Do you need LinkedIn Sales Navigator to get leads for your consulting business?

“Do I need LinkedIn Sales Navigator to get leads for my consulting business?” 

You’ve probably landed on this blog because you’ve wondered this. You’re in the right place. 

For many consultants, having a premium LinkedIn account feels like a requirement to get leads on LinkedIn; however, in this blog post, I wanted to explain exactly why you don’t need it, and what to do instead. 

The reason is simple: tools don’t get you clients—conversations do. And the best place to start conversations is within your existing network. Starting those conversations does not require a premium subscription at all. 

Let’s dig in.

Why consultants believe that they need a paid LinkedIn plan 

There are two reasons why this myth is so prevalent. 

Reason #1) LinkedIn wants you to believe that you should pay them for their services. As a software tool, LinkedIn wants to make money from you (of course), rather than having you rely solely on their free plan. 

LinkedIn’s marketing will always tell you to buy the premium plan, but that doesn’t mean that you actually need it or that it will help you achieve your goals of booking more calls with prospects. 

Reason #2) Many lead generation experts teach you to rely on mass outreach techniques that require their clients to have premium accounts. In my program, Leads on LinkedIn, we don’t rely on impersonal mass outreach techniques. 

When you do mass outreach, you need to quickly find hundreds of prospects who are “new to you”. That’s because you can’t rely just on your own network to reach such high volumes of people, and you don’t want to burn through your existing network (and embarrass yourself in the process). 

If you choose to do mass outreach (even though that isn’t what I recommend), you, too, will need a premium plan. Instead of doing mass outreach, though, I recommend doing personalized outreach. Inside my program Leads on LinkedIn, my clients get incredible response rates and results using this personalized outreach strategy. More on that below. 

Waiting to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator slows you down from booking calls. 

I see this all the time with consultants.

You start thinking:

• “I need Sales Navigator before I can do this properly, so I’m going to wait until I can afford the $1,000+ subscription.”

• “I don’t have the right setup of Sales Navigator yet, so I’m going to watch some training videos to figure it out.”

So you wait.

And while you’re waiting, you’re not starting conversations, booking calls, or signing clients. 

Every month you wait to figure LinkedIn out, you’re losing out on bringing more clients into your business.

On top of that, you’re also uncertain - even fearful - of doing something wrong. You don’t want to message the wrong person (what if it’s your uncle or your best friend’s mom?), sound awkward, or get ignored.

So instead of taking action, you stay stuck in research mode.

But here’s what I’ve seen, over and over again…

You don’t need another tool. You need the right strategy. Now, you might be wondering what that strategy is? Let’s talk about that!  

The strategy I recommend so you get leads on LinkedIn does not require LinkedIn Sales Navigator. 

You can generate consistent leads on LinkedIn by sending 10 thoughtful messages per week, and posting twice a week, all without a paid LinkedIn plan. 

(In this blog post, I’m going to focus on direct messaging; however, you might also have questions about how to write engaging posts without wasting your time. You can find my answer to that question in this blog post).  

Naturally, you might be asking, “but what do I say when I message someone?” and “how do I actually get a response?”. 

A good LinkedIn direct message feels human (not like a bot), and builds trust and feels relationship-oriented (not like a pitch).  

Let’s say you are a nonprofit fundraising consultant, and someone commented on our post about an annual campaign strategy. You could message them and say: 

“Hi Sarah, I noticed you liked my post about the importance of engaging your board in your annual campaign. Is that something you do each year, or is it something you’re newly working on?״ 

Simple. Relevant. Easy to respond to.

Now compare that to a message like this: 

“Hi Sarah, I’m a nonprofit fundraising consultant who helps nonprofits raise more money. I offer coaching to teach fundraisers skills like board engagement and major gift strategy. Would you like to discuss whether my services are a fit on a call?״ 

That pitch feels abrupt and likely won’t get you a reply. Why is that? Because it feels copy and paste, and doesn’t build trust before mapping the leap and asking for a call. 

When you send strategic, relationship-oriented direct messages, you are often talking to people already in your network. You’re starting real conversations to understand if folks have needs you can solve, not going right for the pitch. And you’re building trust before asking for anything. 

These are the types of conversations that get replies, result in meaningful conversations, and most importantly, book calls. Doing direct messaging this way does not require an expensive paid LinkedIn plan. 

I’ve got proof that this relationship-focused approach works 

Before opening my business in 2023, I used the strategies myself to raise more than $1M and grow a national nonprofit from 1 to 130 chapters. 

Since opening my business in 2023, I’ve helped over 150 consultants do this using organic strategies—no paid tools required.

Here are a few client successes: 

• Lauren, a nonprofit brand designer, started booking weekly discovery calls while still inside the program

• Shana, a consultant for accountants, landed an $8,000 contract just two weeks after sending a message template from inside the program

• Abe, a sales consultant, booked 6 calls in 2 weeks after nailing his profile and re-focusing his content 

When I started off as a LinkedIn Coach, I thought I should use Sales Navigator, because “that’s what everyone does.” Within a few months, I realized that the idea was hogwash and quit paying for it. 

