 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
OPERATION:
B-O-X O-F-F-I-C-E
When Ashley Crosby started her job as the box office graduate
manager at Western Illinois University’s Hainline Theatre a little over
a year ago, things were simple. Basic transactional needs were met, but Crosby
felt they wouldn’t score high marks on customer service for neither their
patrons nor the seven different campus organizations they served which presented
over 50 shows annually.
“With only two phone lines and limited student staff, we needed a way
for patrons to purchase tickets without the hassle of being on hold or waiting
in long lines,” says Crosby. “We were also dissatisfied with the
reports that the old system generated, and the lack of database capabilities.”
Crosby is not alone in her quest to find a program that could streamline all
of their ticketing operations and improve overall service. In fact, in a recent
survey conducted by DramaBiz Magazine, many of you, driven by technological
changes and demands from patrons, have drastically decreased the time between
evaluations of your box office operations. Nearly three years ago, respondents
typically did an assessment of their box office operations every 2.3 years.
Now, respondents are reviewing their systems every 11.3 months, making a box
office operation appraisal an annual event.
Process
As with any significant change in a business operation, it is good to define
and follow an agreed-upon process for assessing needs, researching solutions,
identifying vendors, implementing a new system and evaluating the results.
For many theatres evaluating their box office operation, the process would
go as follows:
1. Assemble team
2. Conduct a needs analysis
3. Create an RFP that identifies and prioritizes requirements
4. Research and interview potential vendors that meet minimum requirements
5. Demo vendor product(s)
6. Distribute RFPs to vendors meeting requirements
7. Receive RFPs and conduct gap analysis between requirements and product
attributes
8. Review each RFP and grade in order of preference
9. Negotiate with final two–three vendors on contract terms
10. Award contract and notify other vendors of contract decision
11. Appoint one person as the project liaison for a team to implement software
Teamwork
At the Hartford Stage in Hartford, Conn., Sarah Coco, the director of patron
services, feels that preliminary research and planning are critical to the
process. To ensure successful selection and implementation of new software,
all staff from upper management to ticket operators needs to be included in
the planning.
“Ultimately it is not just about ticketing, it is about customer service,
marketing needs and the communication between all departments that will work
hand-in-hand with the ticketing office,” explains Coco. “The successful
analysis, search and then installation will be directly related to the successful
communication with all departments in your organization.”
Matt Cooper, director of consulting services for Jacobson Consulting Applications
in New York, has worked with box office ticketing solutions for 14 years.
He also advocates the team approach when undergoing a change in the box office,
including representation from all departments that regularly interact with
the box office. It is especially important as the team identifies its needs.
Needs Assessment
When preparing a needs analysis, one must take into account the goals of the
organization with respect to the procedures and systems in question. The needs
analysis should also consider future growth or anticipated changes facing
an organization.
Cooper advises these teams to consider both internal and external output when
evaluating existing operations and ask the following questions to get at the
basis of a needs analysis:
“The answers to these questions may lead to the need
to change software in the box office, update policies and procedures, or both,”
explains Cooper. “If current requirements are not being met by existing
software and procedures, then the organization should consider changing box
office software.”
Request for Proposal
Teri McPherson, a 29-year veteran in the ticketing industry and ticketing
services manager for the San Diego Theatres, Inc., continuously stays on top
of what’s new, who’s bought out whom and any other advancements
made by companies that may make for a “better fit” with her organization.
Keeping track of these developments helps McPherson plan their biennial evaluation
of their box office system.
“Based on our past experience, future goals and cost consideration, we
wanted each company issuing a proposal to us to be aware of what our needs
were, which parts we would not utilize of their system(s) and how we could
make it work best for all of our users,” explains McPherson. Her requirements
checklist breaks down general requirements and also details what is needed
to handle online, in-person and phone sales as follows:
Overview: General description of theatre and types of shows
Statistics: Focused on measurable data
General Requirements: Be as specific as possible
from your needs analysis
Here are a few examples from San Diego Theatres’ requirements checklist:
Internet Features: What must you have to sell your
tickets online?
Here are a few examples from San Diego Theatres’ requirements checklist:
Internal Call Center Sales: What must you have to
sell your tickets via phone?
Here are a few examples from San Diego Theatres’ requirements checklist:
Window and Event Sales: What must you have to sell
your tickets onsite?
Here are a few examples from San Diego Theatres’ requirements checklist:
Current Sales Points: How many box office, phone
and management work stations are required?
Prioritization
Coco thinks it is important for people to realize that there is not one product
on the market that meets all of an organization’s needs. “It is
extremely important to prioritize the must-haves with all staff involved,”
says Coco. “Vendors can review the list and respond to it.”
In communicating your re-quirements to potential vendors, McPherson advises
stressing the uniqueness of your theatre so the vendor gets a complete picture
of what will need to be delivered. “San Diego Theatre is a unique entity
since we do not present or produce the shows, but provide ticketing as a service
to our presenters,” explains McPherson. “So at San Diego Theatre,
we had no need for a system which offered season ticket capabilities, since
we're generally all about single ticket sales.”
McPherson goes on to explain that you need to stress what is important to
your organization when specifying what you want in you box office software.
