How to Find High-Intent B2B Leads on LinkedIn in 2 Minutes
Most outbound campaigns fail before the first email is written — not because the copy is weak, but because the targeting is wrong. Here’s the exact Sales Navigator process high-performing teams use to surface 50+ warm leads per week.
Konnektys TeamMay 22, 2026 · 7 min read
Most outbound campaigns fail before the first email is written — not because the copy is weak, but because the targeting is wrong. This guide covers the exact LinkedIn Sales Navigator process we use at Konnektys to surface 50+ warm leads per week, usually in under two minutes once the setup is done.
What “High-Intent” Actually Means
High-intent isn’t a personality type. It’s a moment. A prospect is high-intent when something has changed — their job, their team structure, their growth trajectory, their budget. That change creates pressure, and pressure creates openness to new solutions.
The implication: targeting based on static firmographics misses the majority of your qualified market at any given time, because most of them aren’t in a buying window yet. The ones who are showing signals are the ones worth reaching today.
The fix isn’t better subject lines. It’s finding prospects who are already in motion. Timing is the variable that separates campaigns that convert from campaigns that get ignored.
When someone takes a new leadership role, they’re typically under pressure to show results fast. They’re evaluating new tools, questioning what the previous team had in place, and in many cases have discretionary budget to spend before the next planning cycle.
A company hiring multiple SDRs or a VP of Sales is actively building outbound capacity. This is one of the most reliable single signals of a company that needs outreach infrastructure — and it’s available publicly on job boards and LinkedIn, updated in near-real time.
A funding round creates budget pressure to deploy capital and show growth. Companies that have just raised are in an active evaluation window for tools, services, and infrastructure that accelerates revenue.
Prospects who post regularly are more reachable and hand you specific first-line material. A cold email referencing something they actually wrote outperforms one opening with a generic value proposition — every time.
Step 1 — Build a Saved Persona: Stop Rebuilding Searches
Most salespeople rebuild the same search every time they sit down to prospect. That wastes 20+ minutes per session. Instead, build saved personas for the two or three buyer profiles you target most often, and reuse them indefinitely.
The uncomfortable reality: Every SDR team uses the same databases, targets the same company profiles, and sends the same volume of cold emails. Generic targeting produces generic results — and buyers have learned to ignore it. Saved personas are the first step toward differentiated prospecting.
Example saved persona for an outbound agency
- Seniority: Director, VP, CXO
- Function: Sales or Business Development
- Industry: SaaS or B2B Services
- Company headcount: 11–200
Step 2 — Dial In Your ICP Using Lead Filters
Open Lead Filters in Sales Navigator and get specific. The more precisely you define your ICP here, the less work your email has to do. This level of specificity is what separates a message that feels relevant from one that gets deleted.
Filters worth prioritising: company headcount (defines buying complexity and budget tier), geography (keeps messaging regionally relevant), seniority level and function (reaches decision-makers, not influencers), years in current role (under 18 months often means they’re still making changes), technologies used (shows what stack they’re running), and hiring trends (active hiring into specific functions signals intent).
Step 3 — Turn On “Changed Jobs”
The Changed Jobs filter is the single highest-ROI toggle in Sales Navigator. When someone takes a new leadership role, they’re typically under pressure to show results fast. They’re evaluating new tools, questioning what the previous team had in place, and in many cases have discretionary budget to spend before the next planning cycle.
The 90-day window: Research consistently shows that new executives make a disproportionate share of vendor decisions within their first 90 days. Reaching them in that window isn’t just good targeting — it’s often the difference between a reply and a wall.
Step 4 — Add “Posted on LinkedIn” to Surface Active Prospects
The Posted on LinkedIn filter does two things simultaneously: it narrows your list to people who are actually active, and it hands you free personalisation material. Before sending outreach to anyone who posts, spend 60 seconds reading their last two or three posts — hiring announcements, growth goals, product updates, market takes — all become specific first lines.
Not marginally — substantially. A cold email that opens with a reference to something a prospect actually wrote always outperforms one that opens with a generic value proposition. The filter makes that possible at scale.
Step 5 — Don’t Overlook Warm Connections
Sales Navigator lets you filter by first-degree connections, mutual connections, and past colleagues. These are consistently some of the highest-converting lead sources available — and most SDRs skip them entirely in favour of cold lists.
An existing connection lowers friction dramatically. Either reach out directly referencing the prior relationship, or ask a mutual contact for a warm intro.
Shared history eliminates the cold outreach dynamic. A short DM referencing your past overlap will almost always get a response.
A mutual connection gives you social proof before you’ve said a word. Open with it instead of the usual generic value statement.
Step 6 — Save the Search and Let the Pipeline Refresh Automatically
Once your filters are set, hit Save Search. Sales Navigator will now notify you whenever new prospects match your criteria — new job changes, new companies entering your ICP range, new hires at target accounts. Your prospecting list refreshes automatically in the background.
The compounding advantage: Set it up properly once, and you spend 10–15 minutes a week reviewing fresh, pre-qualified leads instead of rebuilding searches from scratch. This is what converts a one-time sprint into a consistent pipeline habit.
There’s a persistent belief that outbound success comes from sending more — more emails, more follow-ups, more volume. More often, the real constraint is timing. Reaching someone the week they start a new role, or the day they post about a pipeline problem, gets you a reply. You don’t need 10,000 contacts. You need the right 100, at the right moment.
Konnektys builds and operates outbound revenue engines for B2B companies. We handle ICP definition, LinkedIn prospecting, AI-powered lead research, email infrastructure, and fully managed campaigns. We should talk.
Konnektys Team
B2B Growth & Outbound Specialists
Konnektys builds and operates outbound revenue engines for B2B companies — from ICP definition and LinkedIn prospecting to AI-powered lead research, email infrastructure, and fully managed outbound campaigns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a high-intent lead in B2B sales?
A high-intent lead is a prospect showing active buying signals — a recent job change, new funding, a surge in hiring, or public engagement around a problem your product solves. Intent signals indicate the prospect is already in a decision-making window, which makes outreach significantly more likely to get a response.
Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator worth it for B2B outbound?
For most B2B companies selling to 10–500 person companies, yes. Sales Navigator combines professional identity data with real-time intent signals — job changes, hiring activity, engagement — that static databases can’t match. The saved search feature alone pays for itself if your team prospects regularly.
How many leads should I target per week?
Most outbound teams see better results from 50–100 tightly targeted prospects per week than from 1,000 generic contacts. Conversion rates, meeting rates, and reply rates all move in the right direction when you narrow targeting properly. Quality over quantity applies here literally.
Why do job changes predict buying intent?
New leaders enter roles with pressure to deliver results quickly and often have discretionary budget available early. They’re evaluating what the previous team put in place, which makes them more open to new vendors and approaches — especially in the first 60–90 days.
Can I use Sales Navigator filters to find warm leads only?
Yes. Sales Navigator’s connection filters let you isolate first-degree connections, mutual connections, and past colleagues. These leads convert at higher rates than cold contacts because existing trust reduces the friction in the first conversation.
Does Konnektys offer LinkedIn lead generation services?
Yes. Konnektys provides LinkedIn prospecting, high-intent lead research, cold email infrastructure, and end-to-end outbound campaign management for B2B companies. Learn more at konnektys.com/services.
Need a consistent pipeline of high-intent leads from LinkedIn? We’ll build and manage the entire system for you.
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