@awesomate/hosting-mcp/skill/awesomate-email/references/asking-permission.md

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# Getting people onto a list who've never been emailed

Read this before planning anything that "asks people to opt in", "re-permissions
an old list", or "emails customers to see if they want our newsletter".

## The short answer to give the owner

> Australian law treats an email asking for permission as a marketing email,
> so it needs permission first. That rules out emailing most of your past
> customers to ask, because one job or one purchase doesn't count. What works:
> ask them the next time they book, accept a quote or sign off a job, and
> email only the customers you work with regularly.

Then show them how many people fall into each group below.

## Who can be asked, and how

| Group | Ask by email? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing customers: members, current students, retained clients, service-plan customers, property managers you do repeat work for | Yes, once, about things related to that relationship | A short personal note with a link to the preferences page |
| One-off customers (one job, one purchase, one appointment) | **No** | At their next booking, quote, job sign-off or call |
| Asked for a quote, didn't go ahead | No | Same as one-off |
| Signed up on a form but never confirmed | No (New Zealand: never; Australia: no clear ruling, so no) | They can sign up again on the website |
| Unsubscribed, bounced, complained | **Never**, not even to ask | Nothing. Their choice stands. |
| A list from someone else (bought, rented, an event someone else ran, a mate's database) | **Never** | Nothing |
| Social followers, phone-only contacts | No email to ask | A sign-up link on the profile; ask at the end of a call |

The owner decides who counts as "ongoing" and says so; record that as their
statement (who they are, the rule, the date). Suggest a rule they can defend,
such as "two or more jobs in the last two years, or a current service plan, or
a property manager we work for".

## Ask at the next interaction (the main path for everyone else)

Put the same two or three questions where customers already are, on a page
rather than in an email:

- the online booking form (an unticked box, or the questions after booking);
- the quote acceptance page;
- the job sign-off on the technician's phone or tablet;
- the end of a phone call, with the same short question every time, word for word;
- the website, and a QR code on the leave-behind card or job sheet.

**Not inside transactional emails.** A receipt, invoice or booking confirmation
that links to a marketing sign-up becomes a commercial message itself (ACMA:
a message that "links to marketing content ... can only be sent with consent").
Put the question on the page they're already on, not in the email afterwards.

## Emailing ongoing customers: the note

Short, personal, plain text, from the owner, about the relationship they have.
One link. Says who it's from. Offers "no thanks". Sent once, never followed up.

> Subject: A quick question from Rob
>
> Hi Priya,
>
> Rob here from Brightwater Plumbing. Thanks for sending the Acme jobs our way
> this year.
>
> A few of our regular customers have asked for the odd seasonal reminder by
> email, so I'm asking before I send anything. If you'd like them, pick what's
> useful here (20 seconds): [link]
>
> If not, no worries. Ignore this and I won't ask again, or reply "no thanks".
>
> Cheers,
> Rob
> Brightwater Plumbing Pty Ltd · ABN [ABN] · [PHONE]

**From the owner's own mailbox, or from the business's sending address?**

- Under a couple of hundred people: the owner's own Gmail or Microsoft 365 is
  fine **as personal notes**: plain text, one person per email, about 40 a day,
  weekdays. Response is far higher from a real person. Google Workspace allows
  2,000 a day and Microsoft 10,000 recipients a day, but both block or suspend
  mailboxes that look like bulk senders, and that mailbox also carries the
  owner's quotes and invoices. Keep it small and slow.
- More than that, or any HTML newsletter: the business's sending address, never
  the owner's mailbox.

Whichever is used, the list of who to ask comes from the records (ongoing,
not suppressed, never asked before), and every "no thanks", bounce and
unsubscribe is written back so that person is never asked or emailed again.

## The preferences page

Use a page that belongs to a tool that records consent (the email platform's
own sign-up or preferences form, or the booking system's), not a separate n8n
web page, because the page that records "yes" must show exactly the wording
that gets recorded, and must not be editable by anything outside the consent
system.

Awesomate's Contacts & email doesn't host a sign-up or preferences page.
People reach a list there through an import the owner commits. So collect the
yes in a tool the business already uses, keep what each person saw and when,
and have the owner import it at https://hub.awesomate.ai/contacts/import.

Two or three questions, nothing pre-ticked:

1. **What would be useful?** One box per list, in the list's promise wording.
2. **How often, at most?** "When there's something worth saying (about monthly)",
   "A roundup every three months", "Only reminders".
3. **Optional, one question that improves the service**, such as "How old is
   your hot water system?". Say why it's asked. Never a health or other
   sensitive question.

A link straight to "No thanks, don't email me". After saving, say exactly what
they'll get and how often, and that every email has a link to change it.

## What to expect

Plan for most people not answering, and don't chase them: the ask is itself a
marketing email, and a second one to someone who ignored the first is how
complaints start. The people who do say yes are worth more than the whole old
list. Don't promise the owner a response rate.