Prospecting With Sales Navigator Vs. Convex: A Guide for Commercial Services Sales Teams

Introduction

The Evolution of Sales Prospecting: From Quantity to Quality

For years, sales prospecting was all about taking as many “shots on goal” as possible. The thinking was simple: the team that made the most calls, sent the most emails, and talked to the most people would come out on top.

Sales reps were driven by a sense of scarcity, viewing every prospect as a potential sale to snag before someone else did. It was all about the numbers—more leads meant more deals closed. So, they spent hours “dialing for dollars,” firing off emails, and attending networking events, all in pursuit of that one magical lead to hit their quota.

My, how the world has changed.

But as the sales landscape evolved, our understanding of what truly drives success changed, too. With the rise of modern sales prospecting tools, we really shifted how we approached the sales cycle. Suddenly, we had access to a ton of contact information, buying signals, and intent data that helped us focus our efforts better.

Modern “spam” filters and call-blocking technology allowed incessant sales efforts to be screened or even sent straight to the trash.

Now, it’s not about firing off messages all day; it’s about taking the right shots at the right time with the right message.

As sales teams advanced, reps started focusing on quality over quantity. They began using data and insights to identify the best leads and tailor their approach to what those leads really needed. Sales intelligence platforms provide valuable insights and data to help identify the best leads and personalize outreach efforts. But even with all these improvements, many sales teams still struggle with prospecting. That’s where the right tools come in—tools that can help simplify workflows, prioritize leads, and create personalized messages that truly connect.

The two platforms we’re going to talk about today approach prospecting in very different ways.

In this article, we’ll explore sales prospecting and discuss how it has evolved from old-school, quantity-focused methods to today’s data-driven strategies. We’ll also compare LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator Platform and Convex’s Sales & Property Intelligence Software to see which one is a better match for commercial services sales teams.

Understanding Prospecting Tools

Before comparing LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Convex, let’s first understand what makes a good prospecting tool.

A good prospecting tool should have the following features:

• Accuracy: The contact data provided by the tool should be accurate and up-to-date.
• Ease of use: The tool should be user-friendly and easy to navigate.
• Efficiency: The tool should help save time and effort by automating certain tasks.
• Insights & analytics: The tool should provide valuable insights and data to help identify the best leads and personalize outreach efforts.
• Integration capabilities: The tool should be able to integrate with other sales tools for a seamless workflow.

When evaluating the best sales intelligence software, it’s crucial to consider these features to ensure you select the most suitable tool for your business needs. The best sales intelligence tools can significantly enhance your business success by providing critical insights into potential prospects and optimizing sales strategies.

A prospecting platform’s primary goal is to offer the shortest path between your sales team and qualified leads who are ready to buy. That’s why it’s important to carefully evaluate and compare different tools before making a decision.

Sales intelligence solutions can enhance lead generation and sales processes by providing insights that help identify high-quality leads and optimize sales strategies.

Before we compare the two, let’s do a quick overview of each solution:

LinkedIn Sales Navigator: The Social Network of Prospecting

LinkedIn Sales Navigator has been around since 2014, making it a pioneer in modern prospecting. It’s built specifically to help sales professionals identify, target, and engage with potential customers on LinkedIn.

The integration of Sales Navigator with various CRM platforms enhances day-to-day operations by allowing users to access profile details seamlessly and shared connections directly within their CRM system.

The Power of Social Selling

Social selling is about building relationships through social media channels like LinkedIn. Instead of interrupting someone’s day with a cold call or email, you can share helpful content, interact with their posts, and send personalized messages that build trust over time.

LinkedIn is a gold mine for sales professionals, with over 760 million members worldwide (as of January 2021). It’s where they can find potential customers, learn more about them, and start building relationships. Sales and marketing teams can use social selling tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to personalize their outreach and improve conversion rates.

Features and Benefits of LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Sales Navigator has robust features that help commercial services sales teams work smarter and achieve better results. Some of the key ones include:

• Advanced search filters: Sales Navigator’s advanced search filters allow users to easily find potential customers based on specific criteria such as job title, industry, location, company size, etc.
• Lead recommendations: Based on your saved leads and preferences, Sales Navigator provides personalized lead recommendations to help you discover new prospects that match your ideal customer profile.
• InMail messages: This feature allows you to send direct messages to prospects on LinkedIn, even if you’re not connected. It’s a great way to reach out and start building relationships.
• Real-time alerts: Sales Navigator sends real-time alerts when someone in your network changes jobs, gets promoted, posts an update, or engages with your content. This helps you stay updated and take action at the right time.
• Team collaboration: Sales Navigator offers team plans that allow teams to share leads, notes, and insights, making it easier for them to work together towards a common goal.
• Sales Navigator mobile app: The Sales Navigator mobile app enables users to manage their sales activities on the go, access real-time updates, discover new accounts, and prepare for meetings, making it an essential tool for sales professionals who need to stay connected and informed from anywhere.

