I’m gonna wrap up this week with a simple sentiment I keep coming back to. It’s something I tweeted about more than a year ago, was reminded of a few weeks back, and have been thinking about the implications of for days.

The words, however, are not mine. They’re Patrick Sande’s (one of Ryan Solutions’/Inntopia’s original and best account managers).

"Think about every email address that comes through your online forms as an RFP for one." @psande #inntopia pic.twitter.com/IX9CrVYLWi

— Gregg Blanchard (@slopefillers) May 24, 2017

Let’s start with how we typically think of opt-in emails we get from our website. In a nutshell:

• We put them onto a list
• They sit there until we send our next newsletter

But sometimes all it takes is a metaphor to help us see things in a better light, so let’s expand this RFP parallel that Patrick is drawing with a little context from our friend Wikipedia.

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that solicits proposal, often made through a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service, or valuable asset, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals. It is submitted early in the procurement cycle, either at the preliminary study, or procurement stage.

In other words, an RFP is:

• A request for information
• From someone looking to buy something
• And it’s done early in the buying process

So, how many of those things apply when you look at the expectations surrounding typical resort opt-in forms?

Request for information? Yep.
Wanting to buy something? Yep.
Done early in the buying process? Yep.

So why is there so much urgency around an actual RFP and so little around a new email subscriber if they’re sending the exact same signals?

Don’t Wait
Patrick’s advice in his talk is the same wisdom I’ll pass along to you: talk to them. Immediately.

These people are shopping, so give them reason to choose you. They have questions, so give them ways to find answers. They aren’t 100% sold yet, so hit them with your strongest reasons to visit. This window of interest will last days or (maybe) weeks not months or years, so get them this information over the next 4-7 days not 6-9 months.

Sometimes all it takes to see the potential in something is seeing it from a new angle. As you plan your email strategy for the upcoming winter, keep this one in mind.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.