A B2B direct dial is an office phone number that connects you to the specific prospect in a company you want to talk to. Direct dials can provide a way around the gatekeeper or switchboard if you want to speak to C-suite executives and key stakeholders.
So, how do you find direct dials that well...dial? It’s not as hard as you think.
At Cognism, we noticed the pain point and provided a solution 👇 Read on to learn more.
How to find direct dials
Several methods exist for collecting direct phone numbers for prospecting. Some are more automated and will suit SDR teams, and others require manual research.
1. Use sales intelligence
The best way to find direct dials is to use sales intelligence platforms. These platforms provide B2B contact data you can filter through various criteria. The best providers enrich the data to ensure correct direct dials. This is a perfect solution for companies that rely on outbound sales and want to build their pipelines fast.
Check out Cognism if you’re looking for fully CCPA and GDPR-compliant direct dials in NAM, EMEA, and APAC. We cross-reference all the direct business numbers to maintain the database accuracy and keep them up-to-date.
But the best part?
Cognism has become the no.1 provider of mobile phone data (in terms of quality and quantity) on the market. We phone verify B2B cell phone numbers. Our data team is continually working to increase mobile phone data coverage in the UK, US, DACH, and APAC.
Here’s one of our customer testimonials that showcases the quality of our cell phone number data over direct dials.
Global Head of Revenue Operations @ComplyAdvantage
2. Research LinkedIn
If you’re prospecting on LinkedIn or using Sales Navigator daily, use the Cognism Chrome Extension to enrich your lists with actionable data (direct phone numbers, mobiles, and emails).
It will also show you the prospect’s co-workers’ and stakeholders’ contact information to close multithread deals faster.
You can also bulk export contacts into your CRM. Its two-way integration with Outreach and Salesforce makes it a favourite tool of SDRs.
Founder and CEO @Gradfuel
If cold calling is not your main sales channel, you can try to source lead direct dials by searching for contact information on social media and company websites. It’s time-consuming and might not work if you’re looking for large business decision-makers’ phone numbers—they don’t usually share their direct phone numbers in their profiles.
3. Speak to the gatekeeper
When you’ve exhausted all the other resources, don’t be afraid to talk to the gatekeeper to get the direct dial you need.
A gatekeeper is an assistant or a receptionist who is the first point of contact for a company. Their job is to protect senior executives from unwanted calls. But with the right opener, you can boost the chances of booking a chat with your prospect.
Check out: These scripts to get past the gatekeeper.
4. Check the prospect’s email signature
You can also find direct line phone numbers in email signatures. Including it next to a job title is common for professionals in many industries. You can check your company’s inbox or ask colleagues if they have contacted your prospect.
Don’t forget that bounced and out-of-office emails are also excellent sources of contact information.
5. Visit the company’s website
Finding direct dials on company websites’ About us pages might work if you target small, locally based businesses.
If your ICP includes mid-market and enterprise organisations, use the Cognism Chrome extension that works over corporate pages. Without leaving the browser, it lets you view key account and lead information (including company details and tech stack).
The extension gives you unrestricted data views and exports.
What is a direct dial?
A direct dial is a type of corporate phone number that belongs to people within a company. If you use them for cold calling it can be a great way to get straight through to a company’s key stakeholders.
Direct dials can help bypass switchboards and gatekeepers. This means an increase in reach rates and the chance for more efficient outreach.
Are direct dials still important?
Direct dials can still be very important, depending on your industry.
For example, if you target estate agents, recruiters or banking prospects, they will likely have a direct dial since they also spend a lot of time on the phone.
For cold callers, phone numbers provide a direct way to pitch to the prospect and get immediate feedback.
What is the difference between direct dials and mobile phone numbers?
B2B mobile phone numbers let you speak to the decision-makers directly, even if they’re not at their computers, or in an office. Using mobile phone numbers for sales produces higher connection rates than direct dials.
Cognism’s phone-verified mobile data, aka Diamond Data®, ensures you connect with 87% of your list. Our team calls mobile numbers in our database to confirm that they belong to the right prospect.
How much is Cognism's verified cell phone numbers database?
Cognism offers two types of licences globally, including direct dials, mobile phone numbers, and emails. To unlock manually verified mobile numbers with 87% accuracy, you need to opt for a Diamond® Licence.
The Diamond® Licence also includes mobile number research service on demand and intent data.
Cognism's seat-based pricing is suitable for individual prospectors and teams with bulk list-building workflows.
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Is calling up business phone numbers legal?
Cold calling is legal if you follow data and privacy protection rules applicable in your prospect’s country, for example, GDPR and DNC lists in Europe and CCPA in the US.
Cognism’s customers can prospect in confidence because we provide compliant B2B data lists.
At Cognism we:
- Comply with CCPA and GDPR rules.
- Check against 13 DNC lists including in the USA, Canada, and Australia.
We’re the only provider that checks so many European DNC lists, including:
- TPS/CTPS in the UK.
- DNCs in Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, Portugal, and Sweden.
How not to obtain direct dial numbers?
Many companies offer to sell or rent B2B direct dial lists. But it comes with risks that can harm your sales and marketing performance.
First off, when you buy lead lists from an unreliable provider, the data is likely very basic and out of date. You will be dialling random people, wasting time and money.
But most importantly, watch out for lead lists non-compliant with global data regulations such as GDPR in Europe, CCPA in the US, etc. You risk being marked as spam and ruining your company’s reputation.
For more information, check out Cognism’s B2B data privacy regulations guide and learn how to choose a data provider.
