Consent is the product: contacting consumers the right way

Lead generation ends with a business contacting a member of the public. In the United States and Canada that contact is regulated at federal, state and provincial level, and the rules have changed more than once in recent years. This article describes operating practices that reduce risk. It is not legal advice, and the wording and approach for any campaign should be confirmed with counsel before launch.

Consent starts on the form

The moment a person submits their details is the moment consent is given or not. The form should state plainly who will contact them, by which channels, and for what purpose. Marketing text messages and calls placed with automated technology generally require prior express written consent, which makes the wording beside the submit button the most important sentence in the campaign.

Capture is half of it. The record of that consent, including what the person saw and when they agreed, should be stored with the lead. If a contact is ever questioned, that record is the answer.

People place the first call

A person who has just asked for a quote expects a call. A call dialed by a human to someone who requested it is the lower-risk way to make that first contact. Automated dialing and prerecorded or artificial voices carry stricter requirements. A sound default is that people place first attempts and automation is limited to routing, reminders and text replies, with any change reviewed first.

Calling hours and state rules

Federal rules limit the hours in which marketing calls can be placed, measured in the time zone of the person being called. Several states, including Florida, Oklahoma and Washington, have their own statutes that are stricter than the federal ones, and some give consumers a private right to sue. The state a campaign runs in is therefore a compliance decision as well as a marketing one. Calling windows should be enforced by the system, not left to an agent's memory.

Recording disclosure

Recorded calls are valuable for quality and for settling lead disputes. Some states require every party on the call to consent to recording. The practical approach is to disclose recording at the start of every call, in every state, and to check for that disclosure in quality reviews.

Text messaging

Business text messages sent from standard US numbers must be registered with the carriers, with the business identified and the campaign described. Unregistered traffic is filtered. Registration takes time, so it should start as soon as the client's business details are available. Every message programme needs a working opt-out, and messages should stay within what the person agreed to receive.

Opt-outs

When someone asks not to be contacted, by any channel and in any words, the request takes effect immediately and across every campaign. That means a suppression list checked before each call and text, not a note in one agent's record.

Truthful advertising

The ad that produced the lead is part of the same chain. Claims about results, savings or guarantees should be ones the client can substantiate, confirmed in writing before the ad runs. AI-drafted copy needs the same human review as any other. Platform policies apply too, and breaches can restrict the client's account.

Data ownership and privacy

Lead data belongs to the client. The agreement should say so, and should say what happens to it at the end: returned or deleted. State privacy laws may give consumers rights over their data, and a provider handling it on the client's behalf should be set up to support those requests.

Canada

Canada regulates commercial email and text under its anti-spam law and telemarketing calls under separate rules with a national do-not-call list. The requirements differ from the US ones and need their own review before a Canadian campaign.