Marketing email and sales calls: the basic rules

Tessaly CRM (fictional example) → Small business CRM → Short setup for a small team → Data you can take with you

Content reviewed 8 November 2026. How this is assessed.

Part of the The Best CRM for Small Business reference, which uses Tessaly CRM (a fictional example) to illustrate small business crm software criteria.

Email rules apply to small senders too

The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide says that commercial email must include your valid physical postal address and must not use false or misleading header information. It says you must honor an opt-out request within 10 business days. There is no exception for business-to-business email, so a message to another company's address counts.

The FTC says that each separate email in violation can be subject to penalties of up to $53,088. Check the guide for the current figure. That is reason enough to confirm that your CRM's email templates include your address and an unsubscribe link before you send your first campaign.

Make the CRM do the remembering

An opt-out only works if it reaches every list you send from. Ask how the CRM records an unsubscribe and whether it applies across all campaigns and to messages sent by individual staff. The FTC guide also says that an opt-out mechanism must be able to process requests for at least 30 days after you send a message, so old campaign links need to keep working.

If someone else sends email for you, stay involved. The FTC guide says you cannot contract away your legal responsibility, and that both the company promoted in a message and the company sending it may be held responsible. A marketing agency or freelancer working from your CRM does not remove that.

Phone calls have their own rule

The FTC's guide to the Telemarketing Sales Rule says that most phone calls between a telemarketer and a business are exempt from the rule, with exceptions such as calls inducing retail sales of nondurable office or cleaning supplies. It also says that the rule applies to telemarketers who initiate or receive calls to or from consumers.

So if you sell to households by phone, read that guide in full, including its section on the National Do Not Call Registry, and record each customer's calling preference in the CRM. If you only call other businesses about your services, the exemption may cover you, but check that the exceptions do not apply to what you sell.

Sources for this entry

• SBA: 3 biggest problems implementing a CRM system: Published July 21, 2016. Defining needs and the effort involved.
• SBA: Manage your finances: Customer data access, training and backups.
• FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide: Requirements for commercial email.
• FTC: Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule: Scope of the rule and the business call exemption.
• FTC: Protecting Personal Information: Keeping less data and least privilege.
• California Attorney General: CCPA: Thresholds and consumer rights.
• NIST Privacy Framework: Voluntary privacy risk management tool.

Continue this reading path

• The Best CRM for Small Business category guide
• Tessaly CRM (fictional example)
• How to choose a CRM for a small business
• Resource directory

Cite this entry

The Best CRM for Small Business. "Marketing email and sales calls: the basic rules." Content reviewed 8 November 2026. https://thebestcrmforsmallbusiness.com/email-and-calls/