And more than a dozen of my clients have done the same (ditched Sales Navigator)—and never looked back (most of the rest never used it in the first place!). 

You might be wondering… but aren’t there benefits to getting the LinkedIn Sales Navigator features?

Yes—there are. Here are a few features that give you some benefits: 

• With certain plans, you can add a button below your name to book a call, join your email list, view your portfolio, etc. 

• You can send more notes with connection requests each month 

• You can send InMail messages to those you don’t know

If you’re doing high-volume outreach, those features, and especially InMails, make a difference. 

But for most consultants, they’re simply not necessary.

• The button alone isn’t worth $1,000+ per year

• You can grow your network without sending notes

• You can get replies from people already – or newly – in your network

So unless you’re running large-scale campaigns like an investment firm (which you don’t need because your goal is to book between 2-10 new clients a month), it’s not needed and a waste of money. 

Now that you know the truth (that LinkedIn doesn’t want you to hear!), here’s what I want you to focus on:

1. Commit to simple, consistent outreach

Start by sending 10 messages per week, and aim to never pitch in your first message. 

2. Focus on relationships you already have

Instead of always searching for new people, think about who you already know and start by reaching out to them. 

3. Learn the skill of direct messaging and get feedback. 

Most consultants have never learned how to properly direct message. That’s why I wanted to invite you to my program Leads on LinkedIn, where I’ll teach you the skill and provide you 1:1 coaching so your messages get better and consistently book calls. 

How to join my program Leads on LinkedIn

I want you to spend less time on LinkedIn while still getting strong results from the platform, all without relying on Sales Navigator. Here's how I can help you with that:

Step 1: When I start working with a small business owner, we always start with a Profile Optimization so that you clearly explain your credibility, who you serve, how you serve them, and what action the profile viewer should take.

This process takes about 3 weeks from start to finish, and provides you a profile that captures the attention of your ideal clients and gets them to take action.

Step 2: Once your profile is optimized, we then create your LinkedIn strategy so you can get visible to the right audience and attract more interest in your offerings through my coaching program. 

This program takes two months. We focus on two main skills - LinkedIn posting and direct messaging. These skills bring the right clients into your orbit so you can consistently grow your business without relying on time-consuming strategies like video and expensive strategies like ads and tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator. 

Within just a month, you'll have identified and contacted 30 prospects for your business. You'll have the skills and systems to do it again whenever you want an influx of leads. And, this rinse-and-repeat process gets more effective every time you do it!

Step 3: After, we create a habit of LinkedIn marketing through my coaching program so that you can count on ongoing leads for your business. We integrate LinkedIn with your other marketing strategies (e.g. email and in-person networking) to prevent duplicate work and create a marketing ecosystem that gets you leads and clients.

Learn more and get started here.

Frequently asked questions

Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator worth it? 

For most consultants, paying for LinkedIn Sales Navigator is simply not needed. That's because you just need to book a handful of high-quality calls each month, and doing so doesn't require reaching loads of new people. Sales Navigator is designed for high-volume outreach—not relationship-based conversations.

How much does LinkedIn Sales Navigator cost? Paid LinkedIn plans typically cost $1,000+ per year. That investment isn’t necessary to start generating leads, especially when you learn how to post on LinkedIn and send relationship-oriented direct messages, like I teach in my program Leads on LinkedIn.

What is LinkedIn Sales Navigator? 

It’s a paid LinkedIn tool built for sales teams to find, filter, and message large numbers of prospects—especially people outside their existing network. Many consultants think it is needed to get leads on LinkedIn, but it isn't needed when you follow a relationship-oriented strategy, like I teach in my program Leads on LinkedIn.

How does LinkedIn Sales Navigator differ from LinkedIn Premium? 

The difference comes down to who it’s built for and how you use it:

• Sales Navigator is designed for outbound sales teams who need to send a lot of messages. It includes:

  • Advanced search filters (job title, company size, seniority, etc.)

  • Lead lists and account tracking

  • More InMail credits

• LinkedIn Premium is designed for job seekers and those looking to build their personal brand. It includes:

  • Seeing who viewed your profile

  • Limited InMail messages

  • Some insights on companies and candidates

For most consultants, neither paid plan is necessary—because you don’t need complex prospecting tools to start conversations and book calls. I'll teach you how to do that in my program Leads on LinkedIn.

What is the best alternative to LinkedIn Sales Navigator? 

I suggest implementing a simple, consistent strategy: send 10 thoughtful messages per week to people already in (or close to) your network, and posting twice a week. This builds trust and leads—without paying for tools.  I'll teach you how to do that in my program Leads on LinkedIn.

What do you think about using LinkedIn ads? LinkedIn ads can work—but for most consultants, they’re not the right place to start and quite frankly a waste of money. I recommend first getting consistent leads through organic efforts (your profile, content, and direct messages). I'll teach you how to do that in my program Leads on LinkedIn.