Sales Navigator gives you the right people. The email column in your lead file comes from a separate step: the finder or enrichment tool you ran on that list. So the quality of your addresses is that tool's quality, and a check is how you measure it before your domain pays for it.
Finder tools often build an address from a name and a company pattern, such as first.last@company.com. On a domain that rejects unknown mailboxes, a live check tells you if the guess landed. On a catch-all domain, nobody can tell, and your plan needs to allow for that.
The short version
- Your Sales Navigator lead list with the email column your finder added, as CSV
- A ZapBounce account (100 free checks a month, no card)
The steps
Export the enriched list
Export the file from the finder or enrichment tool with the LinkedIn profile URL, name, company and email columns. Keep any confidence column the finder gave you, since you'll compare it with the live result.
Remove rows with no email
Delete rows where the finder returned nothing. A check needs an address to test, and leaving empty rows in makes the counts harder to read.
Upload and run the check
Upload the file on the bulk page. ZapBounce checks each address with its own SMTP handshake on port 25 and closes before any message is sent, so nobody on the list sees a thing.
Compare the finder's confidence with the result
Line up the finder's confidence column against the
resultcolumn. Rows the finder called high confidence that come backinvalidshow you how far to trust that finder on your next list.Send valid rows first
Load
validrows into your sequencer. These mailboxes accepted the address atRCPT TOon a domain that rejects unknown recipients, so the guess landed.Handle catch-all rows as a test batch
A
catch_allrow sits on a domain that accepts every address, so a guessed first.last address there is still a guess. Send a small batch from a spare mailbox, and stop if bounces rise.Drop invalid rows and keep the profile
Remove
invalidaddresses from outreach but keep the lead. A LinkedIn message or a call still reaches that person, and the cold email teams page covers how teams route leads across channels.
Why guessed addresses need a live check
A pattern guess is right when the company uses that pattern and the person still works there. A live check tests both at once: the server either accepts the mailbox at RCPT TO or answers 550 for no such user. You get valid or invalid, with the literal smtp_code beside it so you can audit the reading.
Catch-all domains break that test for every verifier, because the server says yes to any address. About 28% of a 10,000-address B2B benchmark sat on catch-all domains. ZapBounce finds them with one random-address probe and reports them as catch_all, billed once, so you know which guesses stay unconfirmed.
Verifying addresses you hold, lawfully
ZapBounce checks addresses that are already on your list. Using it to generate candidates, by running permutations of a name until one passes, falls outside the acceptable use policy. You also confirm a lawful basis to process every address you upload.
A passed check never creates consent to email someone. Opt-out handling and sender identity rules apply to a verified list exactly as they did before.
What a Sales Navigator list costs to check
A 1,000-lead list costs $5 and a 10,000-lead list costs $25. Unknowns and duplicates are never billed, and credits never expire, so leftover credits wait for the next list. The pricing page has larger tiers.
Questions people ask
How do I verify emails from LinkedIn Sales Navigator leads?
Export the list with the email column your finder or enrichment tool added, run it through a live SMTP check, and send only to valid results. Treat catch-all results as unconfirmed and send them in a small separate batch.
Are guessed first.last emails safe to send to?
Only after a live check. On a domain that rejects unknown mailboxes, a valid result confirms the guess. On a catch-all domain the guess stays unconfirmed, because the server accepts every address.
How much does it cost to verify a Sales Navigator list?
At ZapBounce, $5 per 1,000 addresses and $25 per 10,000. Unknown results and duplicates are never billed, and credits never expire.