
How One-to-One Consent is Transforming Lead Generation

Update: TCPA One-to-One Consent Rule Struck Down January 24, 2025
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit struck down the FCC’s one-to-one consent rule before it could take effect on January 27, 2025. Businesses can continue to collect consent that applies to multiple sellers, as long as that collection process otherwise complies with the TCPA.
Learn more here.
As 2025 approaches, one trend is impossible to ignore: the push for stricter consumer privacy and protection regulations in telecommunications. Beginning January 27, the new one-to-one consent rule under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) will transform how businesses manage outbound marketing.
The rule targets shared consent forms for call centers and lead generation vendors and requires explicit, provable consent from consumers for each single brand. This shift reflects a larger trend toward transparency and accountability in marketing practices—a movement driven by consumer demand for privacy and rising regulatory scrutiny.
Adapting to these changes means rethinking how you collect, manage, and use consumer consent. But with the right strategies, your business can turn this challenge into an opportunity to build stronger, more sustainable customer relationships.
This trend article is part of the series, “Contact Center Trends,” helping you stay current with issues, technologies, best practices, and strategies that impact your business. Our aim is to provide tools and guidance that will improve productivity, efficiency, and sustainable profitability for your sales and lead generation team.
Understanding the one-to-one consent rule
The one-to-one consent rule is shaking up how businesses approach outbound marketing, especially for sales and lead gen teams. Forget relying on blanket permissions or shared consent forms—those days are over. Now, you need clear, written consent from consumers that specifically names your brand as the one they’re agreeing to hear from.
While it may be daunting to overhaul your consent collection to align with these new regulations, Gary Kibel, Partner at Davis+Gilbert, says, “When we boil down to all these rules, it’s a very, very simple process…Does the consumer realize why they’re being contacted? Does it make sense to them?”
Here’s what businesses need to know about the one-to-one consent rule and its impact on outbound marketing strategies:
Consent must be brand-specific. This means you’ll need written agreement from consumers that clearly names your brand as the one authorized to contact them. Gone are the days of broad or shared permissions that allowed multiple companies to use the same consent.
Your outreach must be logical and topical. Ensure that it aligns with the context of the consumer’s interaction and the purpose of their consent. For example, if someone fills out a form about auto insurance, you can’t use that consent to promote unrelated products like home loans. The reason for your call or message must directly match what the consumer agreed to when they provided their consent.
Consent forms with checkboxes must be unchecked by default. The consumer has to actively check the box to give consent.
The shift initiated by the one-to-one consent rule is all about boosting transparency and accountability. It’s a call to action for businesses to rethink their outreach practices to better reflect consumers' expectations. What’s more, adaptation to this new rule should be part of a contact center’s overall compliance program that continues to evolve in alignment with the spirit and letter of new rules. After all, adding new state and federal regulations around consumer protections has been the trend for some time.
The 2025 shift: How 1:1 consent is reshaping lead generation
As the one-to-one consent rule reshapes lead generation, it’s clear this trend is redefining how businesses connect with consumers. By eliminating shared consent forms, the rule raises the bar for transparency and accountability, forcing companies to innovate.
While the transition presents challenges, it also creates opportunities to rebuild trust and adopt smarter, more consumer-focused strategies that align with evolving expectations.
1:1 consent challenges
Reworking these processes isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. Businesses will need to invest time into refining their methods and testing what works. Michele Shuster, Managing Partner at Mac Murray & Shuster, explains:
“It’s going to take some time to test leads, to do some A-B testing and determine what’s going to convert, and what’s going to be enough to keep your business afloat.” This testing process is essential for finding a balance between compliance and maintaining strong conversion rates.
For companies relying on third-party lead vendors, the challenges extend even further. The rule holds businesses accountable for the compliance practices of their partners, which means simply trusting vendors is no longer enough.
Contact centers that rely on leads from vendors still need to make sure those leads meet the new consent requirements. Ensuring compliance now requires regular audits, detailed communication, and rigorous vetting of vendor practices.
Lead volume is another area where businesses may feel the pinch. With narrower consent requirements, the pool of usable leads may initially shrink—especially for those relying on broad, less targeted methods.
