"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." — Socrates (attributed)

"Accountability breeds response-ability." — Stephen Covey

Introduction

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently enacted stringent updates to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), fundamentally altering the landscape for businesses that engage in lead generation. These changes are not merely regulatory updates for marketers to ignore—they're crucial to understand for all businesses utilizing digital and cold outreach strategies. Failing to comply could result in severe financial penalties and irreparable damage to your brand's reputation.

Details of the FCC Ruling

Narrowing the Lead Generator (Lead Gen) Loophole The FCC has closed the "lead generator loophole," which previously allowed the widespread sharing and selling of leads across networks without specific consumer consent. Now, calls made using regulated technology can only be made to consumers by specific brands (referred to as "sellers") to whom consumers have given prior express written consent.

New One-to-One Consent Requirement Consent must now be "one-to-one," meaning a consumer's agreement must authorize contact from a single identified seller, rather than multiple entities. This change aims to prevent consumers from being overwhelmed by numerous unsolicited calls and messages.

Extension of DNC Protections Do-Not-Call (DNC) protections have been extended to text messages, providing consumers with more comprehensive control over who can contact them via SMS.

Logical and Topical Association Calls and texts must be "logically and topically associated" with the interaction that prompted the consent. For example, if a consumer consents to be contacted about car loans, they should not receive calls about unrelated topics, such as loan consolidation.

New Documentation Requirements Brands (lead buyers) must maintain documentation of consent and cannot rely on documentation held by lead sellers. This ensures a verifiable trail of consent for any outreach.

Implications for Your Businesses

Need for Verifiable and Documented Consent Businesses must secure verifiable and documented one-to-one consent from consumers, ensuring that the consent form clearly lists the specific seller and obtains explicit agreement from the consumer.

Impact on Lead Buyers and Publishers The new ruling requires lead buyers to be more diligent in maintaining their consent records and lead publishers to adjust their strategies to comply with the one-to-one consent requirement.

Changes in Lead Gen Strategies With the new regulations, the volume of leads may decrease, but the quality should improve. Businesses should focus on contacting only those consumers who have shown genuine interest, potentially increasing return on investment (ROI). However, this means more resources must be allocated to ensuring strict compliance to the new requirements.

Compliance Strategies

Best Practices for Obtaining and Documenting Consent

• Implement transparent and easy-to-understand consent-gathering processes.

• Regularly verify the ownership of contact information to avoid issues with stale consent.

• Ensure all documentation of consent is detailed and easily accessible.

Evaluating and Working with Compliant Partners

• Work only with lead-gen partners who adhere to the new FCC rules.

• Regularly monitor partners' compliance to maintain sustainable and lawful business relationships.

Enhancing Lead Quality over Quantity

• Prioritize the quality of leads over sheer volume.

• Engage with consumers who are genuinely interested in your offerings, enhancing engagement and ROI.

Conclusion

The new FCC ruling on lead gen marks a significant shift towards consumer-centric marketing practices, ensuring that consumers have more control over who contacts them and how their data is used. For businesses, adapting to these changes is crucial for maintaining compliance and building consumer trust.

If you're looking for a partner who understands compliance as well as facilitating and automating your outreach, consider Angel City. If you want to feel secure in your marketing and ensure your practices align with the latest FCC regulations, contact us today to learn more about how we can help you navigate these changes effectively.