Of all the themes that have shown up on SlopeFillers over the years, trying to get ourselves into the shoes and hearts and brains of first-timers is perhaps the one I care most deeply about.

We know our business so well. Many of us no nothing else with the lion’s share of our lives devoted to skiing. But with that experience comes the curse of knowledge. We’ve been skiing so long, we don’t remember what it’s like to not ski. We’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a foreigner in the only place we’ve ever called home.

But it’s not just about skiing.

Bike Parks

This last year I finally decided it was time to take give my road bike a break and purchase a mountain bike. I rode a bit in high school, but two decades on and it turns out I’m essentially starting over. The bikes are new, any muscle memory I had is gone, and now instead of riding cow paths or hiking trails I’m often riding manually shaped berms and rollers.

But there’s one thing I haven’t ridden yet: a lift-served bike park. There are a lot of reasons, but one of them is a long list of questions.

• Am I good enough or will I just be in the way?
• Do I have the right gear?
• How do you even load the lift?

If those questions sound familiar, they should. They’re the exact same questions beginner skiers are asking. But it’s also the reason why this display sitting beside the lift that serves Taos’ bike park is so brilliant.

Taos was able to overcome that curse of knowledge and see the lift-loading experience through the eyes of someone who has never done it before. Instead of thinking of it as normal and simple, they were able to see it as confusing and intimidating.

And when you consider that the majority of other people there are in the “normal and simple” camp, you could add embarrassing to the list too.

Empathy

If there’s one word I’d hope to let simmer in your gray matter a bit today, it’s the idea of having empathy as a marketer.

Marketing empathy is putting in effort and time to get our of your own head and try to see and feel your experience and your messages through the eyes and emotions of someone who has never done it before. And then be able to weave the lessons learned from that mindset into your products and communications.

It’s a small thing to you, but a big thing to potential guests. Nice work, Taos.

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.