To combat this, businesses need to optimize every aspect of their lead generation processes. Refining workflows, improving targeting, and leveraging technology to maintain quality while adjusting to smaller lead pools will be key to thriving in this new landscape.
Opportunities for better lead quality
With stricter consent standards in place, companies can move away from broad, untargeted leads that result in low engagement. Instead, they can prioritize building a pipeline of more relevant prospects who are genuinely interested in their offerings.
This focus on trust and transparency is more important than ever. Cisco’s 2024 Consumer Privacy Survey revealed that 75% of consumers say they won’t purchase from organizations they don’t trust with their data.
By aligning with the one-to-one consent rule, businesses can demonstrate their commitment to safeguarding consumer information—fostering loyalty and positioning themselves as reliable partners in a competitive market.
This shift could be particularly advantageous for small businesses. “Some said this is going to hurt small businesses because it’ll be harder to generate leads,” Kibel says. “Others said it would help small businesses because now they’ll get quality leads as opposed to being inundated with messages from consumers who aren’t relevant to them.”
Although higher-quality leads may cost more upfront, the long-term benefits far outweigh the initial investment.
Margaret Wise, Chief Revenue Officer at ActiveProspect, highlighted the operational advantages: “Maybe you’re paying more upfront, but…there’s a lot of intangible costs for your whole organization. You’re not making as many calls, you’re not processing as much. If you’re weeding some of that out…it comes out as a net positive.”
By focusing on fewer, better leads, you can reduce inefficiencies, save time, and improve ROI.
This focus on quality also incentivizes another 2025 call center trend, which is in-house lead generation. Managing leads internally gives businesses greater control over compliance and ensures they nurture prospects who align with their offerings.
Survival of the compliant
While the tighter standards present challenges, they also create opportunities to outlast the competition. Alexandra Krasovec, Partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, expects class action lawsuits to spike as plaintiff attorneys look for gaps in how companies handle consent, revocation requests, and compliance policies. “You're going to see a lot of plaintiff's counsel coming out of the woodwork. They want to exploit gray areas,” she says.
As TCPA lawsuits rise, businesses that comply will benefit from a thinning field. On the other hand, those that fail to adapt risk being left behind. Chris Deatherage, General Counsel at Apollo Interactive, puts it bluntly: “Compliance is literally comply or die.”
For non-compliant businesses, the future looks grim. TCPA penalties, lawsuits, and distancing from industry partners can make continuing operations nearly impossible. But for those who embrace compliant practices, there’s a path to stronger partnerships, higher lead quality, and a reputation for integrity.
The one-to-one consent rule is reshaping the landscape and creating space for innovation and growth. Businesses that meet the challenge head-on will not only survive—they’ll thrive in a more trust-driven market.
Strategies for navigating the 1:1 consent shift
Adapting to the one-to-one consent rule is a crucial part of staying competitive in 2025. As this trend reshapes how businesses manage consumer outreach, the right strategies can help you comply with the new requirements and build a stronger, more efficient lead generation system. Here are five key approaches to successfully navigate this shift.
1. Strengthen lead generation practices
The first step is to evaluate your current methods for collecting and managing leads. Ask yourself: Are your processes truly designed to meet the stricter standards of one-to-one consent?
For businesses working with third-party vendors, the stakes are particularly high. Regular audits are essential to ensure your partners obtain explicit, brand-specific consent and maintain proper documentation.
Shuster emphasizes, “If you're not on the privacy compliance bandwagon, it's time to do it and start really assessing what kind of data you have, who you're sharing it with, what your contract provisions are, and whether you're meeting the requirements of safeguarding that information.”
To avoid costly mistakes, schedule periodic vendor reviews or audits. Identifying gaps early on can save time, resources, and compliance headaches.
2. Shift toward in-house lead generation
Relying on external vendors introduces risks, making a move to in-house lead generation a compelling strategy for 2025. By managing your own leads, you gain unmatched control over compliance and the ability to prioritize higher-quality prospects.
This shift also allows businesses to pivot from outdated practices of quantity-driven leads to strategies that emphasize value and long-term results.
