Smart Calling: Call back prospects who have requested a callback

Updated on September 3, 2026. Sources: Légifrance, DGCCRF, CNIL.

Since August 11, 2026, the outbound call market has shifted sides. The Act of August 11, 2026, on Telemarketing It is prohibited to call a consumer who has not given prior consent, and the burden of proving such consent falls on the business. A purchased or leased B2C database therefore becomes, in most cases, unusable: no one can demonstrate that free, specific, and unambiguous consent was obtained on behalf of your company. The only leads that remain usable are those who left their number and requested a callback. Smart calling involves organizing that callback: it is the most direct response to the legal shift.

The lifeblood of a sales team is on the move: it’s now the callback requests that your website generates every day.

Smart Calling, Explained

The term comes from an American book by Art Sobczak on cold calling, and it’s the concept itself that interests us here more than the sales method. “Smart calling” refers to a call made to someone whose identity you know, whose needs you understand, and who knows you’re going to call them.

The difference from cold calling lies in how the contact is initiated, much more so than in the script. In cold calling, the salesperson dials a number from a database and gets to know the person on the other end within the first twenty seconds. With smart calling, the prospect has filled out a form, clicked a callback button, or requested a demo. They’ve taken action. They’re expecting the call.

Until now, this difference was a matter of business convenience. Since the reform, it has become a matter of compliance.

Why a lead who asks to be called back is more reliable than a purchased list

Article L223-1 of the Consumer Code, as in effect as of August 11, 2026, requires free, specific, informed, unambiguous, and revocable consent, expressed through a clear affirmative act. The burden of proof lies with the business making the call.

A purchased file rarely fails in principle, but almost always in practice. Consent, when it exists, was obtained by a third party, for the benefit of unnamed “partners,” for unspecified “commercial offers,” on a date over which you have no control. However, the Decree No. 2026-662 of July 23, 2026 closes these three loopholes: the request must specify the identity of the business, the nature of the goods or services in question, and the period of consent, which may not exceed one year. The proof must be retained for at least three years and must be provided to any consumer who requests it.

A callback request submitted on your own website automatically meets these criteria. The business’s identity is yours, the nature of the services is derived from the page viewed, the affirmative action is the submission of the form, and the date comes from the server’s timestamp. So you don’t have to reconstruct anything afterward: the evidence is created at the same time as the lead.

However, do not confuse the source of the contact with the quality of the data collection: a poorly drafted form results in an incoming lead without valid consent. The fact that the prospect reaches out to you does not exempt you from any of the disclosures required by the decree. And let’s not forget that on August 5, 2026, the DGCCRF clarified that a business may not call a consumer for the purpose of obtaining their consent: everything must be handled before the call is made.

Set up a follow-up system for leads who have given their consent

The Reminder Form

The basic building block: a number field, the nature of the request, and a consent checkbox that is not pre-checked, separate from the acceptance of the terms and conditions. A pre-checked box or one combined with another element does not constitute a clear affirmative action. Place it where the intent is most evident: pricing pages, comparison charts, product pages, or contact forms.

The Web Callback

The “Request a Callback” button handles the same intent without making the visitor wait: they enter their number, the system initiates the call, and connects them with an available sales representative. Kavkom explains how this works on its page dedicated to immediate callbacks from a website. Technically, the call is outgoing; legally, it stems from an explicit request made at that very moment on a specific page. This is the easiest scenario to document.

Click-to-Call

On the sales representative’s workstation, click-to-call eliminates the need to dial manually: a single click on the lead’s record initiates the call from the browser or the CRM. The benefits go beyond simply saving time. Since the call originates from the lead record, it is automatically linked to it (number, date, duration, outcome), rather than depending on what the sales representative enters manually.

The reminder period

No law sets a time limit for calling back a consenting prospect. The decree of July 23, 2026, sets a validity period of one year, and Article D223-9 of the Consumer Code sets a limit of four calls per consumer over a rolling 30-day period, including attempted calls, even if no message was left. Article D223-9 addresses solicitation of consumers without providing an exception for those who have given consent: the limit therefore also applies to a consenting contact. The business logic, however, is simple: a request for a callback reflects an intention at a given moment, and that intention fades over time. Calling back promptly means staying true to what the prospect requested. Add to that the permitted hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. and 2 p.m.–8 p.m. in the prospect’s time zone, never on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays.

