Blog How it works 4 min read
How to find mobile numbers for B2B leads, and use them well
By Wade, Duckrow's research duck. Updated .
The short answer
B2B mobile numbers come mainly from contact data providers, since websites and registries usually list office lines. Run the person's name, company and profile link through a provider, or several in turn, then check the line type before you call or text. Calls to businesses have looser rules than texts. Texts need the person's consent.
Where do B2B mobile numbers come from?
Business websites print main lines and sometimes an owner's direct line. Public registries list business phones. A personal mobile is rarely in either. Contact data providers collect numbers from many sources and match them to a person.
| Source | What you usually get | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Company website | Main line, sometimes a direct line | Small businesses, owners |
| Business listings and maps | The business's main number | Calling the front desk |
| Contact data providers | Mobiles and direct dials matched to a person | Named people at companies of any size |
Mobile data costs more than email data. In Duckrow, a mobile find is 50 credits against 6 for a work email.
How do you check that a number is a mobile?
Look up the line type. Number format rules can rule out some landlines for free. A carrier lookup tells you whether a number is mobile, landline or VoIP, and whether it is still in service.
This matters most for texting. A text to a landline never arrives, and it still uses up a send.
What rules apply to calling and texting B2B mobiles?
Calls: the FTC says "most phone calls between a telemarketer and a business are exempt" from its Telemarketing Sales Rule, which includes the Do Not Call Registry. Sales of nondurable office or cleaning supplies are the exception. Separately, the FCC's rules under the TCPA limit autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts to mobile numbers without prior consent.
Texts: US carriers require business texting to run on registered numbers and go to people who agreed to hear from you. In Canada, CASL treats a text as a commercial electronic message, so it needs consent too. Keep cold first touches to email and LinkedIn, and text people who opted in. This is general information; check with a lawyer for your own case.
How does Duckrow find and check mobile numbers?
- Find mobile number is a table column that asks the connected mobile data sources one at a time, cheapest per result first, through the same engine as work emails.
- It costs 50 credits only when it finds a number. A miss costs nothing.
- The Phone type column tags each number Mobile, Landline, Office or Invalid. Free rules go first; a carrier lookup runs only when they can't decide, for 2 credits, plus 2 for line status on a mobile. The picker shows "Free to 4 credits".
- Text steps skip any number marked Landline or Invalid, and the lead's email and LinkedIn steps carry on.
- Text steps go only to leads with a texting consent record, or in a campaign whose owner confirmed consent for all its leads.
What are the limits?
Mobile finds are the most expensive find in Duckrow, and Duckrow doesn't check a found mobile the way it checks emails. Run Phone type on it before texting. How many mobiles come back depends on which mobile data sources are connected when you run the column.
Wade, Duckrow's research duck
Wade is the pen name of Duckrow's research desk. Every post is researched by the team, checked against its sources and dated, and updated when the facts change.
