Follow-up email after a sales call in Spain: templates and rules

In the US or UK, a sales team might send a sequence of five or six automated emails after a first contact. In Spain that playbook breaks on two things: the law and the way small businesses work. The follow-up email still matters, perhaps more than elsewhere, but it has to come after a conversation and look like the continuation of one.

Why the call comes first in Spain

Article 21 of the LSSI, Spain's e-commerce law, prohibits commercial emails that were not requested or expressly authorised by the recipient. Unlike many countries' rules, it does not exempt business addresses. The practical route for a foreign seller is:

1. Call the company (owner's mobile where possible).
2. During the call, ask whether you can send the details and to which address.
3. Send the follow-up that same day and log when and how permission was given.

The call has its own rules. Half of the SMEs in our directory are sole traders (autónomos), who are individuals under data protection law, so screen them against the Robinson opt-out list and respect anyone who asks not to be called. See Is cold calling legal in Spain? and Cold email in Spain and the LSSI.

General information, not legal advice.

What to capture before you hang up

• The address they want you to use. In our directory 38.7% of SMEs use a Gmail address, often the owner's own. That is the one that gets read, not a generic info@.
• Their problem in their words. If the owner of a bakery in Zaragoza said "the oven breaks down every summer", repeat that, not "operational resilience".
• Who else decides. A business partner, a spouse who runs the accounts, an external gestor (accountant). Write so they can follow it.
• A date for the next call. Without one, you wait for a reply that rarely comes.

Our cold call script for Spain has openings you can pair with these questions.

Language, tone and timing

Point	What works in Spain
Language	Spanish, unless they switched to English in the call
Form of address	Mirror the call; if they used tú, write tú
Length	Five or six lines, readable on a phone
Attachments	One light PDF at most; links are better
Timing	Same day, ideally within an hour of the call
Signature	Name, company, a Spanish or international mobile number

If you do not write Spanish well, have a native speaker check the template once and reuse it. Machine-translated Spanish is noticeable and makes a small business owner wonder who will answer the phone after the sale.

Five templates

Written in English here so you can adapt them; send the Spanish version.

1. "Send me the details"

Subject: Cold room maintenance – Bar Ríos

Hi Lucía,

As we discussed this morning, here is the quarterly check of your cold room and bottle cooler, with a 24-hour breakdown call-out. For a bar your size it is €45 a month, no minimum term.

I will call you on Thursday afternoon to see if it works for you.

2. Confirming a meeting

Subject: Tuesday 18th, 10:00 – software demo at your office

Hi Javier,

Thanks for your time today. Confirming Tuesday 18th at 10:00 at your office. I will bring a demo with test data for a firm your size; it takes 20 minutes.

For the meeting itself, see getting a first meeting with a Spanish SME.

3. For the person who was not on the call

Subject: For Ana: LED lighting for the warehouse (call summary)

Hi Raúl,

As you asked, a summary for Ana: 40 fluorescent fittings today, about 10 hours a day; LED replacement fitted on a Saturday; next step a 30-minute visit to measure.

4. "Not now, call me in January"

Subject: Back in touch in January – fleet insurance

Hi Marta,

Understood, year-end is not the moment. I will call you in the second week of January, before the policy renews in February.

Spanish businesses close the year in December and many stop in August. A short "not now" email with a date is respected and remembered.

5. One reminder

Subject: Re: Cold room maintenance – Bar Ríos

Hi Lucía,

I tried you on Thursday and we missed each other. Would Monday mid-morning suit you for a quick call?

Reply on the original thread. One reminder, then call. A long series of "just checking in" emails to someone who never asked for them is still commercial email.

Mistakes foreign teams make

• Plugging the contact into an automated sequence. Fine in some markets; risky under the LSSI unless every message was requested.
• Fake "Re:" or "Your order" subjects. Misleading, and it ends trust with a business owner who will remember your company name.
• Sending at 9:00 Spanish time from another time zone. Check the clock: Spanish working days run later, with a long lunch break in many small businesses.
• Copying five colleagues. A micro-business owner wants one person to talk to.
• No unsubscribe once they are on a list. If they later receive news from you, every email needs an easy opt-out.

Keep a record

Log the call date, what they asked for, the address you used and the next contact date in your CRM. It is your evidence of consent and your follow-up plan at once. If you are building that pipeline from scratch, see how to fill your CRM with Spanish B2B leads and the B2B sales use case.