# Cold outreach in B2B: what is permitted in DE, AT and CH

> Phone, email, letter, LinkedIn: what is permitted in B2B cold outreach. The rules for Germany, Austria and Switzerland in one table.

Quelle: https://whovisit.app/en/blog/b2b-cold-outreach-rules-germany-austria-switzerland
Veröffentlicht: 2026-11-07
Herausgeber: Whovisit (ARAVILO, Innsbruck)

A sales team sees that a company has read the pricing page three times. May it call there now? Write an email? The short answer: it depends on the channel and on the country. Germany, Austria and Switzerland have different rules. This article summarises them and shows what this means in practice.

## The rules at a glance

| Channel | Germany | Austria | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | Permitted with presumed consent | Only with prior consent | Permitted, except for a star entry in the telephone directory |
| Email | Only with prior express consent | Only with prior consent | No mass advertising without prior consent |
| Letter | Permitted as long as there is no objection | Permitted as long as there is no objection | Permitted as long as there is no objection |
| Message on social networks | Disputed, better to treat like email | Better to treat like email | Better to treat like email |

For email there is an exception in all three countries for existing customer relationships. The conditions are narrow, more on that below.

## Germany

The relevant provision is section 7 of the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG).

**Phone:** For calls to businesses, presumed consent is sufficient (§ 7 para. 2 UWG). Presumed means: on the basis of specific circumstances you may assume that the company has an objective interest in your call. A general need that any company might have is not enough. In 2025 the Federal Administrative Court confirmed that without presumed consent, relying on legitimate interest under the GDPR does not help either ([BVerwG, judgment of 29.01.2025, 6 C 3.23](https://www.ra-plutte.de/bverwg-telefonwerbung-ohne-mutmassliche-einwilligung)). Once the company has objected, the door is closed.

**Email:** Advertising by email requires prior express consent in B2B too (§ 7 para. 2 UWG). The exception in § 7 para. 3 UWG applies only to your own customers whose address you obtained at the time of sale, for similar products of your own and with a reference to the right to object.

## Austria

The relevant provision is § 174 of the Telecommunications Act 2021 (TKG 2021).

**Phone:** Calls for advertising purposes require prior consent. The law does not distinguish between private individuals and companies. There is no presumed consent as in Germany.

**Email:** Electronic mail for direct marketing also requires prior consent, towards companies as well as towards consumers. There are exceptions for existing customer relationships. An overview is offered by the [Austrian Federal Economic Chamber](https://www.wko.at/oe/internetrecht/e-mail-fax-telefonwerbung-telekommunikationsgesetz-detail).

For Austria this means: a cold advertising call to a company is inadmissible even if it has just visited your website.

## Switzerland

The relevant provision is Art. 3 para. 1 of the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG).

**Email:** Mass advertising by telecommunications means is unfair if it is sent without prior consent, without correct indication of the sender or without an easy way to decline (lit. o). There is an exception for existing customers. The term mass advertising is interpreted broadly. Whether a single, individually written email to a selected company falls under it is disputed. Serial emails with placeholders clearly do.

**Phone:** Advertising calls are permitted unless the number called carries a star entry in the telephone directory, that is a note that no advertising is wanted (lit. u).

## And the GDPR?

As soon as you address a person, and not just "the company", you process personal data: name, extension, email address. In the EU this requires a legal basis, in B2B usually legitimate interest under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. This only holds, however, if the approach is permitted under competition law in the first place. The person also has a right to object to direct marketing (Art. 21 GDPR). Anyone who objects is no longer contacted and is placed on a suppression list.

## What does this mean for website signals?

A website visit is not consent. In Germany it can be one building block for an objective interest, but whether it suffices on its own has not been settled. You should not rely on it.

These routes are safer:

- **A letter to the company.** A short, personal letter on the topic the company has read is permitted in all three countries.
- **Using existing contacts.** If a business relationship already exists, the route via the known contact person is often open.
- **Content instead of a call.** With specialist articles, webinars or a newsletter you obtain consent before you write.
- **Ads aimed at the target group.** Advertising in trade media or networks is not direct outreach.

What such a process looks like in sales is described in [Approaching identified companies: from website visit to conversation](https://whovisit.app/blog/von-der-erkannten-firma-zum-gespraech).

## Frequently asked questions

**Is cold outreach in B2B prohibited?** Not in principle. Letters are permitted everywhere, calls in Germany with presumed consent and in Switzerland without a star entry. Emails without prior consent are inadmissible in Germany and Austria in B2B too.

**Does a business card count as consent?** A card handed over at a trade fair with a request for documents can count as consent for exactly that purpose. It does not suffice for a permanent newsletter. Record when and for what purpose the card was handed over.

**What happens in the event of violations?** Competitors and associations can issue warnings. In Austria, administrative fines are an additional risk. For violations of the GDPR, the data protection authority can impose fines.