Cold Sales Texts: What California Law Says

The text I got this week

This week a company I'd never heard of texted my business cell. The pitch: they'd find small businesses in my area, text them on my behalf, and book the interested ones onto my calendar. The message even pointed out that I was receiving it through the exact system they'd set up for me, built by scraping Google listings.

I imagine a lot of you have gotten something similar. It's become a common way to sell to small businesses, because business phone numbers are easy to pull from public listings and texts get read.

In California, it's also not allowed.

I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice. But the rule is short and worth knowing, both for the texts you receive and for the ones someone may offer to send for you.

What California's rule says

California Business and Professions Code section 17538.41 prohibits sending a text message advertisement to a cell phone. It defines an advertisement as a message whose main purpose is to promote the sale of goods or services. It applies whenever the number belongs to a California resident, no matter where the sender is located.

There are only a few exceptions. The main one is a business you already have a relationship with, as long as it gives you a way to opt out. A stranger pitching you a service doesn't qualify.

"It's a business number" doesn't settle it

Companies that sell cold texting usually defend it with federal law. The arguments sound like this: business numbers aren't protected by the Do Not Call registry, a curated list isn't an autodialer, and a text to a published business line isn't the same as a text to someone at home.

Some of those arguments have held up in federal court. None of them are part of California's rule. Section 17538.41 doesn't ask whether the phone is a business or personal line, doesn't care how the message was dialed, and doesn't depend on the Do Not Call registry. It asks whether the message was an ad, sent to a California resident's cell phone, by someone you don't already do business with.

Not every question here is settled. A sender could argue that federal law overrides the state rule. But don't assume a texting vendor's legal page covers California just because it's long.

What to do when one arrives

• Don't click anything in it. A legitimate cold pitch and a scam look almost identical from the outside.
• Take a screenshot that shows the sending number, the date, and the time.
• Forward it to 7726 (it spells SPAM). That reports the number to your carrier. Business texting numbers now have to be registered with the carriers, and complaints put that registration at risk.
• File a complaint with the California Attorney General at oag.ca.gov/report. Include the screenshot and what the message was selling.
• Reply STOP only if it's clearly a real business. If you're not sure, don't reply at all. Replying to a scam confirms your number is active.

Set your expectations on the outcome. The law doesn't give you a payout for receiving one text. Enforcement comes from the Attorney General and district attorneys, and complaints are how they find out a company is doing this at scale.

When they offer to do it for you

This is the part that matters more for a small business owner. These texts are usually selling exactly what they are: "we'll run this outreach for you."

If you sign up, the messages go out under your business name, to local businesses, most of them in California. You're the one causing them to be sent. A vendor's guarantee of a few booked appointments doesn't protect you from the complaints, the carrier blocks, or the damage to your reputation with the exact people you want as customers.

It's also worth remembering how you felt when that text showed up on your phone. That's how your prospects will feel about yours.

Texting works well with customers who asked to hear from you. Texting Customers: The Rules Are Stricter Than Email covers how to do that properly.

The bottom line

In California, a sales pitch texted to someone's cell phone isn't allowed unless you already have a relationship with them and give them a way to opt out. It doesn't matter if it's a business line.

If you get one, screenshot it, forward it to 7726, and report it to the Attorney General. If someone offers to send them for you, say no. Your name would be on every one.