Prospecting

How to Use Boolean Search in Sales Navigator to Build Lead Lists

Write Boolean strings that work in LinkedIn Sales Navigator, combine them with filters, and save the search so new matching leads reach you every week.

By the end of this tutorial you will have a saved Sales Navigator lead search that uses Boolean logic and filters to find one clear buyer group. You will also know how LinkedIn says each operator behaves, so your strings return the people you expect.

What you need

A Sales Navigator seat.
A short description of your buyer: role, company size and region.
A plain text editor with smart quotes turned off, for drafting search strings.

Step 1: Know which fields accept Boolean

LinkedIn's help article on using Boolean search on Sales Navigator says Boolean works in three Sales Navigator fields: Company, title and keyword. Other filters, such as seniority level, function, company headcount and geography, are set separately.

Use the title field when the role is what matters most. The keyword field is broader. LinkedIn's own examples describe keyword matches as terms found in people's profiles, so expect more noise there.

Step 2: Learn the operators

Quotes match an exact phrase, such as "sales manager". Use them for multi-word titles.
AND returns results that include every term. It is optional, since two or more terms already return results that include all of them.
OR returns results that include one or more of the terms. It usually broadens results.
NOT goes right before a term to exclude it. It usually narrows results.
Parentheses group terms. LinkedIn's example is VP NOT (assistant OR SVP), which finds VPs but leaves out assistants to VPs and SVPs.

LinkedIn processes a search in this order: quotes, then parentheses, then NOT, then AND, then OR. Because OR comes last, wrap every OR list in parentheses when you mix it with AND or NOT.

LinkedIn documents two limits. The Boolean query limitations page says you can use a maximum of 15 Boolean operators in a single Sales Navigator query. The search results limit page says you can view up to 2,500 lead results across 100 pages, or 1,000 account results across 40 pages.

Step 3: Draft and test your title string

Write the string in your editor first. Start with the role words in an OR group, add a seniority group, then exclude the titles you do not want. In Sales Navigator, click Lead filters and paste the string into the Current job title filter.

Read the first page of results. If you see the wrong people, add a NOT term. If the results look thin, add synonyms to the OR group.

Step 4: Combine Boolean with filters

LinkedIn's filter definitions page lists these lead filters, among others:

Company headcount: the number of employees at the lead's company.
Geography: region, country, state or province, city, or postal code.
Seniority level: how senior the lead is.
Function: the lead's job function category.
Industry and Changed jobs (in the last 90 days), for narrowing by sector or recent job moves.

Use seniority and function as a check on your title string, not a replacement for it. The string catches the exact roles you want. The filters remove people whose titles match by accident. If a search returns more than 2,500 leads, split it into smaller searches, for example one per country or headcount range, so you can see every result.

Step 5: Save the search and turn on alerts

When the results look right, turn on the Save search to get notified of new results toggle near the top of the filters pane. LinkedIn's saved searches article says you will then get weekly emails about new matches, and alerts about new results also appear in the All alerts tab on the Sales Navigator homepage.

A saved search keeps your keyword strings and filters. You can rerun it, rename it, share it with colleagues or delete it. To change one, open it, edit the criteria and save the new search as a copy. You can save a total of 50 lead searches and 50 account searches.

Example searches

Each string below stays well under the 15-operator maximum. Paste the first three into the title field.

RevOps leaders

("revenue operations" OR RevOps OR "sales operations") AND (head OR director OR VP OR "vice president") NOT (assistant OR intern)

Pair it with a Company headcount range that matches your best customers.

Heads of demand generation

("demand generation" OR "demand gen" OR "growth marketing") AND (head OR director OR VP) NOT (coordinator OR associate OR intern)

Add a Geography filter for the regions you sell into.

Sales development managers

("sales development" OR "business development") AND (manager OR director OR head) NOT representative

The NOT term removes the reps themselves and keeps the people who lead them.

RevOps people at software companies (keyword field)

"revenue operations" AND (SaaS OR software) NOT (recruiter OR consultant)

Because the keyword field is broad, add a Seniority level filter to keep the list focused.

Common mistakes

Lowercase operators. LinkedIn says you must type AND, OR and NOT in uppercase letters. Type OR, not or.
Smart quotes. Sales Navigator only supports straight quotation marks. Curly quotes are not supported.
Using + and -. LinkedIn says these are not officially supported. Use AND and NOT instead.
Wildcards. LinkedIn does not support * searches. List each variant in an OR group instead, such as (manager OR management).
Missing parentheses. AND is processed before OR, so director AND marketing OR sales is read as (director AND marketing) OR sales. Write director AND (marketing OR sales).
Too many operators. Stay within LinkedIn's maximum of 15. Move seniority or location into filters.
Stop words in phrases. LinkedIn says stop words such as "by", "in" and "with" are not used. Build phrases from the words that carry meaning.