Recording a client's consent writes down proof that they agreed to receive commercial email or texts from you: how they gave it, when, and what it covers. It lives on the Communication card, next to their current standing on every category BrokerPlus tracks.
When You'd Use This
Use this whenever a client opts in outside of BrokerPlus: a signed form at intake, a box ticked on your website, a yes given on a call. It's for writing down something that already happened, not for asking permission.
Why This Is Separate From Suppression
Consent is a preference: did this client agree to a category of commercial mail? Suppression is a deliverability fact: can this address be reached at all, from things like a hard bounce or a spam complaint. A bounced address stays suppressed no matter what the client consented to, and a client who withdrew consent stays opted out even if their address is reachable. Recording consent here never touches suppression.
Consent also splits by class. Every email BrokerPlus sends is transactional, marketing, or an equity report, a fact about what the message is, not something the client chose. Only marketing and equity report mail need consent; a transactional message about a file the client is already on reaches them regardless of standing. What the client agreed to is the category: All Commercial Email, or one specific class.
Recording How Consent Was Given
Open the Communication card and choose Record Consent. Pick the method (Signed Form, In Person, On a Call, In Writing, or Web Form), the date it was given (it can't be in the future), and an optional note on where the form is filed or who witnessed it.
Choosing What It Covers
Check off what the consent covers: All Commercial Email, Marketing, Equity Reports, or Text Messages, picking more than one if it applies. A category is grayed out if the contact has no email address or phone number on file. All Commercial Email is the widest option, but it still isn't everything: a message about a file the client is already on is transactional, not commercial, and reaches them either way.
Where Consent Shows on the Profile
The Communication card lists a standing per category: Implied (nothing recorded either way, normal for a broker's own book), Express (recorded here, with the date and who recorded it), Opted Out (the client withdrew), or Expired (express consent lapsed, implied consent applies again). Each row also names who moved it: a broker's name, "by the client" when it came through their own preference link, or "through a connected integration."
Common Gotchas
- Express consent doesn't expire; implied consent, the default state of your own client book, does. A standing that reads Expired just means implied consent kicked back in.
- This modal only ever adds consent. To put someone back on a list after they opted out, clear the withdrawal on the card itself instead, which returns them to implied consent.
- Only record what actually happened; the note field exists so you can point to how and when if it's ever questioned.
What to Do Next
- Ask for Marketing Consent on a Form to collect consent going forward instead of recording it after the fact.
- Stop Automated Outreach for One Contact if you need to pause messages without touching their consent record at all.
- Tour the Contact Profile to see the Communication card in context.