Convex: Data-Driven Intelligence for Commercial Services Sales Teams

Convex is powerful sales and property intelligence software that is purpose-built for commercial services sales teams. It leverages data from multiple sources to provide in-depth insights into potential customer accounts, properties, and contacts, helping sales reps identify and engage with the most valuable prospects at the right time. As a sales intelligence platform, Convex provides valuable insights into potential customer accounts, properties, and contacts.

The Power of Data-Driven Prospecting

These days, data is key to sales prospecting. Instead of having to use complex filters to find contacts, do lead research, create lead lists, and upload them into a CRM or marketing automation solution, Convex Signals solution uses buying signals and lead scores to pinpoint exactly which prospects are ready to buy so you can engage with leads who are already searching for your products and services. This helps sales teams save time and effort while improving their success rate.

Additionally, sales intelligence software like Convex can enhance lead generation by providing accurate insights and automating processes.

Features and Benefits of Convex

Convex offers a range of features that help commercial services sales teams streamline their prospecting efforts and close more deals. Some of the key ones include:

• Lead scoring (OR) Signal Strength: Convex uses machine learning algorithms to analyze buying signals from various sources, such as social media, news articles, company websites, and other public and private sources, to provide a lead score for each potential customer account. This helps reps prioritize their efforts on leads that are most likely to convert and gives them visibility into their prospects’ needs.
• Property Intelligence: Convex’s property intelligence feature provides in-depth data and insights on properties, including ownership information, tenant information, and more. This helps sales reps better understand their prospects’ business needs and tailor their approach accordingly.
• Generative AI for Outreach: Convex built our own internal Generative AI engine to create personalized outreach messages for each prospect, saving sales reps time and effort while ensuring a higher response rate. The AI considers factors like firmographic data, property data, permit history, job titles, decision-makers, ownership and tenant data, location, and other data points to craft highly targeted messages that resonate with prospects.
• Third-party integrations: Convex integrates with popular CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot, making it easy for teams to seamlessly transfer data between platforms and track their prospecting efforts in one place.
• Automated lead generation: Convex’s automated lead generation feature uses machine learning algorithms to identify and recommend the most relevant properties and prospects based on your preferences and past interactions.
• Sales intelligence tools: Convex’s sales intelligence tools provide crucial insights into potential leads, improve decision-making through data analysis, and automate sales processes to ensure higher efficiency and success rates in closing deals.

Now that you have a summary of each tool, let’s walk through a comparison to showcase the differences in using each tool.

Comparison of LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs. Convex

Now that we’ve explored the features and benefits of LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Convex, let’s compare the two tools and discuss their differences.

Both LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Convex are considered top sales intelligence tools that help identify promising prospects and improve B2B sales strategies.

Ease of Use:

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Sales Navigator has a pretty user-friendly and intuitive interface, which makes it easy for sales pros to get the hang of things quickly. That said, setting it all up can be a bit tricky. The advanced search filters are straightforward, but creating and organizing lead lists, integrating them with other tools, and messaging limits can sometimes become frustrating.
• Convex: Convex is all about making things easy and efficient! It features a map interface, much like getting directions on your phone, that walks you through data-driven prospecting in 4 steps:

1. Identify: Find the Property, Contact, or Account that best suits your products and services—this could be anything from a property address, a First and Last Name, to a hospital or airport in your area.
2. Verify: Check the Signals category to see who’s in-market and ready to buy.
3. Message: With just two clicks, use Generative AI trained on their buying signals to send them an email or draft a script for a phone call.
4. Remind: Set up an automated follow-up or reminder or add to your pipeline.

The best sales intelligence software should be user-friendly and easy to navigate, similar to the features offered by both LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Convex.

Similarities:

• Both tools are designed to help sales teams streamline their prospecting efforts and improve their success rates.
• Both tools provide access to a vast database of potential customers and offer features such as advanced search filters, lead recommendations, and personalized messaging.
• Both tools offer integration capabilities with popular CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot.
• Additionally, both tools offer sales intelligence solutions that enhance lead generation and sales processes by providing insights that help identify high-quality leads and optimize sales strategies.