In-house lead generation allows you to focus on sourcing more relevant leads with higher intent, leading to better conversion rates. While higher-quality leads may cost more upfront, they save resources in the long run by reducing inefficiencies and improving ROI. “If you’re paying $1 a lead and one out of 20 works out, maybe it’s better to pay $5 a lead and 50% of them work out,” Kibel says.
Another key benefit is efficiency. With in-house lead generation, your team spends less time chasing unresponsive or low-quality leads and more time focusing on prospects ready to engage. This streamlined approach maximizes the value of your outreach efforts and ensures you direct your resources toward the highest-impact opportunities.
In-house lead generation isn’t just about compliance—it’s about evolving your strategy to meet the demands of a changing market. By taking control of your lead sourcing, your business can adapt to regulatory changes, improve the quality of interactions, and ultimately drive better results.
3. Design a strong consent journey
A well-designed consent journey is essential for compliance and consumer trust. Poorly executed workflows can lead to confusion, consent fatigue, or disengagement—problems that not only harm your reputation but also increase compliance risks. “The more you inundate consumers with so many different disclosures, the more confused they are,” Kibel said.
To create an effective consent journey, focus on clarity and transparency at every step:
Request consent at logical points: For example, ask for consent after a consumer has engaged with content related to the topic, rather than overwhelming them with requests upfront.
Use clear, simple language: Avoid legal jargon or vague terms that could confuse consumers. The goal is for your audience to immediately understand what they’re agreeing to.
Avoid dark patterns: Stay away from tactics like pre-checked boxes or misleading prompts, which can create distrust and potentially invalidate consent.
When designing your new consent journey, keep Kibel’s advice in mind: “Just pretend that your 80-year-old grandmother is going through the internet and signing up for something. Is she going to understand why she's then getting a phone call later on about what she interacted with online?”
Keeping consent workflows intuitive and straightforward ensures that consumers fully grasp what they’re agreeing to, fostering trust and reducing compliance challenges.
4. Leverage compliance technology
Technology is a powerful ally for navigating the complexities of one-to-one consent, and compliant dialer software plays a critical role in this landscape. Modern contact center solutions help businesses balance efficiency with the stringent demands of regulatory compliance, ensuring campaigns run smoothly while staying within the bounds of the law.
Advanced dialing capabilities
Compliance-minded dialer software enhances outreach by automating key processes like lead prioritization, Do Not Call (DNC) list scrubbing, and callback scheduling. These features streamline operations and reduce the risk of human error, ensuring campaigns are compliant from start to finish.
Caller ID management
Maintaining a strong connection rate while adhering to compliance standards requires robust caller ID reputation management. Contact center solutions with automated tools can monitor flagged or blocked numbers and seamlessly replace them, reducing disruptions and maintaining consistent contact rates.
Consent tracking and real-time analytics
Effective compliance technology integrates real-time tracking of consent records, ensuring every call or message is backed by provable consumer agreement. Detailed dashboards and analytics tools also provide insight into campaign performance, enabling teams to proactively address potential compliance issues before they escalate.
Leading the way in the 2025 marketing landscape
The one-to-one consent rule isn’t just a compliance mandate—it’s a defining trend reshaping how businesses connect with consumers. By requiring greater transparency and accountability, this shift challenges companies to innovate and adapt. But those who rise to the occasion have the chance to gain a competitive edge and build a foundation for sustainable growth.
One organization has taken the lead to collectively set new standards for the industry: R.E.A.C.H. (Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment), which consists of organizations seeking to self-regulate business practices to create a healthy lead generation ecosystem that can only be sustained through respect for consumer rights. Learn more about the adopted standards.
To stay ahead in 2025, businesses need to embrace this transformation. Audit your lead generation workflows to align with stricter consent standards, invest in technology that simplifies compliance, and train your team to navigate these changes with confidence. By prioritizing quality over quantity and transparency over outdated tactics, your business can position itself as a leader in a trust-driven market.
The future of lead generation belongs to those who embrace this trend, proving that ethical, consumer-focused practices are the key to long-term success.