A Sales Navigator lead list is the fixed record of who you decided to contact; a saved search is not. Save each person once you have checked their role and company, put them in a list named for the campaign that will use it, and review the list on a schedule: unsave people who no longer fit, take anyone who replied out of the outreach list, and use the saved search only as the place new candidates come from.
A lead list and a saved search do different jobs
Saving a search keeps its filters and keywords, and new people who match appear in it over time. That makes it a good source of candidates and a poor record of who you approved, because its contents keep changing. A lead list holds only the people you saved, and it changes only when you add or unsave someone.
So use the two together: the search finds candidates, the list holds the ones you checked. Custom lead and account lists are a Sales Navigator feature; LinkedIn lists them for Core but not for Premium Business. If you still need to build the search, start with setting up Sales Navigator filters for a first campaign and the Sales Navigator search filters guide; this article starts where those end.
Save people into lists named for the outreach
Review each lead's name, role and company in the results before you save them, and open their Lead page when the result alone does not tell you whether they fit; LinkedIn's own guide recommends the same check. Saving a lead also saves the company they work at, and you can add saved leads to specific lists, or share a list with teammates. LinkedIn allows up to 10,000 saved leads in total, so the limit is rarely the problem; an unnamed pile of saved leads is.
Name each list for the outreach that will use it, so a list never mixes people who should hear different messages.
| List | Who belongs in it | Who does not |
|---|---|---|
| CS leaders, US SaaS 51–200, Q4 | Customer-success heads and directors you checked at software companies of that size | Consultants, people at existing customers, anyone already in a conversation |
| CS leaders, replied | People from the list above who answered, whatever they said | Anyone still waiting for a first message |
| Existing customers, expansion | New contacts at accounts you already sell to | Prospects at companies that are not customers |
Keep the list current
Saved leads are worth keeping current because Sales Navigator alerts you when a saved lead changes jobs or posts. Set a review before each new wave of outreach rather than when something goes wrong, and work through the list in this order:
- **Job changes.** Re-check anyone whose alert says they moved. A new role at a company that fits can be a reason to reach out; a move to the wrong role or company means they come off this list.
- **People who no longer fit.** Unsave them rather than leaving them in place with a mental note; the list is only useful if everything in it is approved.
- **Replies.** Move anyone who answered into a separate list, so the outreach list only holds people who are still waiting. A reply that declines contact means no further outreach.
- **Duplicates across lists.** Check that one person is not in two outreach lists that will message them twice, and check your own records for existing customers and open conversations; Sales Navigator does not know about all of them.
Use the list without letting it drift
Before a campaign starts, compare what you are about to send to against the list you approved, not against what the search shows today. If the search has picked up people you never reviewed, review them or leave them out.
In ZenMode, a campaign's audience can come from a Sales Navigator search URL, which ZenMode turns into LinkedIn profiles for outreach. Because that search keeps changing, run it and compare the results with your reviewed list before you start the campaign.
