In the B2B sales world, where endless video calls are now the norm, a simple phone call can be a welcome change of pace.
That is, when it comes to getting in touch with B2B sales leads, sometimes a good old-fashioned phone conversation is the better call.
Video calls demand a high amount of energy and attention from your prospects (and can drain your social battery more quickly). Phone calls, on the other hand, are a fantastic way to talk without the distraction of push notifications or the temptation to surf browser tabs during a meeting.
It can also be easier to get a prospect on the phone than on a Zoom call, which means you can establish more connections.
If you’d like to connect without the need to lug your laptop to the meeting, you can find anyone’s phone number online by using their name.
How to Find a Person’s Phone Number Online
Finding a person’s phone number online is simple once you understand the methods and the tools available to you.
That said, the specific approach and tools that you choose will depend on how quickly you’d like to find the phone numbers and how many you need to collect.
In this guide, you’ll learn 10 convenient ways to find a person’s phone number online, so you can power up your sales calls and make new connections.
Option 1: Find Contact Details on Social Media
Most social media sites collect phone numbers from their users to keep their accounts secure and to make it easier for people to find connections online.
Users can choose to make their personal or business phone numbers visible on their social media accounts. If you have the full name of the person whose phone number you need, you can search for their social media profiles. If you’re lucky, you may be able to find their number in plain view.
If you can’t find the phone number you want on a personal profile, check for contact information on your prospect’s business page.
Two of the best social media sites for finding phone numbers are LinkedIn and Facebook.
LinkedIn, in particular, is an excellent resource for B2B contact data—especially since there are so many sales prospecting tools that work with LinkedIn to help you find phone numbers, email addresses, and even new leads on the professional networking site.
Want to unlock the full potential of LinkedIn for prospecting? Start your free trial of Datanyze today to see how easy it can be to find anyone’s phone number through LinkedIn.
Option 2: Use a Smartphone App
Finding your prospect’s phone number can be as easy as pulling out your cell phone.
With an app like TrueCaller (available on both iOs and Android), you can use your prospect’s name to search their database and make a connection.
Option 3: Look Them Up on a Search Engine
There’s a reason “Google” is used as a verb. With the right search terms, you can find practically anything you want using Google or the search engine of your choice.
When using a web search engine to find a phone number, it’s critical that you provide as much additional information as you can.
In addition to the name of your prospect, qualify the search by including the name of the city they’re in, their job title, their industry, and any other relevant information that you have access to. The more details you can include, the better your chances of finding the person’s most up-to-date contact information.
Option 4: Visit Their Company Website
Take a look at the Contact Page of your prospect’s company website. Some businesses choose to publish direct numbers or department numbers for their employees.
If the best phone number you can find is a general company number, try calling it to access the operator or the company directory. Once you get in touch with the right person, make a note of their extension for future reference.
Option 5: Use Digital White Pages to Find Phone Numbers
There was a time when finding someone’s phone number using their name meant pulling out a physical phone book and searching for their listing.
While physical phone books are no longer widely available, you can still access digital White Pages online. It works the same way as the classic version, but with the use of keystrokes instead of page flips.
Option 6: Check Online Business Listings
Business listing sites have general contact information for thousands of companies.
There are niche business listing sites that specialize in regional businesses, small to medium businesses, software businesses, B2B businesses, international businesses, and more.
You can use these sites to locate direct numbers, department numbers, or the mainline that will get you closer to conversing with your prospect.
If you can’t find a direct phone number for your prospect, use the numbers that are publicly listed in the directory to establish contact with the company. If you ask around, you should be able to find the person you’re looking for.
Option 7: Use a People Search Engine
People search directories work the same as web search engines, but the results are limited to contact information for individuals.
For example, AnyWho is a popular search engine with phone numbers for thousands of contacts. Users love it because it’s free to use and its database is updated weekly.
Option 8: Scour Review Sites for Contact Data
If you’ve ever used a site like Yelp or Glassdoor to learn more about the experiences other customers have had with a particular business, then you know these review sites also have contact information for the companies (include phone numbers!).
