17.2 Prospect Follow-Up, CASL Compliance & Lead Conversion
Key Takeaways
Track the prospect’s actual request, readiness, preferred channel and authority for follow-up.
Use the Consumer Relationships Guide and make the written disclosures required by Rule 55 before eliciting confidences or as soon as possible after they are volunteered.
CASL qualifying relationship windows include two years for certain transactions or contracts and six months for inquiries. First-message referrals have specific conditions.
Apply the National DNCL rules to voice telemarketing. A direct do-not-call request remains binding even where an existing relationship could exempt the call from the National DNCL.
Check an existing service agreement before proposing new representation and refer contract-termination questions to the current broker or independent counsel.
Follow up with a useful next step
A customer relationship management (CRM) system should distinguish a property inquiry, permission for future marketing and a decision to be represented. Record where the contact came from, what the person asked for, which channel they prefer, the lawful basis for further contact and any expiry or opt-out. Reply promptly to the actual question. Where a later promotion is permitted, plan follow-up around the consumer’s needs. A buyer ready to tour may need a time and access instructions. Someone planning a move next spring may benefit from a later reminder they request. A portal inquiry gives a specific question and a channel for the reply. An open-house sign-in may only serve access or safety. A past-client referral can introduce a new prospect, but permission to contact the referrer does not automatically cover the new person. Capture each source separately instead of placing every contact into the same newsletter.
Qualify a prospect in stages. Start with the location, broad needs and next action. Establish who you represent before asking for confidential motivation, financial limits or negotiation positions. Once the relationship and consent are clear, learn the timeline, financing readiness and who can authorize decisions. Confirm whether an existing agreement limits the services the prospect can accept. If they ask how to end another brokerage’s agreement, suggest discussing it with that broker or seeking independent legal advice. Review the agreement and applicable professional or association rules before proposing new services.
Explain representation before collecting confidential details
Under Rules 60 and 60.1, use the mandatory Consumer Relationships Guide in residential trading and the mandatory content for applicable forms. Rule 55 requires written disclosure of the nature of the services, other representation, conflicts and other facts likely to influence the person’s decision before eliciting confidential information, as soon as possible if the person volunteers it, and in any event before a service agreement. Use best efforts to obtain written acknowledgment. Small talk or factual answers at a bona fide open house do not by themselves trigger Rule 55. Rule 57(b) separately requires the seller’s sole agent to tell interested buyers about the seller agency at the earliest reasonable opportunity.
An unrepresented customer can receive accurate factual information and permitted assistance, such as help recording the customer’s own instructions in forms, within Rule 60. A seller’s associate should refrain from giving a customer advice on what price to offer. Handle volunteered financial or personal information under PIPA and the applicable RECA Rules. Rule 43 requires a written service agreement for a residential client relationship, including services, responsibilities, duration, termination, compensation and use of personal or confidential information. A public sign-in sheet can expose other visitors’ information. Use private intake fields and limit collection and access to what the brokerage needs.
Commercial electronic messages
Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) addresses commercial electronic messages such as promotional emails, texts and messages to electronic addresses. Before a message subject to section 6 goes out, identify the authority for sending it and include the required sender information and a working unsubscribe. A message sent in direct response to a request or inquiry can fall within the regulatory exclusion. That exclusion does not automatically extend to a later sales campaign.
| Basis for an email or text | What to check |
|---|---|
| Express consent | A genuine opt-in that can be demonstrated. It normally continues until withdrawn. Respect the purposes and any limits of the consent. |
| Existing business relationship | A qualifying transaction within two years, an applicable written contract that is still in force or expired within two years, or a qualifying inquiry or application within six months. Record the event and the date. |
| First message following a qualifying referral | The referring individual must have a qualifying business, non-business, family or personal relationship with both the sender and recipient. Identify the referrer by full name, say the message results from the referral and include required sender information and unsubscribe. Further promotional messages need a separate lawful basis. |
| Disclosed or conspicuously published address | Check for an indication against unsolicited messages and confirm the content is relevant to the recipient’s business role, functions or duties. A homeowner publishing contact details to sell a home does not give general consent to unrelated promotion. |
Identify the sender and any different person on whose behalf it is sent. Include the required mailing address and additional contact method. Keep contact information and the unsubscribe route valid for at least 60 days. Give effect to an unsubscribe without delay and within ten business days.
Telephone prospecting
Voice telemarketing has separate rules. For non-exempt calls, follow the brokerage’s National Do Not Call List (DNCL) registration and subscription process and screen using a list obtained no more than 31 days before the call. The CRTC distinguishes an agent making calls directly from an agent hiring a lead generator. Confirm whose registration and subscription are needed and use the applicable internal lists. Keep identification and calling practices consistent with the CRTC rules.
Under Telecommunications Act section 41.7, a qualifying existing business relationship can exempt a call from the National DNCL restriction. Relevant periods include 18 months for specified transactions or an expired written contract, and six months for a qualifying inquiry or application. A current written contract can also qualify. Direct permission can be another basis where the rules permit it. Process a direct do-not-call request during the call. Add it to the internal list within 14 days and retain it for three years and 14 days from the request. An existing relationship does not override the internal request.
For example, a home seller’s inquiry from 14 months ago can sit in the CRM with a date and contact restriction. If that inquiry was the sole basis for sending promotional email, the six-month window has expired. Check for independently documented permission or another basis before outreach. An expired listing with a different brokerage supplies neither a relationship with your brokerage nor permission to call a number on the National DNCL.
Official sources
A brokerage sold Priya’s home 14 months ago. Priya refers Alex, her adult child with whom she communicates regularly, to the brokerage. Assume the brokerage may lawfully use Alex’s email under privacy law. Alex has never contacted the brokerage. How can the brokerage rely on the CASL referral rule?
Add Alex to a newsletter because Priya was a client within the last two years.
Wait until Alex signs a form in person because referrals cannot support any initial message.
Email Alex repeatedly so long as the messages contain a mailing address.
Send one initial message that names Priya in full, states it results from the referral and includes the required sender and unsubscribe information.
Two homeowners with listings that expired 12 months ago are on the National DNCL. The first listed with a different brokerage and has given you no permission to call. The second listed with your brokerage but previously asked it never to call again. Which calls may your brokerage make to solicit a listing?
Both calls, because the properties were previously listed publicly.
Neither call, because the first has no applicable exemption and the second made an internal do-not-call request.
Only the second call, because an 18-month relationship takes precedence over the internal request.
Only the first call, because you can make one initial call about an expired listing.
An open-house visitor asks for the property fact sheet by email. Eight months later, the brokerage wants to add the visitor to a promotional mailing list. The visitor has given no marketing consent and there is no other qualifying relationship or exception. How should the brokerage handle the two messages?
Require express marketing consent before sending the requested fact sheet.
Treat the request as express consent for both messages.
Send the requested fact sheet in response to the inquiry. Obtain a valid consent basis before adding the visitor to promotional mailings.
Send the later promotion without consent as long as it has an unsubscribe link.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.