Rules for telesales

Do you offer services or products by telephone (telesales)? Then you must keep to the rules for telephone sales. Cold calling is banned.

Ban on cold calling

Companies and organisations are not allowed to call consumers to sell products or services without consent. You are also not allowed to call legal structures without legal personality, such as sole proprietors, general partnerships (VOF), limited partnerships (CV), or professional partnerships to sell something without prior consent.

When is telesales or telemarketing allowed?

Telesales or telemarketing is only allowed in specific situations, such as:

• You have obtained prior consent from the person or organisation you are calling (opt in). The consent applies for a specific purpose and for a limited period of time.
• You call an existing customer, or someone who was a customer in the past 3 years.
• The person you call is a donor to your charity, has volunteered for your organisation, or has attended a meeting of your organisation.

If you use telemarketing or telesales you need to be able to prove that you are allowed to call. Your organisation has the burden of proof. Has your customer given consent via a pre-ticked box? Then that consent is not valid.

You are always allowed to call companies that have a legal structure with legal personality for sales purposes.

Rules for telephone calls

For telesales a number of rules apply (in Dutch), such as:

• Your phone number should always be visible (caller identification). You are not allowed to call anonymous using a private number. You must also be reachable on the number you are calling from.
• Immediately at the beginning of the conversation, you must give your name and the name of the company or organisation for which you are calling. And you must announce that you are calling for sales purposes.
• If you record the telephone conversation, you must state this immediately at the beginning of the call. You must also state for what purpose you will use the recording.
• You must give information about what you are selling, the length of the reflection period, and the costs.
• You have to ask new and existing customers if you may call them in the future. You ask this every time you call.
• Your customer may indicate they do not want to be called anymore. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you must then delete the customer’s data from your call list.

Does your customer buy something during the telephone call? You must comply with the rules for concluding a purchase agreement. If you offer a new contract for services, for instance a subscription, your customer must confirm the contract in writing.