Request for Proposal for Door-to-Door Sales Services RFP # 2026SALES-001

Description: UTOPIA Fiber invites proposals to provide door-to-door sales in designated cities. Contractors and their representatives will represent UTOPIA Fiber, explain its open-access network and residential ISP choices impartially, and support informed customer enrollment. The RFP opens Friday, November 6, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. Proposals must be received by Friday, December 4, 2026 at 5:00 P.M., emailed to Jeff Erwin at jerwin@utopiafiber.com. Late proposals will not be considered. Submit questions by Friday, November 20, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. to Jeff Erwin at jerwin@utopiafiber.com. UTOPIA will compile questions and publish consolidated answers for all respondents by Friday, November 27, 2026, allowing one week for proposal updates before closing. Introduction and Background UTOPIA Fiber offers qualified door-to-door sales companies an opportunity to grow residential subscribership across an established, community-owned, open-access fiber network with a footprint of approximately 170,000 residential doors throughout Utah and over 60,000 residential customers. This RFP seeks partners that can turn that scale into sustained growth through effective customer education, professional sales practices, and measurable results. UTOPIA Fiber's goal is to add a 2,000 new residential customers across its service footprint through the door-to-door sales program. To support this objective, UTOPIA has divided its service territory into three geographic areas: North, Central, and South. Proposers may submit proposals for one, two, or all three areas. UTOPIA reserves the right to award any or all areas to one or more proposers based on its evaluation of proposals and operational needs. UTOPIA will work with selected contractors to establish area assignments, coverage expectations, and management responsibilities to support effective execution and achievement of its 2027 growth objective. UTOPIA Fiber's Utah residential service communities include: - North region: Brigham City, Clearfield, Layton, Morgan City, Perry, Syracuse, Tremonton, West Haven and West Point - Central region: Bountiful Fiber (through an operational partnership with Bountiful City), Centerville, Midvale, Murray and West Valley City - South region: Cedar Hills, Lindon, Orem, Payson, Pleasant Grove, Santa Clara and Woodland Hills Selected contractors will represent UTOPIA Fiber and introduce residents to the benefits of fiber connectivity and the freedom to choose among participating residential Internet Service Providers. Contractors will receive UTOPIA-branded marketing materials, training, and access to approved sales tools after completing the required readiness steps. Successful partners will combine effective recruiting and territory coverage with accurate forecasting, complete sales funnel reporting, and a strong commitment to customer experience. The objective is to increase network adoption while representing participating ISPs fairly and independently and protecting the trust of the communities UTOPIA serves. Sales activity on any network or within any territory is subject to UTOPIA's authorization and address-level service availability. UTOPIA Fiber Background and Competitive Advantage UTOPIA Fiber provides a 100% fiber network to each of its member cities. The network is based on an open-access, direct-ethernet architecture providing individual fiber connections and guaranteed speeds up to 10 Gbps. Approximately 80% of the network is underground fiber. Open access means UTOPIA manages a marketplace of MSPs who provide retail internet services; customers can switch freely among ISPs on the network. Door-to-door sales must remain impartial and not favor any ISP. UTOPIA Fiber manages the order and installation process. Representatives will assist customers signing up through the website shopping cart and allow the customer to select ISP, speed, and add-on products. Once ordered, customers receive a confirmation email directing them to the scheduler to choose an installation date and optional consultation. Third-party contractors install conduit and fiber to the home. UTOPIA can install some underground customers in as quickly as 9 business days; the average installation time in 2026 is between 12 and 13 business days. Scope of Services and RFP Schedule - Conduct door-to-door sales campaigns in UTOPIA-authorized territories and cities; educate customers, answer inquiries accurately, process enrollments, and coordinate installation scheduling. - Represent all residential ISPs available at the customer address equally and independently. Present accurate comparable options and respect the customer's informed choice; do not steer customers toward an ISP because of affiliation, incentives, compensation, or personal preference. - Use UTOPIA-branded marketing materials supplied by UTOPIA Fiber. Representatives must identify themselves as representing UTOPIA Fiber, not an individual ISP. Use only UTOPIA-approved offers, comparisons, identification, and materials. - Mobilize for the earliest field-sales start of Monday, February 1, 2027. Each awarded contractor must have an executed contract and each representative must satisfy training, onboarding, licensing, system-access, and UTOPIA authorization requirements before knocking doors. RFP milestone dates: - RFP release: Friday, November 6, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. MT - Questions due: Friday, November 20, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. MT - Consolidated