How to find someone’s email or phone number on LinkedIn

Accurate, reliable contact data is the cornerstone of effective and efficient sales prospecting. When you have accurate contact data, it’s much easier to initiate authentic, personalized conversations with prospects and maintain open lines of communication. Not only does this streamline the prospecting process, it also sets the stage for building meaningful relationships.

Unfortunately, in an age where companies are laying workers off en masse and people are switching jobs frequently, it can be difficult to maintain up-to-date contact data.

So what do you do?

While sales and GTM teams certainly need trustworthy contact data to build pipeline and hit their numbers, they must respect prospects’ privacy and operate legally and ethically to obtain it. 

Consider the alternative: a prospect finding out you’ve obtained their email or phone number through unscrupulous means. After learning that news, do you think that individual would be eager to listen to your pitch and do business with you?

If you’re wondering how to find someone’s contact info on LinkedIn, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we share seven noninvasive methods you can use to find someone’s contact data on LinkedIn.

1. Check their profile (duh!)

This one might be so obvious you don’t think about it. Hey, it happens.

LinkedIn gives users the ability to add contact information to their profiles; it’s up to each user to determine whether or not they take advantage of the feature.

Those who embrace it are able to add all sorts of information to their profile, including their email address, phone number, and even their address. Take a peek and you might find gold.

2. Leverage prospecting tools and Chrome extensions

It shouldn’t surprise you to find out that there are several purpose-built tools and Chrome extensions designed specifically to help you supercharge your prospecting efforts — and LeadIQ is one of them.

While LeadIQ doesn’t actually pull contact information from LinkedIn that isn’t publicly available, we use data partnerships, public domain information, our data community, and proprietary algorithms to find and verify current contact data so you don’t have to.

We’re committed to privacy, too. Anyone can claim their profile on LeadIQ and request removal from our database, and we’re happy to oblige.

Read more about our data. Better yet, add the LeadIQ Chrome extension to your browser.

3. Reach out and ask

If you’re interested in someone’s email or phone number, why not go straight to the source and ask them directly by connecting or sending them an InMail?

If you take this route, just make sure you’re respectful and provide a clear and valid reason for requesting their contact information.

To make this method a little easier, here’s a brief template to inspire your outreach:

Hi [First Name],

I hope you’re having a great week!

I’ve really enjoyed the content you’ve been posting on LinkedIn, and I’d love to discuss [relevant pain point] with you on a deeper level.

If you’re open to it, would you mind sharing your email or phone number with me so we can have a more direct dialog? Of course, if you’d prefer to keep that information private, I completely understand, and we can continue chatting here.

Thanks so much, and I look forward to connecting.

Best,

[Your Name]

Pro tip: Before copying and pasting this message and firing it off, make sure to personalize it so it’s more timely and relevant. Need help? Check this out.

4. Ask for a referral

Know someone who works at the same company as the individual you’re trying to get a hold of? Ask them for an intro and be sure to approach the request tactfully.

At LeadIQ, we’re all about helping people like you get better and better sales outcomes, so here’s another template to get your creative juices flowing:

Hi [First Name],

I hope you’re doing well — it’s been a long time!

I recently came across [Name of Prospect] and realized that you’re working at the same company. I’ve been wanting to get in touch with [Name], and it would be tremendously helpful if you might be able to introduce us or pass along my request for [his/her/their] contact information.

Of course, I totally understand if you’re not comfortable with this, but figured I’d reach out to see if you could help.

Many thanks for your consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Be well,

[Your Name]

Again, for the best results, make sure to personalize these types of messages.

5. Check their other links

You checked the information the prospect shared on LinkedIn. Unfortunately, they didn’t add their email address or phone number. But they did provide a link to their personal website.

Click it and poke around. The prospect might not be eager to share contact info publicly on LinkedIn but they might be happy to post it on their own websites, so maybe you can find what you’re looking for there.

6. Check their company website

Since LinkedIn is a professional networking site, everyone tells everyone else where they work by default.

If you’re striking out using the other tactics, head on over to the prospect’s company website and see if you can find a “Meet Our Team” page or some version thereof. Such pages often contain contact information for employees, including email addresses, phone numbers, and social media handles.

7. Check their LinkedIn feed for events and webinars

Another way to find someone’s email or phone number on LinkedIn is by perusing their profiles to see what they’re posting about and doing some reconnaissance from there.

For example, if the person you’re trying to get in touch with is actively participating in webinars and speaking events, attend them. Speakers will often give out contact information for folks who follow up with them after the session ends.

Similarly, if you’re in close geographic proximity to your prospect and see that they’re attending a meetup or another networking event, consider popping in for the same purpose.

Get more out of LinkedIn for sales prospecting!

While these tactics can help you cover more ground on LinkedIn, you also need to pay attention to the way you present yourself on the platform.

To increase the chances your efforts are successful, you need to spend time optimizing your own LinkedIn profile. The better your profile looks, the more likely you’ll be to make a great first impression — which can lead to better prospecting outcomes.

Ready to put these prospecting methods to use on LinkedIn? Get started with LeadIQ for free today or schedule a demo with one of our prospecting experts.