B2B cold calling by phone: what the UWG and the GDPR allow
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Cold calling businesses by phone is permitted in Germany where there is presumed consent on the part of the person called (section 7 UWG, the German Act against Unfair Competition). That means there has to be a factual reason why this particular company could be interested in this particular offer. With consumers that does not apply: there it takes express prior consent.
This article is not legal advice. It explains the established basis on which professional B2B appointment setting works, and why with us the legally sound approach and the effective one are the same thing.
When may I cold call a company?
The decisive difference lies between consumers and businesses. Towards consumers (B2C) a cold call without prior express consent is not permitted. In B2B, presumed consent is enough. It exists where concrete circumstances make it reasonable to assume that the person called is open to the call.
Put simply: the call has to have a recognisable professional connection to the business of the person called. A tool manufacturer calling a machining company operates in a different frame from a random call into the blue. As a rough orientation, and the specific constellation always decides the individual case:
| Situation | Assessment (rough) | |
|---|---|---|
| Holds | offer fits the core business of the person called | presumed consent rather likely |
| Wobbles | broad offer, target group barely narrowed | hard to justify |
| Does not hold | private individual / no business connection | not permitted |
Whoever defines tightly who they call and why stands on firmer legal ground. Which is exactly why clean outreach does not start on the phone but with the question: for whom is this offer genuinely relevant?
What does the GDPR have to do with a phone call?
The UWG governs whether a call is allowed. The GDPR governs how the data needed for it is processed, because a name, a direct dial or a business email address are personal data. Two points matter most in practice:
- Origin of the data. Addresses should come from traceable, reputable sources, not from opaque lists.
- Traceability. It should be documented who was contacted when and why, and an objection has to lead reliably to an immediate stop.
For a collaboration that means concretely: whoever supplies the address data is responsible for its origin; whoever makes the calls is responsible for clean processing and documentation. We clarify that division before the first call, not afterwards.
Why clean outreach is also the legally safer one
Here is the point many miss: the requirements of the law and the requirements of a good conversation point in the same direction. Both demand that you know who you are talking to and why.
A target group workshop at the start of a project does not only serve effectiveness for us. It also answers the question of why presumed consent holds for exactly these companies. Clear exclusion criteria do not only sort out unsuitable meetings, they also prevent calls for which there would be no factual reason. And the complete documentation of every contact, which we hand over to the client at the end, is at the same time the evidence that the work was structured and traceable.
That is not legal extra work dragged along behind effectiveness. It is the same craft from two angles. A call that bothers nobody, because it fits the topic and lands with the right contact, is rarely the one that raises legal questions. More than 80 % of our meetings take place with managing directors or heads of sales. Not because we dial indiscriminately, but because it is settled beforehand who is to be reached.
The short checklist
- B2B is not B2C. Towards businesses presumed consent applies, towards consumers it does not.
- The factual connection decides. The clearer the target group, the more solid the basis.
- Data has an origin. Whoever supplies it answers for the source; whoever calls, for the processing.
- Documentation protects. Traceable contacts and a reliable stop on objection are part of the standard.
- When in doubt, get advice. This text does not replace a lawyer's review of the individual case.
Legally sound cold calling is in the end not a question of special caution but of clean preparation. Whoever knows who they are calling and why does not have to work around the rules, they meet them along the way.
This article is based on our own campaign practice and was written with AI assistance. Editorial review and responsibility: Mehmet Okur, Telemarketing International.