answers released: Friday, November 27, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. MT - Proposals due / RFP closes: Friday, December 4, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. MT - Anticipated award: Friday, January 8, 2027 - Deadline to finalize and sign contracts: Friday, January 22, 2027 at 5:00 P.M. MT - Contractor and representative training: Week of January 25 through January 29, 2027 - Operational onboarding and earliest door-knocking: Monday, February 1, 2027 (only after prerequisites are met) Mandatory representative readiness and field controls include completion of UTOPIA-specific training and onboarding and receipt of UTOPIA authorization before selling, valid solicitor licenses for each city (copies on file with UTOPIA), use of individual authorized SalesRabbit accounts (SalesRabbit is the required sales tracking and monitoring platform), 100% door disposition reporting in SalesRabbit, supervisor review of dispositions and compliance, and other onboarding and record-keeping requirements. A license for one city does not authorize sales in another city. Launch and readiness schedule: Award anticipated January 8, 2027. Contractors must finalize and sign contracts by January 22, 2027 to participate in January 25–29 training. Operational onboarding and field deployment may begin February 1, 2027, only after training, licensing, and UTOPIA authorization are complete. Mandatory reporting and management reviews: Awarded contractors must prepare, validate, analyze, and deliver staffing forecasts, sales performance reports, and customer complaint and feedback reports, reconciling with UTOPIA-approved records. Every Monday submit a forecast for the coming Monday–Sunday week, actual sales performance for the week just ended, and an updated complaint and feedback register by 5:00 P.M. Mountain Time (beginning with February 1, 2027 forecast and February 8, 2027 results). Participate in a standing monthly meeting between UTOPIA and the contractor's executive leadership and/or sales managers. RFP Implementation: UTOPIA anticipates multiple awards with contractors assigned to North, Central, and South regions. City releases will generally occur one city at a time within each region. UTOPIA may adjust assignments, accelerate or delay releases, or modify implementation based on operational priorities and performance. Proposal Guidelines: Provide a comprehensive proposal including company profile, relevant experience, sales strategy, personnel plan, implementation timeline, SalesRabbit workflow and reporting, sample Monday package, commission model and disclosures, and any exceptions to mandatory requirements. Commission Model: UTOPIA is open to creative commission structures (base commissions, escalators, clawbacks, timing triggers, etc.) and expects overall pay per individual sale (including commissions and escalators) to be approximately $350.00 to $600.00, though it will consider proposals outside that range if they incentivize UTOPIA goals (long-term satisfaction, consistent volume, quality representation, positive community interactions, and meeting target goal of 10,000 additional new subscribers). As a public entity, UTOPIA cannot provide non-financial or in-kind incentives (gifts, prizes, trips, discounts, etc.). If multiple awardees are selected, commission structures may be standardized across awardees. Evaluation Criteria: UTOPIA will review mandatory requirements (neutrality, branding, individual onboarding, city licenses on file before SalesRabbit access, complete door dispositions, Appendix B reporting and complaint controls). Eligible proposals will be evaluated under Appendix A (eight evaluation categories with weighted scoring). Reporting capability will be assessed from sample forecast, funnel, network target report, complaint dashboard, and source reconciliation. Mandatory compliance is a separate gate. Submission Requirements & Contact Information: Submit electronically by Friday, December 4, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. Mountain Time to Jeff Erwin at jerwin@utopiafiber.com. Use subject "door-to-Door Sales Proposal RFP # 2026SALES-001". Include the mandatory compliance response, sample reporting package under Appendix B, and primary contact and reporting owner. Terms and Conditions: This RFP does not commit UTOPIA Fiber to proceed. Proposals remain valid for 90 days after the updated submission deadline. UTOPIA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, cancel or reissue the RFP, or adjust dates. The awarded contractor is responsible for ensuring its representatives and subcontractors comply with contract requirements. UTOPIA may modify, reassign, reduce, or reallocate geographic areas or territories among contracted providers at any time. Confidentiality: Proposal information will be handled confidentially within the evaluation process to the extent permitted by applicable law; respondents must identify claimed confidential material. Appendix A: Evaluation scoring method and individual category weights and criteria (company background, sales strategy, personnel, sales tools, compliance, reporting, pricing and compensation, implementation timeline). Appendix B: Mandatory reporting deliverables, including Monday package content: editable spreadsheet or UTOPIA-approved report, management summary, staffing and sales forecast components, rep-level expected output and performance metrics, sales funnel stage definitions (All door-attempt visits including unanswered doors; Talked To/Conversations; Sold; Scheduled; Installed), and reconciliation/source mapping requirements.