B2B cold calling in Germany in 2026: what the law allows and how to open the call

The short answer

In Germany, cold calling is allowed in B2B and, in practice, not allowed with consumers. For consumers, § 7(2) no. 1 UWG (the Act against Unfair Competition) requires prior express consent. For other market participants, it requires at least presumed consent. That distinction is the whole legal framework. It is also the best sales training there is. If you can explain why this business has an objective interest in this call, you have presumed consent in law and an opening in the conversation. If you cannot, you have neither.

What is presumed consent under § 7 UWG?

Consent is presumed where, before you dial, concrete circumstances allow you to assume that the business has an objective interest in this very call. What counts is the situation before the call, not how the call goes: a call that goes well does not turn an unlawful call into a lawful one after the event.

The two judgments that practice relies on yield four test questions. This is guidance for day-to-day sales, not legal advice on an individual case.

1. Is there a concrete circumstance that goes beyond the industry? A general link to what the business offers is not enough; a factual connection with an existing business relationship can be (BGH, 11 March 2010 – I ZR 27/08).
2. Does the interest relate to this offer, not just to the topic? In the “search engine entry” case, the BGH considered that a call to check stored data might be covered, but not using the same call to sell a paid entry (BGH, 20 September 2007 – I ZR 88/05).
3. May I assume they want a phone call in particular? According to the same judgment, presumed consent must extend not only to the content but also to the form of advertising. If a letter would do the same job, the phone often lacks a justification.
4. Is the circumstance recorded in the CRM before anyone dials? The law does not require this for businesses. But consent you cannot show in a dispute is of little use.

Situation before the call	Assessment	Why
A customer you have a business relationship with, called about a related topic	likely sound	factual connection with an existing business relationship (I ZR 27/08)
A salesperson changes employer and tells customers they know about the move	generally lawful	so the BGH in I ZR 27/08; applies to the information, not to any sales call
A business has a free directory listing and the call is meant to sell a paid one	likely not	I ZR 88/05
The business belongs to the target industry, nothing else is known	not sound	a general link is not enough (I ZR 27/08)
A prospect asked for a call back at a trade fair	sound, express rather than presumed	the request itself is the circumstance; note the date and the contact

Two boundaries belong here. First, this standard only applies to businesses. For consumers, § 7(2) no. 1 UWG requires prior express consent, and only that case carries a fine under § 20 UWG. An unlawful B2B call is still no trivial matter: competitors and associations can send cease-and-desist letters and sue for an injunction. Second, a phone call does not give you permission for email marketing. Under § 7(2) no. 2 UWG, that requires prior express consent from businesses too, with the narrow exception for existing customers in paragraph 3. If the other person says “send it to me by email”, that is a request for exactly that email, not for a newsletter.

The legal framework in three sentences

Consumers: call only with prior express consent. Calling without it is an administrative offence. § 20 UWG provides for a fine of up to €300,000, enforced by the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency). If you obtain consents, you must document and keep them. Breaches can cost up to €50,000.

Businesses: a call is allowed where consent can be presumed. The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) has set a standard worth knowing. Indications of an objective interest must come from concrete circumstances. A general link between the business called and your offer is expressly not enough. Otherwise, telephone advertising to businesses would be allowed almost without limit (BGH, judgment of 11 March 2010 – I ZR 27/08).

Data protection applies on top. Publicly available contact data may be processed for direct marketing on the basis of legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). If the personal data were not collected from the person themselves, the information duty under Article 14 GDPR applies. An objection under Article 21 GDPR must take effect from the first no. In practice, you need a do-not-call list that the whole team maintains. And every salesperson needs one sentence, learned by heart, on where the data came from.

What “concrete circumstances” means in daily practice

For years I have sorted call lists by exactly this question: what do I know about this business that justifies the call? The answer is never “he runs a restaurant”.

Not a sound indication	A sound indication
“You are a retailer, we do payments.”	The business publicly advertises “cash only”, and its reviews complain about it.
An address from a purchased data set.	An existing business relationship, a website enquiry, a trade-fair contact, a customer referral.
“Every business needs this at some point.”	The reason has a date: an expiring contract, a new branch, a tender, a legal deadline.

This sorting also pays off commercially. A call with a dated reason starts with a sentence the other person can place; a call without one starts with a justification. So research time before the call is not lost selling time. Measure it yourself: the appointment rate of entries with a reason against those without, over four weeks. A figure from your own list convinces a team more than any industry study.

The first twenty seconds

The opening has four parts, and none is surplus:

An example from the payments world:

1. Name and company. “[Name], [company].”
2. The reason, in concrete terms. “I’m calling because your online menu says ‘cash only’.”
3. The permission question. “Do you have two minutes, or shall I call back later?”
4. One question they can answer. “Was that a deliberate decision, or did it just happen that way?”

What has no place in these twenty seconds: the price, the product, the company history, the words “briefly” and “actually”, and any question that invites a no (“Am I disturbing you?”).

And the part almost nobody does: ending the call after the first no. A no to the appointment is not an objection worth handling. A no to the topic is.

Objections in the opening

Three lines come up in practically every first call. The answer is never a counter-argument. It is a question that tests the objection:

• “We already have a provider.” → “Good, then you know your statement. Do you know off the top of your head what you paid last month?”
• “Not interested.” → “Understood. May I ask whether it’s the timing or the topic?” If it is the topic, hang up and make a note. If it is the timing, agree a date.
• “Just send me an email.” → “I will. So I don’t send the wrong thing: which one figure would be interesting for you?”

The third line matters most. Very often, “just send something” is a polite no. If you send something without asking back, you have created a record, not a conversation.

What I no longer do

No purchased consumer lists. They do not work legally and do not pay off commercially. No calls without a noted reason. No second call without new information. A follow-up that only says “I wanted to check in” is the call that turns a friendly contact into an annoyed one. And no targets based on calls alone. Set 80 dials a day as the goal and you get 80 dials and no preparation.

What to do now

1. Separate your target groups legally: businesses and consumers on separate lists. Call consumers only with documented consent.
2. Give every entry a dated “reason” field. No reason, no call. The field also documents presumed consent; the four test questions above are the yardstick.
3. Set up a do-not-call list for the whole team, effective from the first objection.
4. Write one sentence on where the data came from that anyone can say when asked. Organise the information duty under Article 14 GDPR.
5. Write down the opening: four parts, three sentences at most. Practise it out loud as a team rather than reading it out.
6. Measure what drives results: conversations with decision-makers per hour and appointments per conversation, not dials.
7. Email only on request: anyone who asks for documents during the call gets exactly those documents, not a newsletter sign-up.
8. Review the reasons for rejection after two weeks. If “wrong contact” or “not relevant” pile up, the list is the problem, not the salesperson.