How to build a customer contact list (with permission)

Many small businesses serve hundreds of customers a year and have no way to reach most of them again. The phone numbers live in an old booking system, the emails are scattered across receipts, and walk-in customers never left their details at all. Before you can send reminders or invitations, you need a list, and it needs to be one your customers agreed to join.

The easiest time to collect contact details is when a customer is standing in front of you, happy with their visit. Ask at checkout, add a sign-up card to the counter, or put a QR code by the till, on menus, on receipts or in the window. Be clear about what they'll get, such as appointment reminders, offers or event invitations, and let them choose. That choice matters: Canada's CASL and the US TCPA require consent before you send marketing messages, and a record of when and how someone agreed protects you if anyone asks.

WentBack gives every business its own sign-up page and QR code you can download and print. Customers scan it, enter their name, phone and email, and tick the kinds of messages they want to receive, and they're added to your list with their consent recorded. You can also import your existing customers. From there, every message you send respects those choices, and opt-outs are handled automatically.