“We insist on maintaining our own in-house Call Center to assist and
sell tickets to patrons via telephone,” says McPherson. “We feel
that even though the patron may be attending an Opera, a Broadway show or
a Ballet that these are OUR patrons and we want to make sure they are happy
with that experience from the first phone call and up until they leave the
performance.”
Another priority according to McPherson, who ultimately stayed with Ticketmaster,
was to be able to offer our patrons an Internet purchase site which is as
"friendly" and responsive as possible. This included the e-marketing
vehicles like e-newsletters, special ticket offers and announcements that
San Diego Theatre uses to communicate with patrons.
Sourcing
Nearly all interviewed for this article cited three main resources to use
when searching for new software alternatives. They are as follows:
1. INTIX Conference—Held bi-annually in different locations, the
INTIX Conference (www.intix.org) offers useful, informational sessions, and
an exhibit hall with access to many ticketing vendors, their products and
demos.
2. Peers—A list of formal groups affiliated with INTIX can be
located on the INTIX Web site. Equally important are the local arts organizations
or references vendors give you to pose specific questions to those already
using the software.
3. Informational Resources—Again INTIX offers a wide variety of
resources including a dictionary and e-Bulletins all designed to manage your
box office better. Magazines like DramaBiz can also be helpful in learning
of organizations across the country facing similar ticketing challenges. Currently
the archives at www.dramabiz.com have over 20 articles addressing different
aspects of the box office.
In some cases, finding the right software may be as simple as asking your
existing vendor. With ongoing changes in the industry many paper ticket-only
vendors are now adding online ticketing functionality like the combination
of Worldwide TicketCraft. Theatres may also already have in place one component
of an integrated software package like the Victoria Theatre Association in
Dayton, Ohio. Having used Blackbaud's The Raiser's Edge® for fundraising
and development for 10 years, it made sense to look at Blackbaud’s ticketing
product The Patron Edge as an integrated solution to managing the ticketing
for their three resident theatres.
Lisa Wagner, director of ticketing for Ticket Center Stage, who manages the
ticketing for the newly built multi-million dollar Victoria Theatre, says
“We now had a bigger view of the organization and needed to start looking
for other opportunities for growth. We didn’t want to continue with a
software that wasn’t growing with us.”
Wagner led an internal team to assess needs, attended the INTIX Conference
to meet with potential vendors and relied on her local peer group of ticketing
professionals playfully named OINK, for the Ohio, Indiana, Northern Kentucky
region it represents, to ask specific questions and get candid feedback on
the systems they were using.
“We ultimately decided to use The Patron Edge because it had the functionality
to integrate into the development software product we already had from Blackbaud,”
explains Wagner. “For me, the biggest selling point is support and by
using a vendor we already know, there was no wasted time talking them through
our work environment.”
Implementation
Julie Voorhees, managing director of the 250-seat Fredericksburg Theater Company
in Fredericksburg, Texas, started with eReserve Ticketing for their online
ticketing about a year ago. And although making the change went smoothly,
she points out there were hurdles in getting patrons used to using the new
system.
“We were very accommodating in our box office, allowing people to call
in, reserve tickets and stop by in a few days to pick them up,” recalls
Voorhees.
With the purchase of a new building, patrons were adjusting to a lot of change,
which included the gentle push to use an online ticketing system. “We
have an elderly audience so we learned we needed to be patient and allow our
patrons a chance to get used to using the computer,” explains Voorhees.
“Of course, there will always be some of those people who will just not
use the computer.”
With continual prodding and phone coaching to use the new online system, Voorhees
was able to streamline her operations; reduce box office hours and reassign
volunteers to other needed functions at the theatre.
Internally you may need to consider whether you have the right staff in place
to handle a switch. Coco notes that the skills needed to oversee and run a
data conversion and new system installation may not be present in the person
who handles the box office staff and settlement statements.
“Understanding the data is the most important aspect for successful software
implementation,” explains Coco. “Many times, an organization will
benefit from hiring on a new staff member or consultant who has experience
in this area to oversee the process and guide the organization through it.
Many times companies suffer from the staff simply not having enough time to
devote to the project and keep up with all their day-to-day responsibilities.”
Coco also cautions making sure everyone is on board with the change and understanding
that change is not easy. In some cases, new software may require a theatre
to handle its business differently, which may be met with some resistance.
One should also be sensitive to the timing of the change and not do any installations
or conversions during high-sales times in the box office.
Back at Western Illinois University’s Hainline Theatre, Crosby decided
to go with University Tickets, a software provider that specializes in ticketing
services for universities. After identifying her needs and looking for the
expertise to match, Crosby is hopeful and looks forward to expanding her box
office operations. “Eventually we would like to allow our customers to
not only purchase their tickets from home, but to also print e-tickets that
can be scanned at the door,” explains Crosby. “We hope to be able
to more accurately record how many patrons attend events and come up with
ways of drawing a larger audience.”
And drawing larger audiences is what all theatre box offices are pursuing,
especially with the shift in the basic sales patterns in the purchase of tickets.
With more and more patrons putting off the decision to purchase tickets until
closer to the event, added pressure to exceed service expectations will be
the ongoing challenge theatre box offices will have to face.
To talk up your ticketing software
provider, visit the DramaBiz Magazine forums at www.dramabiz.com/forum.
