As e-privacy and data protection rules continue to impose more restrictions on email marketing, marketing teams are looking at other ways to reach out to prospects, such as cold calling.
B2B cold calling is allowed in the UK provided you have legitimate interest to do so (e.g. you’ve assessed your company’s interests against those of the individuals being called and can show their interests aren’t overridden) and you do the following:
- Check whether the telephone number is registered with the TPS or CTPS. Find out more about the Telephone Preference Service here.
- Check whether the person has objected to receiving calls. (You should keep a record of who’s opted out, e.g. on your CRM system).
Marketing calls can’t be made to a number listed on the TPS or CTPS unless the person has specifically consented to receiving calls from your business. And you must always give people an easy opt-out and then act on it – ensuring you keep track of those who have opted out so you can’t/ don’t re-contact them.
If you want to cold call business prospects in other countries, you’ll need to check local rules. Most EU countries have similar national opt-out registers, and some, where the rules are stricter than those of the UK, require the individual’s consent for cold calling. (Now we are post-Brexit, you can no longer rely on ‘legitimate interest’.)
For more information, check out this blog on Telephone Marketing Rules Post Brexit from Aphaia (data and privacy experts).