These sites are a source of advertising for the businesses that are reviewed, so the phone numbers are typically up to date.
Option 9: Search via Consumer Watchdog Sites
If you’re interested in getting in touch with someone who works for a larger company, you may be able to use their name or the name of their business to find their phone number on a consumer watchdog site.
In the U.S. you can find information on businesses using the Better Business Bureau. You can also find reviews from the public to gain a better understanding of the company culture.
Another useful website is Get Human, a resource for customers who want to speak with a human customer service representative rather than a bot. Get Human is a treasure trove of contact information for real people at various companies.
Option 10 for Finding Anyone’s Phone Number by Name…
There is another option for finding phone numbers online—and it’s especially useful when you need to find several phone numbers in a short period of time.
But before we reveal what it is, let’s address an important issue: the challenges of using someone’s name to find their phone number on the internet.
Challenges with Finding Phone Numbers Online
When you use the internet to find phone numbers, you may encounter challenges along the way. Here are some of the most common issues to watch out for:
Challenge 1: No Public Cell Phone Directory
Although virtual White Pages do exist, this resource is primarily for landline numbers.
The easiest way to get in touch with someone over the phone is to dial their mobile number.
Unfortunately, there is no public database dedicated exclusively to listing mobile phone numbers online. For this reason, it’s often challenging to find cell phone numbers through public records.
Challenge 2: Data Accuracy Isn’t Guaranteed
Phone numbers are easy to change, so it’s important to make sure that you are using the right number for your contact.
However, since many contact databases don’t update their listings regularly, when you find someone’s phone number online you could be finding old numbers that are no longer in use.
Challenge 3: Potential Privacy Violations
Privacy is harder to come by these days, so most people place a high priority on protecting their personal data.
It’s perfectly fine to use contact information that someone has voluntarily provided in public. However, some of the databases that store personal details and contact data may not have collected that information lawfully.
As an end-user, it’s not always possible for salespeople to tell which tools are playing fair and which are not.
It’s a smart choice to perform your due diligence and find a tool or lookup service from a company that is transparent about its data collection practices.
That’s why Datanyze takes privacy so seriously. All of our contact data is ethically sourced in accordance with GDPR and CCPA regulations.
Searching for Phone Numbers Can Be a Drag, But It Doesn’t Have to Be
When you’re searching for someone’s phone number by name, it’s normal for the research process to involve both hits and misses.
But when time and accurate data are of the utmost importance, it makes sense to use a proven tool that gets you the right information, fast, every single time.
That’s why this next option for finding phone numbers online is one of the best types of tools you can use for sourcing accurate contact information.
Option 10: Use a Google Chrome Extension
This tool is installed in your browser so that you can collect phone numbers and other data on social media and across the web.
The best thing about using an extension to find numbers is you can find several high-quality contacts at once.
You can export the phone numbers to a simple spreadsheet or to your company’s preferred CRM.
Some of the most popular Google Chrome extensions you can use to find anyone’s phone number online are:
Out of all these options, Datanyze is the most robust tool for gathering phone numbers quickly and with ease. Read on to find out why Datanyze leaves the competition in the dust.
Using Datanyze to Find Phone Numbers Easily
Datanyze is quite literally your wingman when it comes to making the most out of your prospecting efforts. Our innovative tools are designed for speed and convenience so you can find the accurate B2B contact information you need the first time around.
Getting started with Datanyze is easy. Simply install the Google Chrome extension and start collecting prospect data as you go.
Whether you’re looking for cell phone numbers, landlines, email addresses, names of decision-makers, or more, you can find the information you need without leaving your browser.
The data collected by Datanyze is always ethically sourced, so you can feel confident knowing that you’re respecting the privacy of your contacts.
Datanyze offers a superior customer experience for sales teams of all sizes, transparent pricing, and plans that fit every budget.
The best part? You can test out all of these amazing features at no charge. Sign up for Datanyze for free today and start your search now.
Get started today with Datanyze and treat your team to a tool that actually makes work fun.
