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An agency running communication for several campaigns should keep each client's contact data, content, approvals, sender setup, logs and access completely separate, with named owners per client, a per-client release and pause process, and closed accounts at the end. Never reuse one client's list, creative or credentials for another.
Agencies that manage more than one client face a risk that single-campaign teams do not: mixing things up. A list, a template or a login used for the wrong client can cause a serious error, and a data mix-up is hard to explain. This campaign communication checklist for agencies managing multiple clients sets out the controls that keep clients apart, for SMS and voice work. It belongs to our wider guide to political campaign marketing in India. It looks at daily operations, not at business models, so it differs from our guide to choosing between an agency and a channel provider.
By Rupali Dahiwal. Last reviewed: 2 November 2026. This is operational guidance, not legal advice. Contract and data protection duties differ by client, so confirm them with a qualified adviser.
The core rule: one client, one set of everything
For each client, create a separate set of: contact lists, content and versions, approvals, sender and template registrations, provider accounts or sub-accounts where available, reports and logs, folders and access permissions. If two clients share anything, the sharing must be deliberate, documented and agreed with both. The default is no sharing.
The reasons are practical. A client may ask you to delete its data, and you must be able to do it without touching another client. A complaint about one client's message must not expose another's records. And a mistake, such as sending the wrong client's notice, must be impossible to make by accident.
Step 1: Put the client relationship in writing
For each client, record in a short document:
The scope of work and the channels covered.
Who at the client approves content, and who can order a pause.
Who owns the contact data and what it may be used for.
Who is the sender of record for each message, and whose name appears in the message.
What each side will keep as records, and for how long.
What happens to data and accounts at the end.
Our communication brief checklist gives a structure you can reuse per client.
Step 2: Separate the data
Separate lists. Keep each client's lists in a separate folder or workspace, with a different access group.
Separate suppression lists. Each client's opt-outs apply to that client. Do not merge them unless the clients agree, and note that a person who opts out of one client's messages has not necessarily opted out of another's.
No cross-use. Never use one client's list to send for another, and never combine lists to "fill" a campaign.
Record provenance per client. Source, date, purpose and permission, as in our guide to contact lists and consent records.
Delete per client. You should be able to remove one client's data without affecting any other.
Step 3: Separate content and approvals
Give every client its own message IDs and version numbers, so that "event-notice v3" can never mean two things.
Keep a separate approval record per client, naming that client's approvers.
Do not reuse another client's wording, even as a starting point, unless the owner has approved and you have checked for names, places and facts that would be wrong.
Keep each client's election-specific approval records separately. Where approval applies, the applicant is the client party, group or candidate, so file the certificate under that client.
The controls in the approval workflow guide work per client, and an agency simply runs one copy for each.
Step 4: Separate sender setup and accounts
Sender, header and template registrations belong to a specific sending entity. Make sure each client's registrations are in the right name, with the right documents, and not under the agency's name unless the client has agreed. Ask your provider whether separate accounts or sub-accounts are available for each client, and how access is controlled. TRAI's guidance for senders describes registration of the Principal Entity, header and templates, and telecom service providers approve or reject templates, so build time for each client's setup into its calendar.
Use a separate login for every person and every client, and never share credentials. If your provider supports role-based access, give each person only the clients they work on.
Step 5: Separate calendars and release control
Keep one calendar per client, with its own restricted periods taken from the orders for that client's election and area. Do not apply one client's window to another.
Name a release approver and a pause owner for every client.
Where two clients send on the same day, use a run sheet per client that states the list, version and approver, and check it before each release.
Review the send queue for each client separately before and after release.
See our guides on election silence period and pause windows and on pausing and correcting a wrong message for the stop controls to replicate.
Step 6: Separate reports, logs and invoices
Produce a report per client. Never combine delivery figures across clients in a client-facing report.
Keep invoices per client, tied to that client's sends.
Do not quote one client's results to another, even in anonymised form, unless the first client has agreed in writing.
Keep a separate issue register per client.
Step 7: Control access and staff changes
Keep an access list per client, showing who can see lists, content and reports.
Review it at set intervals and whenever a person joins, leaves or changes role.
Remove access promptly when a person stops working on a client.
Do not allow staff to download client data to personal devices or accounts.
Step 8: Handle conflicts between clients
Agencies sometimes act for clients with competing interests, or whose messages could be confused. Decide in advance how you handle this. Check whether your agreements allow it, avoid sharing information between teams working for competing clients and tell each client if a conflict could arise. If you cannot manage a conflict safely, decline the work. This is an area where a qualified adviser's input is worth having.
Step 9: Close each client cleanly
When a client's campaign ends, follow the steps in our close-out checklist for that client alone: hand over reports and records, delete or return data as agreed, close accounts and access, and confirm deletion in writing. Do not leave a former client's lists sitting in a shared folder.
A checklist you can copy
Client agreement in writing, with scope, approvers, data ownership and end-of-contract terms.
Separate lists, suppression lists and provenance records per client.
Separate message IDs, versions and approvals per client.
Sender and template registrations in the right name for each client.
Individual logins, with access limited to each person's clients.
Separate calendars, restricted periods and run sheets per client.
Release approver and pause owner named per client.
Separate reports, invoices and issue registers per client.
Access reviewed regularly and on staff changes.
Conflict rules agreed in advance.
Clean close-out per client, with deletion confirmed.
A hypothetical example
This is an illustration, not a real case. An agency handles notices for two clients in neighbouring districts. Each has its own folder, list, message IDs, calendar and approver. On a busy day both are due to send. The operator opens client A's run sheet, confirms the list, version and approver, and sends. Then the operator opens client B's run sheet and repeats the check. Client A's list was never open in the same window as client B's. A week later, client B asks for its data to be deleted. The agency removes B's folder and sends written confirmation, and client A's records are untouched.
Where resellers and agencies differ
Some agencies also resell messaging services to their own clients under their own name. That is a business model with its own questions about pricing, supplier choice and responsibilities, and our site covers it separately in a guide to starting a bulk SMS and WhatsApp reseller business before election season. Whichever model you use, the separation rules above apply to every client you serve.
Common mistakes
One shared list folder. It invites cross-use.
Shared logins. Nobody can say who did what.
Reusing another client's wording. Wrong names and facts slip through.
Merging suppression lists by default. It can break each client's own records.
Registering a client's sender under the agency name without agreement. It causes ownership problems later.
Not deleting at the end. Old data becomes a liability.
Frequently asked questions
Can an agency use one contact list for several clients?
No, not by default. Each client's list has its own source, permission and purpose. Only share data if both clients have agreed in writing and the permission basis allows it.
Should each client have a separate provider account?
Where your provider offers separate accounts or sub-accounts, it is the cleaner approach. Ask what access controls exist.
Who owns the sender registration?
It depends on who is the sending entity. Agree it in writing and make sure the registration is in the right name with the right documents.
Can I show one client's results to another?
Not without the first client's written agreement.
What should happen to a client's data when the work ends?
Return or delete it as agreed, keep only what the client and your adviser say must be kept, and confirm deletion in writing.
Sources checked
TRAI, Advice to Senders / Telemarketers, last updated 23 October 2026 as shown on the page. Checked 24 October 2026.
TRAI, Information Note to the Press dated 8 September 2025, on the role of telecom service providers in template approval. Checked 24 October 2026.
Election Commission of India, Press Note No. ECI/PN/038/2026 dated 20 March 2026. Checked 24 October 2026.
If you manage several campaigns, ask SMSNiti about bulk SMS whether separate accounts or access controls are available for each client, and get the answer in writing.
