New Antispam Law in Effect in Canada

by Leave a Comment

The long awaited Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL) came into effect on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. The legislation governs the way we send commercial electronic messages (CEMs) to prospects. It is important for all companies in Canada to comply. The purpose of the legislation is to reduce the number of unwanted emails to people’s inboxes and to ensure that the messages we get are ones that we approve and want. That is why a big chunk of CASL focuses consent through the following means: Implied Consent – One of the most obvious ways you can obtain an implied consent is through an existing business relationship or what we call the business card cue. Current clients and referral sources are two examples of an existing business relationship. Express Consent-This is given directly from the content – can be either or oral in writing. You have permission until the person withdraws the consent (through unsubscribe) to send the emails. CASL

Fines:

Businesses that fail to comply with this law will be heavily fined. Penalties range from $1 million to $10 million. Based on the experience of other countries with similar legislation, Canadian government officials expect to see results quickly. They look at Australia as an example – the year after Australia passed this kind of legislation in 2004, it dropped out of the world’s top 10 spam originating countries. Canada is the last of G8 nations to pass this law.

Exemptions:

These messages are exempt from CASL:

  • Messages to an employee, contractor, or person who is working with your company.
  • Messages to family members or a person with whom you have a personal relationship with.
  •  Messages attempting to enforce a legal right or court order.
  • Responses to a current customer, or someone who has made an inquiry about your products/services in the last six months.
  •  Messages that will be opened or accessed in a foreign country, including the U.S., China, and most of Europe.
  •  However, you should be aware that all G8 countries now have some sort of anti-spam law in place.
  • Messages sent on behalf of a charity or political organization for the purposes of raising funds or soliciting contributions.
  • Messages that offer information about warranty, recall, safety, or security information.
  • One message to a recipient who you don’t have an existing relationship with on the basis of a referral. The first and last name of the referral must be disclosed. The referrer may be family or have another relationship with the person to whom you’re sending.
  • Messages that provide information about a purchase, subscription, membership, account, loan, or other ongoing relationship, including delivery of product updates or upgrades.
  • If your message does not meet one of these criteria, consent is required under CASL

 

Mandates:

It is recommended that all companies receive express consent from their recipients. When in doubt, businesses should send another email confirming the relationship and requesting that the recipient re-subscribe to email blasts. Here is what the law mandates you to deliver alongside your message. 1. For the purposes of subsection 6(2) of the Act, the following information must be set out in any commercial electronic message:

  • the name by which the person sending the message carries on business, if different from their name, if not, the name of the person;
  • if the message is sent on behalf of another person, the name by which the person on whose behalf the message is sent carries on business, if different from their name, if not, the name of the person on whose behalf the message is sent;
  • if the message is sent on behalf of another person, a statement indicating which person is sending the message and which person on whose behalf the message is sent; and
  • the mailing address, and either a telephone number providing access to an agent or a voice messaging system, an email address or a web address of the person sending the message or, if different, the person on whose behalf the message is sent.

2. If it is not practicable to include the information referred to in subsection (1) and the unsubscribe mechanism referred to in paragraph 6(2)(c) of the Act in a commercial electronic message, that information may be posted on a page on the World Wide Web that is readily accessible by the person to whom the message is sent at no cost to them by means of a link that is clearly and prominently set out in the message.

DiggThis

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

How To Effectively Correspond Through Emails

by Leave a Comment

Last week, we attended a workshop on developing effective communication skills in the workplace. The purpose of this workshop was to teach forward thinking companies to use emails to get more of what they want and to raise awareness about common errors businesses make in this commonplace communication form. Here is a brief summary of what our Contact Management Software Specialists learned from attending this very informative professional development seminar.

 

email marketing

Common Pitfalls:

The first common mistake highlighted in the workshop was the sending of emails only when something is REALLY needed. The purpose of an email is to build relationships before you need something – urgently. That means not waiting until the last minute-procrastination is not a very productive way of doing business. It’s recommended to send multiple emails with shorter lengths than to send one bulky email that is over one page long to read when printed.

 

The first common pitiful leads us right into the second one – forgetting that there’s a human reading the email on the other end. All emails should have the proper introductions. Whether it is hello, good morning, how are you, you are using valuable warm-ups cues to soften the serious nature of the email.

 

Improving Business Practices:

There were two valuable lessons we learned from this workshop and we thought we would share them with our readers and customers.

1)      Scheduling Emails in Advance – Arranging for emails to be sent in 24 or 48 hours gives you (and the clients) time to breathe between non-urgent tasks. It also sets the pace for future communication whereby your client no longer expects you to reply right away. The more structure and parameters you give to the form of your messages, the easier it is for the clients to know what to expect from your business relationships.

2)      Keep Emails Short and Productive – Every business should commit to making every email message 5 sentences or less whenever it is possible to do. Setting the limit to the amount of words you write ensures you stick to your aims/goals. This brings us to the first pitfall we identified in this article – sending emails only when it is urgent. It is recommended to send more emails throughout the day, rather than one big one. Remember, the person who’s reading the email is human too and has other priorities.

 

Use these suggestions as the starting point to creating e-mail etiquettes that will help you and your team stay productive, proactive, and professional.

DiggThis

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post