The GDPR does not specify changes to the legitimacy of sales prospecting. As specified by the CNIL, prospecting without prior opt-in is allowed in some cases for B2B and B2C purposes.
In B2B communications (to professionals), it is possible to prospect with professional individual addresses (ex: marie@company.com) without obtaining consent provided that:
- the communication is related to the recipient's professional role, and
- the recipient can easily unsubscribe from your messages via an unsubscribe link in the email.
In B2C communications (to consumers), sending commercial communications without obtaining consent is allowed provided that:
- the recipient is already your customer, and
- the communication concerns products or services similar to those already purchased by your recipient, and
- the recipient can easily unsubscribe from your messages via an unsubscribe link in the email.
Please consider the cases mentioned above as exceptions. Outside of these cases, consent (opt-in) is absolutely required for prospecting communications.
Good to know: this article discusses the GDPR's legal point of view established by the E-Privacy Directive (2002). To maintain a good sender reputation, and thus good email deliverability, we recommend obtaining consent before sending any prospecting communications.