Multichannel outreach is a pillar of modern sales and marketing strategy—but it’s also a legal minefield. Between evolving federal regulations, state-specific rules, and shifting enforcement priorities, it’s easier than ever to trip up. And the consequences for even small missteps are growing increasingly severe.
During VanillaSoft’s recent “Understanding Multichannel Compliance” webinar, Director of Conversation Compliance with Gryphon.ai Melody Morehouse (Griffin AI) and VanillaSoft’s VP of Customer Experience Daniel Sims explored the biggest sales compliance pitfalls across phone, text, and email. While the conversation was packed with actionable insight, one theme stood out: compliance isn’t just about risk mitigation—it’s about long-term viability.
Here are nine of the most common—and costly—ways organizations get into trouble across the three primary outreach channels.
Phone: High Risk, High Regulation
1. Calling Without Proper Consent or Documentation
Calling someone without clear, documented consent is one of the fastest ways to violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Businesses often assume that submitting a form or downloading a whitepaper qualifies as long-term permission to call, but that’s a dangerous assumption. Consent needs to be explicit, and in many cases, it expires within a set timeframe—often 90 days—if there’s no further engagement.
2. Overlooking State-Specific Calling Restrictions
Federal law provides a basic framework for calling hours (8 a.m. to 9 p.m.), but many states go further. Some restrict calling hours to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., others prohibit solicitation on weekends or state holidays, and many impose stricter limitations on call frequency. If you’re calling a lead three times in a 24-hour window—especially if combined with texts—you may already be in violation of state law.
3. Misjudging Time Zones and Location
Assuming that a lead’s area code reflects their actual location is no longer safe. People move frequently without updating their phone numbers, which means a call intended for someone in California could end up violating rules in New York—or vice versa. With laws varying by state and sometimes tied to the recipient’s local time, businesses need accurate data and systems to determine where contacts actually reside.
Text Messaging: Fast, Convenient—and Legally Complex
4. Sending SMS Without Proper Registration
Texting through a business platform now requires 10DLC (10-digit long code) registration to ensure compliance with carrier regulations. Failure to register can result in messages being blocked, filtered, or flagged as spam. Worse, carriers can impose steep fines—up to $500 per noncompliant message—making unregistered texting not just risky, but expensive.
5. Ignoring Frequency Caps and Opt-Outs
States often apply the same contact frequency rules to text messages as they do to phone calls. That means three combined messages (calls or texts) in a 24-hour period could be the limit. If a recipient opts out via SMS, you’re obligated to honor it immediately. Continuing to message someone who has opted out—whether due to poor internal processes or disjointed tech stacks—can expose your organization to serious penalties.
6. Messaging During State Emergencies
Some states, including Louisiana and New York, prohibit marketing communication during declared states of emergency. These declarations can be short-lived and easily missed if your sales compliance monitoring isn’t real-time. Failing to recognize these periods can result in violations, regardless of intent.
Email: Lower Profile, Still Regulated
7. Omitting a Clear Unsubscribe Option
While email tends to carry lower legal risk than phone or SMS, it’s still regulated under CAN-SPAM and a growing number of state-level laws. Every commercial email must include a visible and functional unsubscribe link. This is one of the most basic sales compliance requirements—and one of the most commonly overlooked.
8. Re-Messaging People Who Previously Opted Out
Reaching out to contacts who have previously unsubscribed—even if their information re-enters your system through a new channel—is a clear compliance violation. Without a centralized suppression list or unified CRM, it’s easy for teams to accidentally re-engage opted-out contacts. But regulators—and recipients—won’t consider that an excuse.
9. Overlooking State-Level Email Laws
While CAN-SPAM governs federal compliance, states are beginning to pass their own legislation around email. Utah’s Commercial Email Act, for example, expands the definition of jurisdiction to include the recipient’s device location or IP address. Even if your business operates in another state, your email could fall under Utah’s rules simply because it was opened there. This patchwork of state regulations is only expected to grow.
Compliance Isn’t a Burden—It’s a Strategic Advantage
Regulations are tightening not just because of technological evolution, but because consumers demand—and deserve—more transparency, control, and respect in how they’re contacted. When done right, sales compliance creates better user experiences, improves deliverability, and boosts trust in your brand.
Businesses that treat compliance as a core part of their customer experience strategy will not only avoid fines—they’ll also outperform competitors who are constantly reacting to change.
Daniel Sims summed it up clearly: “The best way to deal with litigation is to avoid it altogether by staying compliant.”