What Your Data Collection Form Should Include

Article R223-1 of the Consumer Code, stemming from the decree of July 23, 2026, lists the information that the request for consent must present in a clear and understandable manner. If even one of these items is missing, the prospective customer is not considered to have given consent:

• the identity of the business representative who will be calling—that is, your company name, rather than a vague brand name or “our partners”;
• the nature of the goods or services covered by the solicitation;
• the option to consent or decline, meaning a genuine choice, rather than a single checkbox to select to submit the form;
• the consent period, which is a maximum of one year from the date of collection, with no possibility of tacit renewal;
• the right to withdraw consent at any time, and the procedures for doing so, which must not be more complex than those used to obtain consent;
• the prospect’s access to proof of their consent, upon request.

Also provide for the ability to withdraw consent, which can be done at any time and by any means, including verbally. A prospect who says, “Don’t call me again,” during the call has withdrawn their consent—but the sales representative must be able to record this immediately. The complete checklist for proof of consent details the expected wording and record-keeping procedures.

What to connect to the CRM

On the day of an audit, the question is always the same: for this number, where did the consent come from? A CRM that only stores the name and phone number cannot answer that question. Attach the following to each contact:

• the exact date and time of collection, server-side timestamped;
• the page URL and the source channel (form, callback button, demo request);
• the exact text submitted by the prospect: if you modify the form, the previous version must remain retrievable;
• the expiration date, automatically calculated as one year, with outbound campaigns ending on that date;
• the call counter over a rolling 30-day period, including failed attempts;
• the withdrawal record: date, channel, and person who entered the information.

One final point: the records must remain accessible for at least three years, even for inactive contacts or sales representatives who have left the company. If the telephony system and the CRM aren’t fully integrated, reconstructing the data becomes a project in its own right. The same logic applies to your incoming calls, which are treated as a sales channel.

These rules apply to calls made to consumers. In B2B contexts, cold calling remains permissible under certain conditions, based on legitimate interest, provided that the purpose of the solicitation is related to the profession of the person being called, with information provided at the time of data collection and a right to opt out that is simple and free of charge. In mixed cases (tradespeople, independent professionals, personal numbers used for business purposes), the analysis depends on the specific situation; please refer to the CNIL’s recommendations and the DGCCRF’s practical guide. This text does not constitute legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Does the ban taking effect on August 11, 2026, apply to smart calling?

Yes: this is a sales call to a consumer. But by its very nature, it meets the legal requirement, since the prospect requested a callback. However, the record must be accurate, and proof must be retained.

Does a request for a callback constitute consent to telemarketing?

For the requested service, from the identified provider, and for the specified period. It does not authorize the provider to contact the same person regarding an unrelated service, nor to share the person’s phone number with another entity.

How long will my list of consenting leads remain usable?

A maximum of one year from the date of collection, according to the decree of July 23, 2026. After that, new consent is required. The evidence must be retained for at least three years.

What will happen to files purchased before August 11, 2026?

They remain valid only if you can provide, for each number, consent that complies with the decree. This is rarely the case. Bloctel was discontinued on August 11: the “opt-out” approach has been replaced by the “prior consent” approach.

What are the consequences for a company that makes unsolicited calls?

An administrative fine of up to €75,000 for an individual and €375,000 for a legal entity per violation, pursuant to Article L242-16; these penalties are cumulative in the event of concurrent violations. The decision is published at the expense of the person subject to the penalty. Furthermore, any contract entered into as a result of unlawful solicitation is null and void.

Tools

Kavkom is a 100% cloud-based business phone system. Its hybrid CRM links every call to the contact’s record (source, timestamp, outcome), which eliminates the need to manually reconstruct the call history when requested. All features are included at no extra cost, with no long-term commitment, and billing is prorated. To see how this works for your business, request a demo.