Differences:

• Industry focus: Convex is specifically designed for commercial services sales teams, while LinkedIn Sales Navigator is more general-purpose and industry-agnostic.
• Property intelligence data: Convex provides valuable property intelligence data, which can be a game-changer for commercial services sales teams. LinkedIn Sales Navigator does not offer this feature, operating more like a database of names and company insights.
• Generative AI for outreach: Convex offers Generative AI for outreach, which can help sales reps craft compelling messages that resonate with prospects. LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers AccountIQ. However, this is a new feature, so only time will tell how these stack up.
• Contact Data: Convex makes it super easy to access contact data, while LinkedIn only shows info from users who want their profiles public and only lets you chat through its messenger app.

Each sales intelligence tool offers unique features that cater to different sales strategies and needs.

Ratings and Reviews:

Both LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Convex are highly rated and reviewed by their users.

According to Capterra, Convex is currently rated 4.7/5 ⭐️, and Sales Nav is rated 4.5/5 ⭐️. Based on user ratings and reviews, both tools are considered among the best sales intelligence tools on the market today.

One five-star reviewer had this to say about Convex:

“No-brainer software for any service or construction company looking to grow. The product has too many features to name that are important. I think it’s easy to overlook how simple they enable a sales rep to slice their territory down to a manageable level, connect said person to the decision-makers, and increase efficiency through to the day.”

Pros and Cons of Each Tool:

LinkedIn Sales Navigator:

• Pros: Advanced search filters, lead recommendations, and personalized advertising. Integration capabilities with popular CRMs.
• Cons: More complex than Convex, especially for smaller sales teams. Does not offer property intelligence data.

Convex:

• Pros: Provides valuable property intelligence data and Generative AI for outreach. Specifically designed for commercial services sales teams.
• Cons: It may not offer as many features as LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Limited integration capabilities with tools outside of CRM and Marketing Automation platforms.

Why Choose LinkedIn Sales Navigator?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful tool for commercial services sales teams looking to leverage social selling and build meaningful relationships with potential customers. Here are some reasons to consider using it:

• Huge user base: With over 760 million members, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, giving sales reps access to a vast pool of potential customers.
• Personalized lead recommendations: Sales Navigator’s AI-powered algorithms provide personalized lead recommendations based on your ideal customer profile, making prospecting more efficient and targeted.
• Advanced search filters: The platform has advanced search filters that allow users to find prospects based on specific criteria, helping them save time and effort.
• Real-time alerts: Sales Navigator sends real-time alerts when something changes in your network, allowing you to stay updated and take action at the right time for maximum impact.

Sales intelligence tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator enhance social selling by providing valuable insights and data, improving decision-making, and automating sales processes for higher efficiency and success rates in closing deals.

Why Choose Convex?

Convex is a great choice for commercial services sales teams looking to streamline their prospecting efforts and close deals more efficiently. Here are some reasons why Convex stands out:

• Property intelligence data: Convex provides valuable property intelligence data, giving sales reps insights into potential customers’ properties and businesses.
• Generative AI for outreach: With Convex’s generative AI, sales reps can craft personalized and compelling messages that resonate with prospects, increasing the chances of conversion.
• Easy-to-use interface: Convex’s user-friendly map interface makes it easy for sales reps to navigate and find potential customers quickly.
• Specific industry focus: Unlike LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which caters to a broader audience, Convex is specifically designed for commercial services sales teams, providing features and tools tailored to their needs.

Convex also serves as a sales intelligence solution that provides valuable property intelligence data and enhances prospecting efforts.

Conclusion

LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Convex are both fantastic tools for boosting your prospecting game! Sales Navigator seems to be better for social selling, as it has a big user base and solid integration options, Convex brings more useful features to the table, like property intelligence data, lead scoring, and generative AI for outreach that “Sales Nav” just doesn’t have. 

These can be super helpful for sales teams in the commercial services sector!

Both tools offer robust features for sales teams, including advanced analytics and seamless CRM integration. They provide comprehensive insights into customer behavior and preferences, enabling more effective targeting and engagement. By leveraging accurate data, both tools enhance prospecting efforts, leading to better visibility into valuable accounts and contacts.

Ultimately, the best tool for you comes down to what your sales team needs and aims to achieve. It might be a good idea to try out both options and see which one better fits your team’s processes and strategies!

By examining your business needs and matching those with the unique features of each tool, you can help your sales team boost their outreach efforts and achieve better results. Both LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Convex are powerful sales intelligence tools that can significantly impact sales strategies and outcomes.

Ready to take your sales prospecting to the next level?Schedule a demo of Convex today to see how it can enhance your prospecting efforts and help you close more deals.