How to find ceo of company

Sound familiar?

Maybe, your ideal customer persona are C-levels, including the CEO of B2B tech companies.

Super easy to find their contact details and reach them – right?

No, not really….

Here are 12 time-tested and proven ways to track down the CEO and get the CEO’s contact details, like email, phone number and company details.

Do CEOs even read and reply to emails?

Is water wet?

In all seriousness, CEOs do actually read their emails.

According to a recent Inc article, “ Most CEOs and VCs personally read every well-formed email they get, even if they don’t know the sender. This means that if you send a great cold email to your favorite CEO, chances are it will get read.” – so the juice is worth the squeeze.

Additionally, a CEO will respond to an email – if it’s worth responding to. That doesn’t mean that they’ll reply to every email that’s sent their way. But, they will respond to an email if it’s worth their time, is relevant to them or they clearly understand the value they can receive.

Simple to set up. Easy to use. Powerful integrations.

Should You Cold Email a CEO?

Why not? It’s the best way to reach a decision maker.

Since most CEOs do actually read their emails there’s certainly no harm in trying.

The secret is not just in sending an email but the contents of your email.

You need to make sure that your cold outreach email is fire – the best advice is to send a short, sweet and to-the-point email. Think about “what’s in it for them?” and make sure you’re sending it to the right person.

How do you write an email to the CEO of a company?

According to Hoffman (see the Tweet above: the college student who would cold email Steve Jobs and get a reply,) “Most CEOs and VCs personally read every well-formed email they get, even if they don’t know the sender. This means that if you send a great cold email to your favorite CEO, chances are it will get read.”

And, it’s true as a whole…

As someone who has worked in Marketing and  Sales at a number of high-profile companies, I have personally received forwarded emails from the CEO at every single one…

This ultimately means CEOs do read emails in their inbox.

But, if your email is a typical canned email that you copy-pasted to your cold email list, you’re not going to get a response.

Your email must contain thought. It has to be personal, to the point and relevant for the CEO you’re trying to reach.

It should be friendly, clear as to what it is that you want, and what’s in it for them.

That’s not to say it should be transactional. It just needs to be something that will spark their interest. Your only goal is to get them to respond and want to continue talking to you.

What can you do to catch their attention?

Do you have a mutual point of contact? That’s usually the best way to get a response.

If you don’t, you need to think about how to personally approach this specific CEO.

Take interest in what it is that they do. Did they recently speak at a Keynote? Give sincere feedback and invite conversation.

Whatever it is that you do to email the CEO of a company, do not waste your first shot. The spam filter is real and it only takes a second to be considered spam (i.e. irrelevant or annoying.)

This means you’ve lost your chance to speak to the CEO…

So How Do You Get the CEO’s Contact Details, Anyways?

1. Try Googling

Pros:

Cons:

• You probably did it
• Unlikely you found results

You’ve probably* already tried this, but if you haven’t, hey, you can always try Googling to start with.

The odds are, you will not find the CEO’s email on Google, and so, you’re going to have to get more creative….

2. Lusha – An Online Prospecting Tool

Pros:

• Fast
• Free (no credit card to try)
• Legal (GDPR & CCPA aligned)
• Used by 600,000+ companies

Cons:

• Have to sign up to get results

What is Lusha?

*Clears throat for a moment.*

Lusha is an online B2B contact database and B2B prospecting tool that’s free to join.

Plus, you get 5 free contact details every single month – so in just a few clicks, you’ll get that CEO’s email absolutely free.

Once you’ve signed up to Lusha (free and takes seconds,) you’ll log into the Lusha dashboard and click the Prospecting tab.

From there, you’ll see a simple, easy to use search window that lets you select filters to search for prospects.

You can search for prospects by general criteria, like industry, revenue bracket, location, number of employees (and more…)

Or, you can search by specific criteria like prospect name, title, company, etc.

From there, you can create lists of prospects and reveal their company and contact data in seconds.

For free.

Plus it’s GDPR and CCPA aligned so it’s legally compliant for your peace of mind.

3. Lusha Web Browser Extension (for Linkedin)

Pros:

• Fast
• Free (no credit card to try)
• Legal (GDPR & CCPA aligned)
• Used by 600,000+ companies

Cons:

• Have to sign up to get results

Maybe you spend your days looking for companies to target and ideal target clients on LinkedIn?

