Can You Legally Text Customers for Referrals and Reviews?

Referral and review programs run on text messages, because that is where response rates live. They also run straight into a body of law most home service owners have never read, and the assumption that carries the most risk is a comfortable one: they were my customer, so I can text them.

Key Takeaways

• A past customer relationship is not blanket consent for promotional texts. That is the most common and most expensive assumption.
• Transactional and promotional messages are treated differently. A referral request is generally promotional.
• Opt-outs must be honored promptly and by any reasonable method. Not only the exact keyword you specified.
• Several states are stricter than federal law, and they apply based on where the recipient is.
• Carrier rules are a separate layer. You can be legally compliant and still get your traffic blocked.

The distinction everything turns on

Text messages to consumers fall broadly into two categories, and the compliance burden differs sharply.

Transactional or informational messages relate to a service the customer has already arranged: appointment confirmations, crew arrival times, invoices, service updates. These are generally treated as expected communications within an existing transaction.

Promotional or marketing messages aim to generate new business. Discounts, seasonal offers, win-back campaigns and, importantly, requests to refer friends and family.

That last point catches people out. A referral request feels like relationship maintenance rather than advertising, and it is asking a satisfied customer for a favor rather than selling them anything. But its purpose is generating new business, which typically places it on the promotional side, where prior express written consent is generally required.

Review requests occupy murkier ground and are treated more cautiously by most practitioners than a pure service update. The prudent approach is to treat both referral and review outreach as requiring proper consent rather than relying on a transactional characterization.

What consent actually means

The bar for promotional texts is higher than for a service message, and the practical requirements are consistent.

It should be affirmative and documented. A checkbox the customer actively selected, a signed agreement with clear language, or a keyword they texted in. Not a pre-checked box, and not a phone number collected for scheduling.

The disclosure should be clear at the point of collection. The customer should understand they are agreeing to receive marketing texts, roughly how often, that message and data rates apply, and that consent is not a condition of service.

You need to be able to prove it later. Store what they agreed to, when, and through what form. If a complaint arrives two years on, the records are the entire defense.

The gap this creates is worth naming, because it affects nearly every company reading this. Your existing database of past customers was probably collected without marketing consent language. People gave you a number so you could tell the crew where to go. Texting all of them a referral offer is exactly the move that creates exposure, and it is the most common way a new program starts.

Opt-outs, timing, and states

Honor opt-outs promptly and generously. Standard keywords like STOP must work automatically, but a customer who replies “please stop texting me” or “remove me” has revoked consent just as effectively. Any reasonable method counts, and your process needs to catch the plain-English versions, not only the keyword.

This is also where a program with a real person reading replies has a genuine advantage over an unattended one. Someone reading the messages catches the informal opt-out. An automated system matching keywords does not, and keeps texting, which is both a violation and the fastest way to turn a customer into a complainant.

Respect quiet hours. Marketing messages are generally restricted to daytime hours in the recipient’s local time zone. Note recipient’s: if you operate across time zones, scheduling by your own clock will eventually send something at the wrong hour.

Check your states. Several states have enacted their own telemarketing statutes that are stricter than federal law: tighter consent standards, narrower calling windows, and private rights of action that have generated substantial litigation. They generally apply based on where the recipient is, not where you are, which matters for any company handling interstate moves.

The layer that is not law

Separate from all of the above, mobile carriers impose their own requirements on business messaging. Registration of your business and campaign type is effectively mandatory for reliable delivery, and carriers filter aggressively on content and complaint rates.

The practical consequence: you can be entirely compliant with the law and still have messages silently filtered because your registration is incomplete or your complaint rate is elevated. Most companies discover this when delivery rates drop and nobody can explain why.

Practical steps

Add consent language to intake now. Every new customer, at booking, with clear disclosure. This costs nothing and it is the difference between a clean database in two years and a permanent liability.

Do not blast your legacy list. Re-permission it gradually, through channels where consent is clearer, rather than texting everyone at once.

Make sure a person reads the replies. Beyond the referral benefits, it is your best protection against missing an informally worded opt-out.

Get your program reviewed. An hour with a qualified attorney costs meaningfully less than a single claim, and the rules in this area move.

For related ground, see choosing between SMS, email, and phone, the shift to text-first customers, and what RESPA actually covers on realtor referral fees.

Regulatory descriptions are general and current as of publication. Verify against current federal, state, and carrier requirements and consult counsel before acting.