The FTC's "established business relationship" (EBR) exemption lets a business call a past customer for up to 18 months after their last payment, purchase, or job, even if their number is on the National Do Not Call Registry. An inquiry that never became a job gives a shorter window, three months. That exemption has real limits: a customer who has told your business specifically not to call still can't be called, no matter how recent the job was, and texting or using an autodialer or a prerecorded message still needs its own separate written consent under the TCPA, a stricter rule than the calling exemption. Direct mail sits outside both rules entirely. The reactivation campaigns that actually get answered are tied to a real, specific reason to reach out, like a maintenance service coming due, not a generic "just checking in."
By the numbers
- 18 months from the last transaction, or 3 months from a bare inquiry. Those are the two established business relationship windows under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, and either one exempts a call to that specific customer from the national Do Not Call Registry. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTED
- A customer's own do-not-call request always wins. The EBR exemption never overrides a specific request from that customer not to be called again, regardless of how recent the last job was. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTED
- Texts and autodialed or prerecorded calls need their own separate consent. The TCPA requires prior express written consent for marketing texts and autodialed or prerecorded calls, a stricter, distinct requirement from the Do Not Call exemption above, and it applies even to an existing customer. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTED
- A 5% lift in customer retention raised profit 25% to 85% in the businesses Bain studied. That's the real range from the original 1990 research; the "up to 95%" figure repeated across marketing blogs is a common misquote of it. INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
- An annual pre-season tune-up is ENERGY STAR's own recommendation for a home's heating and cooling system. That single, real, recurring date is a legitimate reason to reach a past HVAC customer, not a manufactured excuse to call. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTED
Three channels, three different rule sets
"Reactivation" gets treated as one thing. Legally, it's three separate activities, each with its own consent requirement.
| Channel | What's required | Where it breaks down |
|---|---|---|
| Live phone call (a real person dialing) | Covered by the EBR exemption: 18 months from last transaction, or 3 months from a bare inquiry | The window lapsed, or that customer specifically asked not to be called |
| Text message or autodialed/prerecorded call | Separate prior express written consent under the TCPA, on top of any EBR | Treating an old EBR call list as an SMS list; the two consents aren't the same one |
| Direct mail (postcard, letter) | Not reached by the federal calling or texting rules above, since neither covers postal mail | Using a stale address; the physical-mail channel doesn't self-correct like a phone number does |
| CASL and CAN-SPAM instead, covered in full on our email marketing page | Treating an EBR phone window as an email consent window; they run on different clocks |
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements against the regulator sources below before running a campaign.
The reactivation cadence, in order
- Pull the list and sort it by last-service date. Not one pile of "past customers," three: under 12 months, 12 to 18 months, and past 18 months. Each one gets a different approach below.
- Lead with a real, specific reason. "Your system is due for its pre-season check" earns a callback. "Just checking in" gets ignored, or worse, sounds like a sales pitch wearing a disguise.
- Call the under-18-month segment directly. This group is inside the EBR window; a live call doesn't need a Do Not Call check first, only a check against that specific customer's own do-not-call request if one was ever made.
- Use mail, not a call, for the past-18-month segment. The calling exemption has lapsed for this group. A postcard reaches them without touching the rules that govern phone calls and texts.
- Log the outcome, whatever it is. A completed job resets the 18-month clock from that new date. A "don't call me" resets nothing, it's permanent for that customer, and belongs on a suppression list before the next campaign goes out.
Three real doubts about calling old customers
No, and that's the legal distinction the EBR exemption is built on. A cold call to a stranger on the Do Not Call Registry is exactly what that registry exists to block. A call to someone who paid you 10 months ago is a different, exempted category, as long as that specific customer hasn't opted out.
That's the point of sorting by last-service date first. The part of the list under 18 months is still live for a call. The rest isn't wasted, it moves to mail, which runs on a different set of rules entirely and doesn't expire the same way.
A generic "checking in" call does. A call tied to something real, an overdue tune-up, a warranty date, a part that's known to wear out around now, reads as a service reminder, not a pitch, because it is one.
Questions we get
Frequently asked questions
Can I legally call a past customer whose number is on the national Do Not Call Registry?
Yes, if the call falls inside the established business relationship exemption: within 18 months of their last purchase or payment, or within 3 months of an inquiry that never became a job. Being on the registry doesn't block a call from a business that customer already has a recent relationship with.
Does texting a past customer follow the same rules as calling them?
No. The Do Not Call exemption above covers live phone calls. Marketing texts and autodialed or prerecorded calls need their own separate prior express written consent under the TCPA, a stricter and different requirement. An old calling relationship doesn't automatically clear a customer for texts.
What happens once the 18-month window runs out?
A live call to that customer is no longer exempt from Do Not Call rules on its own. That doesn't mean the relationship is dead, it means the next outreach should move to a channel the calling exemption doesn't govern, like direct mail, or wait for a new qualifying transaction to reset the window.
What if a customer already told us not to contact them?
That request overrides everything above. The established business relationship exemption never authorizes contacting someone who has specifically opted out of contact from your business, no matter how recent the last job was. That customer goes on a permanent suppression list.
Is direct mail regulated the same way as phone calls and texts?
No. The federal rules covered here, the Telemarketing Sales Rule's Do Not Call exemption and the TCPA's consent requirements, govern telephone calls and texts specifically. Neither reaches a mailed postcard, which is why a past-18-month customer segment is usually a better fit for mail than for a phone call.
What's the single best trigger for a reactivation campaign?
A real, dated reason tied to the work itself: a maintenance service that's due, a warranty approaching its end, a part with a known service life. It out-performs a generic "checking in" message because it gives the customer an actual reason to pick up, not just a reason to feel sold to.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, Q&A for Telemarketers & Sellers About DNC Provisions in the TSR: the established business relationship exemption, its 18-month and 3-month windows, and the requirement that a company-specific do-not-call request always overrides it.
- Federal Communications Commission, Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts: the separate prior express written consent requirement under the TCPA for marketing texts and autodialed or prerecorded calls.
- U.S. Department of Energy / ENERGY STAR, How to Keep Your HVAC System Working Efficiently: the annual, pre-season professional tune-up recommendation used here as a real reactivation trigger.
- Frederick Reichheld and W. Earl Sasser Jr., "Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services," Harvard Business Review (1990), and Bain & Company's own later commentary on that research: the original 25%-to-85% profit range from a 5% retention increase, across the specific industries studied.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Telemarketing and consent rules change, and exact windows and requirements should be confirmed against current regulator guidance before a campaign goes out. The Reichheld/Bain profit range reflects the specific industries in the original study, not a universal guarantee for every business.