Personal data protection used to be focused on private data. By also considering business email addresses and business phone numbers that can be traced back to Telemarketing and the GDPR natural persons as personal data, the B2B market is now more concerned with this. The result is that many organizations saw their databases become partly unusable, just when they were increasingly focusing on digital lead generation .
The further development of digital communication as part of sales is nevertheless inevitable. We have just been thrown back a step in terms of size and scope. We have heard a number of recurring questions since the implementation of the GDPR.
Can I still make cold calls? Telemarketing and the GDPR
For B2B, you can still make cold calls. However, you are not allowed to use personal data such as a telephone number. Not even if they come from public sources such as a website or LinkedIn. So you do have to take a number of things into account:
- You may not call someone’s direct number if that person has not given permission to be contacted by your organization. Not even if the phone number can be found on LinkedIn, for example.
- You may call the general company number and ask for the person responsible for XYZ.
- Do you receive personal (contact) data during the conversation? Make sure that you receive explicit permission to use this again at a later time. You must be able to demonstrate at all times that you have obtained this permission. This can be done, for example, by means of a conversation note or recording. During the conversation, clearly indicate what you are going to do with the data.
- The obligation to be able to demonstrate that you have obtained permission also applies to data that you had in your database before 25 May 2018.
Can I still send emails?
Around the time of the GDPR, opt-in emails were flying around your ears. Sometimes rightly so, often not. Before the GDPR, you were allowed to email or call existing customers with a commercial message, and that is still allowed. You may also approach non-customers who have given explicit permission, as long as you can demonstrate the permission. In both cases, you must always offer an opt-out option.
Different rules apply to sending InMails (a personal 1-on-1 message) via platforms such as LinkedIn. This is a functionality within LinkedIn itself. People have the option to turn this on or off. You may send an InMail to someone you do not know without asking. Spamming is of course not allowed, so only focus on the target group for whom your message may be interesting. You may not put the data you obtain via the InMail in your database without permission.
Can I still purchase external databases? Telemarketing and the GDPR
In practice, we see that many companies have seen their databases shrink (considerably) after the introduction of the GDPR. Fortunately, the GDPR does not have to be an obstacle to purchasing new contacts to replenish the database.
If you purchase a database externally, ensure unambiguous consent is obtained Telemarketing and the GDPR
The GDPR states that data that can be traced back to romania phone number library a specific, natural person may not simply be used. Company names, general telephone numbers and info@ email addresses cannot be traced back to one person. Exceptions to lead scoring and lead nurturing this are sole proprietorships, general partnerships and self-employed persons. They can therefore, just like consumers, register in the Do Not Call Me register.
If you purchase an external database with general company data, in most cases you are not processing personal data in the sense of the GDPR. In order to be able to belgium numbers do something with that data, you must first enrich it:
- For example, call the front desk of a company and ask for the person responsible for XYZ.
- If you get the person responsible on the line, you can then ask permission to contact him/her again later.
- Record the conversation or have the person confirm this themselves, for example via a landing page. This way you have obtained unambiguous consent and you comply with the GDPR.
- Do you find all this too time-consuming? Of course, you can also outsource the enrichment and asking permission.
Curious about the impact of the GDPR on the marketing database of our client Motion10?
Read the interview with Erwin Lima of Motion10 .
Although this article has been written with the utmost care, we cannot give any guarantees regarding the completeness, topicality and correctness of the information. We are not lawyers and cannot be held liable for the consequences of using the information. If you want to be sure that you are completely GDPR-proof, please consult a legal advisor.
