How to Choose a B2B Contact Database: An 8-Step Checklist

How to compare B2B contact databases: organisation records vs named contacts, field coverage, freshness, file format, price per usable record, outreach rules and sourcing.

A B2B contact database lists organisations, and often people in their work roles: company name, business phone, work email, website, address and industry. Buying one is mainly a question of fit. Does the file contain the fields you need, for the companies you sell to, with enough coverage to be worth the price? This guide gives a step-by-step way to decide.

1. Define the target before you look at lists

Write down the countries, industries, company sizes and roles you sell to. A database of 9 million US business records is only useful if the share matching your target is large enough. Ask how records are categorised (industry codes, free-text categories or none) and check the categories in the preview.

2. Organisation-level records or named contacts?

Type	Typical fields	Good for	Notes
Organisation-level	Company, main phone, generic email (info@), website, address	Calling switchboards, mapping a market	Usually not data about a named person
Named business contacts	Person's name, job title, direct phone, work email	Account-based outreach	Personal data in the UK/EU even at work

Many files mix both. Check which columns are actually filled in, not just which headers exist.

3. Check coverage of the fields you will use

A "B2B email database" where 30% of rows have an email is a business list with some emails. Compare coverage for the fields your campaign depends on: phone for calling, email for email, website for research and matching. Every dataset page here shows measured coverage per column. See how to measure email coverage.

4. Check freshness and the version history

Businesses move, rebrand and close. Look for a last processed date and a dated changelog, not "regularly updated". See how to evaluate data freshness.

5. Check the file format and how it imports

Most CRMs and dialers import CSV. Excel (XLSX) is easier to open by hand. Check the column names, the encoding (UTF-8 keeps accented names intact) and whether phone numbers are in international E.164 format. See CSV vs XLSX and how to import large CSV files.

6. Understand the price per usable record

Divide the price by the number of records that have the field you need, not by total rows. For example, 100,000 records for $49 with 97% phone coverage costs about $0.51 per 1,000 usable phone records. The same price with 40% coverage costs about $1.23. Check whether repeat orders can resend records you already bought.

7. Check the rules for B2B outreach

B2B rules are lighter than consumer rules, but not absent:

UK: business numbers can be registered with the Corporate TPS. Named employees' details are personal data under UK GDPR, and they can object to marketing. See the ICO's direct marketing guidance.
US: most business-to-business calls are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry, with exceptions. Commercial email still has to follow CAN-SPAM, which applies to B2B email too.
EU: GDPR applies to named contacts. National rules on unsolicited B2B email differ by country.

8. Ask about sourcing and resale permission

Ask where the records came from and whether the seller is permitted to resell them. Read data sourcing and resale permission: what to ask a data vendor.

A short scorecard

Question	Good sign	Warning sign
Coverage of your key field	Measured, per column	"Up to 95%" with no method
Freshness	Dated version and changelog	"Updated regularly"
Preview	Exact columns before payment	Only after purchase
Repeat orders	No repeated records	Overlapping files
Sourcing	Specific, written statement	"Proprietary sources"

Browse business contact data by country, or open a country in the data marketplace to compare its business datasets.