If this is your sales prospecting strategy, then Lusha Web Browser Extension would be perfect for you.

Once again, it’s free to sign up for, with free credits every month (=5 free contact details.)

All you need to do is sign up for Lusha and download the Lusha web browser extension.

Next, you’ll find the person you want to reach out to on Linkedin.

Click the Show contact button.

That’s it – you found the CEO’s email address.

4. Lusha is Everywhere (Search B2B sites)

Pros:

• Fast
• Free (no credit card to try)
• Legal (GDPR & CCPA aligned)
• Used by 600,000+ companies

Cons:

• Have to sign up to get results

Maybe your outreach process is a little different.

Maybe you prefer to find a company website, look around and then look for the correct stakeholder to contact.

If that’s your sales process then, Lusha is Everywhere is the best sales intelligence tool for you!

When you’re on any website, just click the Lusha tab to see a full employee list and nab the CEO’s email address.

To use Lusha is Everywhere, just sign up to Lusha (it’s free to sign up, with 5 free contact details every month,) and easy to use.

Just install Lusha and click the Lusha Icon located in your browser toolbar.

Next, under Lusha Extension, turn the toggle to the on position for Lusha is Everywhere.

Select Allow.

And that’s it! You’re free to search for employee contact details, company info, and grab the CEO’s email.

5. Use an email permutator 

Pros:

• Many free tools are available 

• Generates potential email address combinations

Cons:

• Some tools don’t have email verification, so you may have to use a separate software

An email permutator is software that generates possible email address combinations based on basic information like your contact’s name and company website. 

Many email permutators are free—like MailMeteor. 

You usually receive between 30 and 40 email combinations with most tools, once it has generated addresses you can copy and paste them into an email verification software to see which is most accurate. 

What’s the difference between an email permutator and an email contact finder? 

Permutators deliver unverified email address combinations (for example, ) while contact finders show a shortlist (usually 3-5) of addresses that are most likely to be accurate.

Also, contact finders usually have a built-in verification function, while email permutators don’t always have one. 

If you’re still on the fence and wondering if an email permutator is right for you, keep a free tool on hand for when your contact finders are not delivering the right address.

It’ll definitely come and handy!

6. Check their LinkedIn Profile

Pros:

Cons:

• You probably tried it
• And you didn’t get results

Looking to find someone’s email on Linkedin?

It’s rare – but sometimes you strike gold.

Find the CEO you want to reach out to on LinkedIn.

Now, head to their About section.

If you’re lucky, their email will be there.

(You can also export any contacts you’ve found on Linkedin into an excel sheet, which is also pretty nifty.)

Or, if you want a sure bet, sign up for Lusha, download the Lusha extension and in one click, the CEO’s email could be yours.

7. Slide into their LinkedIn Inmails

Pros:

Cons:

• Can take weeks or months to get a response
• No response guaranteed
• InMails only have an 18% response rate

According to Recruiter.com the average LinkedIn InMail has a 10-25% response rate.

Meh….

I mean, you could try your luck with an average of 18% response – or you could grab their email on Lusha, for free, in seconds.

8. Website chat

Pros:

Cons:

• Not every site has live chat
• Can take time to get a response (up to 2 days)
• May be unwilling to share these details

A bit of a crapshoot, but worth a shot.

Pop on the website’s live chat and just ask for the CEO’s email.

Sometimes, the chat rep will give it to you, and sometimes they won’t.

Worst case scenario, they’ll tell you they’ll forward your message or tell you to email the info@ email address.

In which case, your best bet is Lusha.

9. Call their switchboard

Pros:

Cons:

• Could lead to an answering service
• During COVID you may not get a response
• May lead to a salesman

Same as #7, but different.

Depending on the company policy and how generous the phone operator is feeling, you may score a hit.

But don’t forget, in today’s pandemic-era, remote work is the norm.

Many companies may not be reachable by switchboard, may not have their company phone number listed on their site, or all inquiries may lead to a phone mailbox.

In which case, Lusha is your next best bet.

10. Know someone else’s email at the company? Guess their email.

Pros:

Cons:

• Not a sure thing
• Guaranteed to get bounced emails
• Can be time consuming

When in doubt – take an educated guess.

Check out their website, and try to find any email that you can.

So, if you know that Joe Rogan, customer service rep’s email address is try

But, let’s say you don’t know anyone’s email at the company.

You can also try to guess other logical combinations like: