Agency texting for clients: brand, consent and replies

Yes, an agency can text leads on a client's behalf, as long as the client is the sender. The client's business is the brand on its own 10DLC campaign, consent has to name the client, each text identifies the client, and the two sides agree in writing who answers replies and how fast. This is not legal advice.

This guide is for lead generation, marketing and appointment-setting agencies. It covers how the rules treat an agency, whose brand registers, whose consent counts, what each text should say, how replies reach the client, and what to agree before the first campaign. For the wider playbook, see our guide to SMS for sales and customer follow-up.

Can an agency text leads on behalf of a client?

Yes, and the rules treat the agency as acting for the client. The carriers' industry guidance counts "agents, representatives, or any other individuals acting on behalf of" a business as part of that business, which is expected "to obtain a Consumer's consent before sending them messages" (CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices, 2023).

The law looks to the business the texts are for, and reaches whoever sends them:

Question	Short answer	Source
Who is the "seller" in US rules?	"the person or entity on whose behalf a telephone call or message is initiated", which is the client	47 CFR 64.1200(f)(10)
Whose name goes in written consent?	Consent must clearly authorize "the seller" to send marketing messages	64.1200(f)(9)
Who can be sued under the Do Not Call rules?	The statute counts calls "by or on behalf of the same entity"	47 U.S.C. 227(c)(5)
Who is covered in Canada?	Anyone who sends, or causes or permits a message to be sent, and anyone who aids it	CASL s. 6(1) and s. 9

In plain terms: a text sent without consent is a problem for both the client and the agency. Put the responsibilities in the contract, and ask a lawyer to review it.

Whose brand registers for 10DLC?

The client's. The Campaign Registry, which runs 10DLC registration for the US carriers, puts it simply: "If you are a company wanting to use SMS to communicate with your customers, you are considered a 'Brand'." Brands don't register themselves: "direct registration with TCR is not available for Brands", so a messaging provider registers the brand and its campaigns, and "both the 'Who' and the 'What' of a campaign are traceable" (The Campaign Registry, read 2026).

So each client gets its own registration, in its own business name, with a campaign that describes the texts the agency will send for it. Registering every client under the agency's brand breaks the chain: the consent names the client, the person recognizes the client, and the sample texts on file would show the agency.

The client provides	The agency prepares
Exact legal business name, matching its tax records	A description of what the texts are for
Tax ID: EIN in the US, business number in Canada	How leads agree to texts, with the form or script
Business address and a live website with a privacy policy	Two or more sample texts, written in the client's name
An authorized contact at the business	The opt-out and help wording

For Canadian recipients, texts go from verified toll-free numbers, verified in the business's own details. Our 10DLC registration guide covers the documents, the steps, typical review times and the most common reasons registrations get sent back.

Keeping each client on its own registration and numbers also keeps one client's opt-outs and complaints separate from another's.

Whose consent counts?

Consent counts only for the business it names. CTIA puts it directly: "A Consumer opt-in should apply only to the campaign(s) and specific Message Sender for which it was intended or obtained", and senders "should not use opt-in lists that have been rented, sold, or shared" (CTIA, 2023). In the US, written consent for marketing texts has to authorize "the seller" (64.1200(f)(9)).

That leads to four practical rules:

1. The client's name goes on the opt-in. If the agency runs the landing page or ad form, the consent wording names the client: "I agree to receive texts from Brightside Roofing about my request."
2. Leads from one client stay with that client. A lead who agreed to hear from one roofing company hasn't agreed to hear from another, even if the agency collected both.
3. Bought lists are out. A list from a data seller carries no consent for your client.
4. Record it. Keep the source, the date, the wording shown and the phone number for each opt-in, and agree who holds the records.

Canada. A request for express consent must identify the person seeking consent and, "if the person is seeking consent on behalf of another person", that other person too (CASL s. 10(1)(b)). An agency collecting consent for a client names both. Our opt-in language examples show wording for forms, calls and in-person sign-ups.

What should each text say?

Each text should name the client in the first line, so the person knows who is writing. Texts without a business name look like scams and get reported.

• The client's business name, and a real person's first name. "Dana with Brightside Roofing" reads as a person; a bare link reads as spam.
• The reason for the text. The request, the booking or the quote it follows.
• The opt-out line until the person replies.
• Links on the client's own domain. CTIA asks for link shorteners "dedicated to the exclusive use of the Message Sender" and websites that "unambiguously identify the website owner" (CTIA, 2023).

Canada. Every commercial message must identify "the person who sent the message" and, if different, the person "on whose behalf it is sent", with contact details valid for 60 days and an unsubscribe mechanism (CASL s. 6(2) and 6(3)). The CRTC's guidance says people in between who only help distribute a message, with "no role in its content or choice of the recipients", need not be identified (CRTC 2012-548, para. 6). An agency that writes the texts and picks who gets them goes further than that, so ask a lawyer whether your name belongs in texts to Canadians too.

How do replies reach the client?

Agree on one of three set-ups before launch, and write it into the contract:

Set-up	Who answers	Works best when
The agency answers in the client's name	The agency's team, from the client's number	Appointment setting, where the agency holds the calendar
The client answers	The client's sales or front-desk staff	Complex sales, if the client can answer within the hour
The agency qualifies, then hands off	The agency first, the client after a hand-off text	Lead generation with booked calls

Whichever you pick, three habits keep leads from falling through:

1. One number per lead, start to finish. The lead hears from the same number for the first text, the follow-ups and the hand-off, so the thread stays in one place.
2. A hand-off that says who is next. "I've passed your details to Chris, who runs our estimates. He'll text you here today."
3. A response time both sides sign up to. Speed matters with new leads; our speed-to-lead guide covers what recent tests show about how slowly companies reply.

A STOP reply belongs to the client's list: the person opted out of that business, so it applies to every campaign sent in its name. US rules set an outer limit of 10 business days to honor it (64.1200(a)(10)), CASL sets the same (s. 11), and stopping at once is the safe practice.

What should the agency and client agree in writing?

A one-page texting annex to the contract settles most disputes before they start:

• Sender and brand. The client's legal name on the registration, and who pays the registration and carrier fees.
• Consent. Where it comes from, the exact wording, and who keeps the records.
• Content. Who writes the texts, who approves them, and whether offers need sign-off.
• Sending days and hours. In the lead's time zone. Federal rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. local time, and some states use 8 p.m. (texting quiet hours).
• Replies. Which set-up above, the response time, and who handles complaints.
• Opt-outs. How they are shared and kept, including after the contract ends.
• The end of the contract. Leads and consent belong to the client's relationship; the agency doesn't reuse them for another client.

Templates for agency-run campaigns

Each text fits in one segment (160 characters) with the fields filled in, before the opt-out line is added. "Dana" and "Brightside Roofing" stand in for the agency rep and the client.

New inquiry, right away

Hi First name, it's Dana with Brightside Roofing. Thanks for your request. Is a free inspection this week good?

Wait 1 day. If no reply yet:

Happy to answer by text too. What's going on with the roof?

Booking confirmation

Brightside Roofing: you're booked for Date at Time. Reply R if you need a new time.

Hand-off to the client's team

Thanks, First name. I've passed your details to Rep at Brightside, who will text you from this number today.

Close the loop, 3 days after the last text

I'll leave it here for now. Reply any time and Brightside will pick it up.

For past leads and customers, use the win-back sequences, and check that each person's consent named the client.

Where does Textually fit?

Textually runs multi-step text sequences for teams in the US and Canada, agencies included. It registers the numbers for each business that texts: 10DLC in the US and verified toll-free numbers for Canada. You import leads by CSV or paste, push them to a campaign, and write Text, Wait and Condition steps with any column as a field. A text sends only with a consent record or a campaign-wide confirmation, and only inside the campaign's sending days and hours. Each lead hears from one number, every text carries the registered opt-out line until they reply, STOP stops texts at once, and a reply ends that lead's sequence and lands in one shared inbox. See how the rules are built in and pricing, or apply for access.

Questions

Can an agency register one 10DLC brand for all its clients?

The registry treats the company that wants to text its customers as the brand, so each client registers under its own business name, with a campaign that describes the texts sent for it. Consent, sample texts and the name people recognize all point to the client.

Can I reuse leads from one client for another client?

Only with new consent that names the new client. Carrier guidance says an opt-in applies only to the sender and campaign it was given for and can't be transferred. A lead who agreed to texts from one business hasn't agreed to texts from another.

Who is liable if texts go out without consent?

Possibly both. US rules define the seller as the business the texts are sent for, and the statute reaches calls made "by or on behalf of" it. CASL covers anyone who sends, causes or permits a message, and anyone who aids it. Set responsibilities in the contract and ask a lawyer.

Does the text need to name the agency?

In the US, the text should identify the business the person knows, which is the client. In Canada, CASL requires the sender and the business it is sent for to be identified; an agency that writes the texts and picks the recipients should ask a lawyer whether its own name belongs in the text.

Who should answer replies from a client's leads?

Whoever can answer fastest with real information: the agency for booking, the client for detailed sales questions. Agree on it in writing, with a response time, and keep each lead on one number so the thread stays whole.

Does each client need its own number?

Each client's texts should go out on numbers registered to that client's business. That keeps the sender people see, the consent and the registration in line, and keeps one client's opt-outs separate from another's.