Under Canada's anti-spam law, from July 1 you can send a referred friend one email without their consent if the referrer knows you both. Name the referrer, identify yourself, include an unsubscribe, and ask before writing again.

A friend's address, passed on

A customer is pleased with the work and says so. Then she mentions a friend facing the same job, and passes on the friend's email address.

The owner wants to write that afternoon. A referral from someone who trusts you is the warmest lead a small business gets.

Under the anti-spam rules that apply across Canada from July 1, that first email is a special case: allowed without consent, on conditions that are easy to miss.

What the allowance asks of the first email

The allowance comes from the regulations under the law, and it is narrow. The first email to the friend can go without consent only when it meets every one of these points:

Miss any of the first five and the message needs consent like any other, which the friend has not given. Miss the last and it breaks the rules even with consent.

This is general information about the law as it will apply from July 1, not legal advice on your own referrals.

Identification and an unsubscribe still apply

The allowance lifts the need for consent on one message. It does not lift the rules on what every commercial email must contain.

The email must name you and the business, give a mailing address, and offer a way to reach you by phone, by email or through your website.

It also needs a free way to unsubscribe, by reply or by link, that works for at least 60 days. Requests to stop must take effect within ten business days.

Wording the first email

Open with the referrer's name, in the subject line and the first sentence. That name is the reason the friend will read on.

Many people delete unexpected email that asks them to click, and with reason. A familiar name, and no link they must follow, lets yours read as genuine.

Then say who you are, what you did for the referrer, and why they thought of the friend. Make no claim the referrer did not make.

End with one easy step, a reply or a call, and say you will not write again unless they would like you to.

A worked example

A senior moving service with two crews helps people move from a family house into an apartment or a smaller home, sorting, packing and setting up the new place.

Most of its work comes by word of mouth. Adult children who hired it for one parent pass on the addresses of friends whose parents face the same move.

Its habit had been to add each address to the monthly newsletter, with a welcome email that never said who had suggested it.

With July in mind, the owner changed the routine. A referred friend now gets one personal email from her, with the customer's name in the subject and the referral explained in the first line.

It carries the business's address and phone number, offers an unsubscribe by reply, and promises no newsletter unless the friend asks.

Each referral goes in a short log, as does any reply asking for the newsletter, so every address on the list has a reason beside it.

Recording the referral

If anyone asks why you wrote, you are the one expected to show that the allowance applied. A note made at the time is the simplest proof.

Record the referrer's full name, how they know you and the friend, when they passed on the address, and the date and text of your one message.

A spreadsheet will do, or a note on the contact in your customer records, as long as it is made the same day.

Ask the referrer whether the friend expects to hear from you. A friend who was told reads the email as a favour rather than an intrusion.

Consent before a second message

Once the first email is sent, the allowance is used up. Anything further that promotes the business needs the friend's consent.

The clearest form is express consent: the friend replies asking for the newsletter, or ticks a box on your sign-up form. Record the date and how it was given.

A friend who writes asking about your services has made an enquiry, which counts as implied consent for six months. Ask for express consent within that time.

Silence is not consent. A friend who never replies has agreed to nothing, and the log should show that you stopped.

Where referrals turn into spam

Adding a referred address to the newsletter list is the commonest slip. The newsletter is a second message in all but name.

A welcome series is another: three emails over two weeks use the allowance on the first and have nothing to stand on after.

Bought or swapped lists of referrals never qualify, because nobody on them was referred by someone who knows both sides.

Letting the friend write first

There is a simpler route when it suits. Ask your customer to pass your details to the friend, and let the friend write to you.

A reply to someone who contacted you first is not a cold message, and the conversation is one the friend chose to begin.

The counter-case

A business that never emails people it has not met, and waits for referred friends to call, has nothing to change in July.

But a referral is often the friend's first impression of you. Writing that email properly, with the referrer named and a record kept, takes a few minutes and keeps the warmest leads clean.

Before writing to the friend

  1. Ask the referrer how they know the friend.
  2. Check the friend expects to hear from you.
  3. Name the referrer in the subject and first line.
  4. Say the email is sent because of the referral.
  5. Sign it with your details and an unsubscribe.
  6. Log the referral and the message the same day.
  7. Wait for a yes before writing again.

Step six protects everything else. Without a record, a properly written email looks exactly like an improper one, and a year later nobody can say which it was.

Order exports that open garbled in a spreadsheet explains how to keep names and numbers intact when a log like this is filled from exported files.

Frequently asked questions

Can I email a friend my customer recommended?

Once, without the friend's consent, if your customer has a relationship with both of you, and the message names your customer and says the referral is why you are writing.

Does that first email need an unsubscribe?

Yes. The referral allowance removes only the need for consent. The email must still identify you and the business, give a mailing address and contact details, and offer a free way to unsubscribe.

When do these rules take effect?

From July 1, 2014. Building the habit now means the referrals that arrive this spring are already handled the way the law will expect.

Can I add the friend to my newsletter?

Not on the strength of the referral, because the newsletter would be a second message. Ask in the first email, and add the friend only if they say yes, with the date recorded.

What should I record about each referral?

Who referred whom, how the referrer knows each of you, when the address was passed on, the date and text of your one email, and any reply that gives or refuses consent.

What if the friend contacts me first?

Then you are answering an enquiry and the referral allowance is not needed. An enquiry also gives implied consent for six months, so ask for express consent within that time.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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