Hey there,

Most founders think VIP early access is a Q4 play.

Run a pre-sale in late October, let your best customers skip the queue, collect some easy revenue before the chaos starts.

The timing is right. The logic is backwards.

The brands generating the most from VIP early access didn't build that list in October. They built it in Q2. October is just when they spent it.

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The Proof

Qure Skincare ran a VIP early access pop-up before their BFCM sale. 17% lead capture rate. The average is 2-3%.

When the VIP sale opened, it drove more than half of the entire month's campaign revenue in two days. Then they rolled straight into November already ahead.

The revenue didn't come from the sale. It came from the list they spent Q2 and Q3 building.

A skincare clinic we work with tells a similar story. Started with less than 10% of revenue coming from email. Set a goal of 25%. 

Their VIP early access email alone helped push them to 49% of total store revenue over BFCM. First time they'd ever run campaigns.

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#1 — Know Who Your VIPs Actually Are

Not just biggest spenders. Behavioral signals: repeat buyers, high engagement, product affinity, purchase frequency.

In Klaviyo, the people worth flagging: repeat buyers within the last 90 days, high-intent clickers who haven't bought recently, customers above a certain AOV threshold, anyone who's purchased twice or more.

These aren't necessarily your biggest spenders. They're the people most likely to buy again if you give them a reason to feel like they're getting something the rest of the list isn't.

#2 — Build the Capture Mechanism Now

You need a way to pull people into the VIP segment before BFCM intent kicks in. A pop-up, a post-purchase flow opt-in, a checkout flag.

This is what that looks like in practice. Qure isn't waiting for October.

#3 — Give the Segment Time to Season

Klaviyo doesn't trust a cold segment any more than it trusts a cold flow. 

The VIP list you build in October won't have the engagement history behind it to perform the same way as one you've been growing since Q2.

Start now, and by the time you activate in October, you're sending to a warm, primed audience who's been anticipating the moment.

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How the Early Access Play Actually Runs

4-6 weeks before BFCM, send a hype email to your full engaged list. You're not opening the sale. You're collecting opt-ins for early access.

That opt-in triggers a dedicated welcome flow, two emails max. Sets expectations, builds anticipation, gets them to whitelist your address.

When the VIP window opens, 24 to 48 hours before the public, you send the access code to that segment only. One email. One SMS if you have it.

The positioning is simple: you're shopping before everyone else, and stock won't last once it opens up.

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One Caveat Worth Knowing

This doesn't work for every brand.

High-impulse products with low AOV and low repeat purchase rate should skip it entirely. 

Just open the sale without the hype. The early access build only pays off if your customers are the kind who come back.

If your average customer buys once and disappears, this newsletter isn't for you. 

If they come back two, three, four times, you're leaving serious Q4 revenue on the table by not building this list now.

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What to Do This Week

Pull your repeat buyer segment in Klaviyo. Anyone who's purchased twice or more in the last 12 months. Look at the size of that list.

Then ask: 

• Do you have a way to add people to it between now and October? 
• A post-purchase opt-in? 
• A pop-up offering early access in exchange for SMS consent?

If the answer is no, that's the gap.

Q4 collects what Q2 builds.

Cheers, 

Josh

P.S. Do you have a VIP segment you could activate tomorrow? Hit reply and tell me what you're working with.