.
Building a List Without Breaking LinkedIn's Rules
How you get prospects out of LinkedIn matters as much as how you find them. Scraping is the line not to cross.
- Scraping is prohibited. Section 8.2 of LinkedIn's User Agreement bans software, scripts or bots that scrape or copy the Services, including profiles.
- Extensions can count. LinkedIn's Help Center says it doesn't permit browser plug-ins or extensions that scrape or automate activity on its website.
- Use the sanctioned routes. Sales Navigator lists, CRM sync on plans that include it, and data providers' own databases.
Keep the list in your CRM. Whatever tool you use to find people, the account list should live in one place your team can see. Tag each account with the tier and the trigger you found, so the outreach that follows starts from the same facts.
Getting Contact Details for LinkedIn Prospects
LinkedIn is built for messaging on LinkedIn, so emails and phone numbers usually come from somewhere else.
- Connection contact info. First-degree connections may share an email in their contact info, depending on their settings.
- Contact databases. Tools such as Apollo pair a large contact database with a Chrome extension that shows details while you browse.
- Enrichment platforms. Clay pulls data from many providers into one table for teams that build workflows.
Verify before you send. Any database can be out of date. A bounced email to a prospect you researched for ten minutes is ten minutes wasted.
No email? Use LinkedIn itself. InMail, Open Profile messages and the connection note all reach people without an email address. Our LinkedIn cold message guide compares the routes.
Research the Company Before the Message
The profile tells you who to contact. The company tells you what to say. Here is a five-minute routine; the longer version is in how to research a prospect.
| Source | What to look for | How it shows up in your message |
|---|---|---|
| Newsroom or blog | Launches, expansions, partnerships | "Saw you launched online spot quotes." |
| Careers page | Roles they're hiring for | "Noticed you're hiring three pricing analysts." |
| Homepage and product pages | How they describe their customers | Use their words, not yours |
| The person's recent posts | What they care about this quarter | Reference their point, briefly |
| Their LinkedIn company page | Headcount changes, recent updates | A reason the problem is getting bigger |
One detail is enough. You're looking for a single recent, specific fact that connects to a problem you solve. That fact becomes the first line of your connection request message.
A Weekly LinkedIn Prospecting Routine
A routine beats a binge. This one takes about an hour a day and keeps your list fresh. For the content and inbound side, see our LinkedIn lead generation routine.
- Monday: refresh the list. Check saved-search alerts and add 20 to 30 new accounts that fit your ideal customer profile.
- Tuesday: research. Five minutes per account to find the one detail that matters.
- Wednesday: connect. Send notes built on that detail, in a short manual block.
- Thursday: message and follow up. First messages to new connections, follow-ups to last week's.
- Friday: clean up. Log replies in your CRM and withdraw stale invitations.
Shortlist and research faster. Edithly's prospect research suggests real companies that match your ICP, each with why it fits, a signal and a source, then researches any company you choose and writes the outreach. It finds companies, not contacts, so you still pick the right person on LinkedIn.
How Edithly does it
Find matching companies and research them in three steps
Edithly suggests real companies that match your ICP, each with why it fits, a signal and a source, then researches any company you pick and writes the outreach. It finds companies, not contacts, so use LinkedIn or a data tool to find the right person.
- 1
Click Generate all in Strategy
In your playbook's Strategy tab, click Generate all. Edithly builds your TAM, potential ICP, markets and outreach angles from your website.
- 2
Find prospects in Suggested Prospects
Open Suggested Prospects, choose how many (3, 5, 8 or 10), add an optional focus and click Find prospects. Each company shows why it fits, a signal and a source.
- 3
Click Use in Generate
Send the companies you want into Generate and create the outreach or collateral. Then look up the right person on LinkedIn or in your data tool.
How many
Ready
- Why they fit
- Signal
- Visit site
- Source
- Use in Generate
- By hand
- 30 to 60 minutes to shortlist and research a handful of accounts
- With Edithly
- A few minutes for a sourced shortlist
Frequently asked questions
What is the best LinkedIn prospecting tool?
For searching LinkedIn itself, Sales Navigator is the standard: advanced lead and account filters, saved lists, alerts on job changes and 50 InMail credits a month. Pair it with a contact data tool for emails and phone numbers, and a research step for each company. No single tool covers finding, contact data and research equally well.
Is Sales Navigator worth it for prospecting?
If LinkedIn is a main channel for you, usually yes. Free LinkedIn search lacks Sales Navigator filters like seniority, function and years at a company, as well as its lead lists and alerts. Sales Navigator adds those plus InMail credits and AI lead and account insights. If you prospect a short list of named accounts, free search may be enough.
Is it allowed to scrape LinkedIn for leads?
No. Section 8.2 of LinkedIn's User Agreement prohibits using software, scripts or bots to scrape or copy the Services, including profiles. Its Help Center says accounts using scraping tools can be restricted or shut down. Use Sales Navigator lists, CRM sync on plans that include it, and data providers' own databases instead.
How do I research a prospect before messaging on LinkedIn?
Start with the company, not the person. Check the company's newsroom, careers page and how its homepage describes its customers, then skim the person's last few posts. Stop when you find one recent, specific detail that connects to a problem you solve. That detail becomes the first line of your note.
Does Edithly find prospects on LinkedIn?
No. Edithly doesn't search or scrape LinkedIn, and it doesn't provide contact details. Its Suggested Prospects feature returns real companies that match your ICP, found through web search, each with why it fits, a signal and a source. You then find the right person on LinkedIn or in a data tool, and Edithly researches the company and writes the outreach.