Consumer vs Business Phone Lookup: When to Use Each

Not all phone lookups are the same. When you're searching for contacts in InfoX, you're often looking for either individual people (consumers) or registered businesses—and mixing them up wastes time and clutters your results.

InfoX's sector filter lets you choose exactly who you want to contact: consumers, businesses, or both. Understanding when to use each filter makes your contact research faster and more targeted.

The Two Contact Types

Consumer (Private Persons)

What it includes:

• Individual people
• Residential listings
• Personal phone numbers (mobile and landline)
• Personal addresses

What you'll see:

• Person's full name
• Home address
• Personal phone number(s)
• Geographic coordinates

What you won't see:

• Organization numbers (consumers aren't businesses)
• NACE industry codes (individuals don't have industry classifications)

Best for: Recruiting, personal outreach, individual research, residential targeting

Business

What it includes:

• Registered companies
• Business addresses
• Business phone numbers
• Organization numbers

What you'll see:

• Business name
• Business address
• Business phone number(s)
• Organization number (9 digits)
• NACE industry code and title
• Geographic coordinates
• Email (if publicly listed)

Best for: B2B marketing, sales prospecting, supplier vetting, partnership outreach, industry-specific targeting

Both (Default)

What it includes:

• All results: consumers and businesses combined

When to use: Exploratory searches where you're not sure whether you're looking for a person or a business, or when the distinction doesn't matter.

Best practice: Start with "Both" if you're unsure, then apply the sector filter to narrow results.

When to Filter to Consumer Only

Recruiting Candidates

Scenario: You're searching for potential candidates by name or region.

Why Consumer filter: You want individual people, not businesses. Filtering to Consumer removes companies from your results, giving you clean candidate lists.

Workflow:

1. Search by name or city
2. Filter to "Consumer"
3. Export contacts
4. Import into recruiting database

Personal Outreach

Scenario: You're researching an individual for personal reasons (networking, event invitations, etc.).

Why Consumer filter: You don't want business listings cluttering your results.

Residential Targeting

Scenario: You're running a campaign targeting homeowners or residents in a specific area.

Why Consumer filter: Business addresses aren't relevant. Consumer filter gives you only residential contacts.

When to Filter to Business Only

B2B Marketing Campaigns

Scenario: You're launching an email or calling campaign targeting businesses in a specific city or industry.

Why Business filter: You don't want private individuals. Filtering to Business gives you only registered companies with organization numbers and NACE codes.

Workflow:

1. Search by city (e.g., "Oslo")
2. Filter to "Business"
3. Export to CSV
4. Filter by NACE codes for industry targeting
5. Import into CRM or email platform

Sales Prospecting

Scenario: You're building a prospect list for your sales team.

Why Business filter: Sales targets are businesses, not individuals. Business filter gives you company phone numbers, organization numbers (for deeper research), and industry codes (for segmentation).

Workflow:

1. Search by region
2. Filter to "Business"
3. Export contacts with organization numbers
4. Use organization numbers to research financials, leadership, and compliance in Company Lookup
5. Assign qualified leads to sales reps

Supplier or Partner Vetting

Scenario: You're researching potential suppliers or business partners.

Why Business filter: You're vetting companies, not individuals. Business filter gives you organization numbers for full company research.

Workflow:

1. Search by company name or region
2. Filter to "Business"
3. Click organization numbers to view full company profiles
4. Review financial data, status alerts, and leadership

Industry-Specific Targeting

Scenario: You need contacts in a specific industry (e.g., construction companies, accounting firms, tech startups).

Why Business filter: Only businesses have NACE industry codes. Filter to Business, export, then filter by NACE codes in your spreadsheet.

Workflow:

1. Search by region or nationwide
2. Filter to "Business"
3. Export to CSV
4. Open in Excel/Sheets and filter by relevant NACE codes
5. Create refined industry-specific list

When to Use "Both"

Exploratory Searches

Scenario: You're not sure if you're looking for a person or a business. Maybe a contact you met at an event, and you're not sure if they operate as an individual or under a company name.

Why Both: See all results, then manually identify the right match.

Name-Based Searches

Scenario: You're searching a name that could be either a person or a business name.

Why Both: Some businesses are named after individuals, and some individuals have names that sound like businesses. Seeing both helps you identify the right match.

Example: Searching "Hansen" could return:

• Individual persons named Hansen (Consumer)
• Businesses named "Hansen AS," "Hansen Transport," etc. (Business)

Seeing both helps you pick the right one.

Key Differences at a Glance

Advanced Filtering: Combining Sector with Other Filters

Sector + City

Example: "Business" + "Bergen" = All businesses in Bergen

Use case: Regional B2B campaign

Sector + Name

Example: "Consumer" + "Hansen" = All individuals named Hansen (no businesses)

Use case: Finding a specific person without business name clutter

Sector + Address

Example: "Business" + "Storgata" = All businesses on streets named Storgata

Use case: Targeting businesses in a specific commercial district

Integration with Company Lookup

When you filter to "Business" and export contacts, each business listing includes an organization number. Use these organization numbers to:

1. Search in Company Lookup for full business intelligence
2. Review financial data (revenue, profit, debt)
3. Check status alerts (bankruptcy, liquidation, forced dissolution)
4. Verify leadership (CEO, board members)

This transforms a contact list into a full business intelligence database.

Workflow:

1. Search by city, filter to "Business"
2. Export to CSV with organization numbers
3. Click organization numbers to research companies individually
4. Qualify or disqualify leads based on financial health and status

Tips and Best Practices

1. Start Broad, Then Narrow

If you're unsure, start with "Both" to see all results. Then apply the sector filter to narrow to the type you need.

2. Use Business Filter for CSV Exports

If you're exporting for B2B use, always filter to "Business" first. This gives you clean data with organization numbers and NACE codes—critical for CRM imports and segmentation.

3. Use Consumer Filter for Recruiting

When building candidate lists, filter to "Consumer" to exclude businesses. This keeps your recruiting database clean and focused on individuals.

4. Cross-Reference Organization Numbers

For Business contacts, always cross-reference organization numbers in Company Lookup to verify:

• Company is active (not bankrupt or liquidating)
• Financial health is acceptable
• Leadership is established

Don't just collect contacts—validate them.

Getting Started

Ready to filter phone lookups by sector?

1. Log in to InfoX
2. Navigate to Phone Lookup
3. Perform your search (by name, city, address, etc.)
4. Select sector filter:
   • Consumer: For individual people
   • Business: For registered companies
   • Both: For all results
5. Review or export filtered results

From search to filtered contacts: seconds.

Conclusion

Mixing consumer and business contacts clutters your results and slows your workflow. InfoX's sector filter gives you exactly the contacts you need:

• Consumer: For recruiting, personal outreach, residential targeting
• Business: For B2B marketing, sales prospecting, supplier vetting
• Both: For exploratory searches

Filter first. Export clean data. Work faster.

Whether you're building B2B prospect lists or researching individual candidates, the sector filter ensures you get relevant contacts—and nothing else.