What Makes a Lead Compliant?

 

• Lead compliance refers to generating and using leads according to Europe’s GDPR law.
• Companies have to be careful to inform their website users of their data protection rights.
• Failure to comply invokes substantial penalties that could severely harm organizations
• Businesses can achieve compliance with a four-step implementation process
• Smart Funnel helps partners boost lead generation in compliance with the GDPR.

 

One of the most fascinating things about our modern world of globalization is that nothing is ever local anymore. The facts of international trade are easy to appreciate since they’re so much more visible in our daily lives. Americans buy Japanese cars manufactured in Mexico, Germans buy Korean smartphones assembled in China, and everyone buys bananas from Ecuador. Increasingly, lead generation data works in much the same way. Companies contract with expert partners around the world to cultivate leads and use them to boost sales efforts. Physical goods are subject to international trade and manufacturing regulations. Likewise, local data protection regulations can cause ripple effects around the world. To avoid negative legal consequences, lead compliance becomes a key concern for any firm that engages with partners in other countries.

Lead Compliance and the GDPR

If your firm partners in any way with any organizations based in European countries that are part of the EU or EEA, lead compliance should be one of your top priorities.

Since May of 2018, the new European General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, affects the way that companies doing business in Europe can gather, use, and transfer customer data. Complying with this law means that companies have to advise their customers how they record their activity on their websites. It also means that they have to give customers easy-to-understand ways of opting in or out of those tracking methods. This includes explaining that they can still opt out at any time, even after initially agreeing.

This means that as companies conform to these requirements, users can see visible changes to most websites. These come in the form of banners explaining the use of tracking cookies. These banners usually give the option to agree or disagree with letting the company use cookies and use the data they gather.

Beware of GDPR Penalties

This is relevant to the issue of lead compliance because companies need to be sure that all their partners have made these changes if they do business in any way in Europe. The consequences of failing to do so include some hefty fines.

Public authorities, and businesses whose core activities centre around regular or systematic processing of personal data, are required to employ a data protection officer (DPO), who is responsible for managing compliance with the GDPR. Businesses must report any data breaches within 72 hours if they have an adverse effect on user privacy. In some cases, violators of the GDPR may be fined up to €20 million or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year in case of an enterprise, whichever is greater. (Wikipedia)

Ensuring Partner Compliance

The GDPR addresses B2B data collection specifically.

[Companies] can continue to use marketing data for the purposes of B2B engagement as long as the appropriate steps are taken to ensure the data is aligned to a specific objective or campaign. One phrase that is now being used is “Correct Marketing to the Correct Person.” (Wikipedia)

What do B2B lead generation partners need to do to make sure they are compliant with the GDPR? We recommend the following four steps:

1. Know your sources: make an inventory of every partner and data source your company uses. This inventory should include relevant contact information, and notes on whether and when each partner is or must become fully compliant in the areas of both consent and data transfer.
2. Make sure that your organization and partners all use unified opt-in language that you can distribute with ease. Your compliance with the GDPR is your responsibility, so it’s important that the language you use protects you from liability, and that your partners use it.
3. Verify that this language is in place on every page of every campaign before implementation, and keep careful records of the process.
4. Implement legally valid international data transfer processes. For example, sending lead lists in email attachments without encryption is unacceptable.

Partnering With Smart Funnel

Our lead compliance efforts conform to these new regulations. That makes us a reliable lead generation partner for any company doing business in Europe. Contact us today to get started with fully compliant lead generation solutions!