Pleasing all the people

The task of procuring a new ticketing system was both exciting and daunting, particularly considering all the functionality I was adamant we should demand from a new system. I had been courted by the usual suspects but had not really heard of Spektrix, and was sceptical before I had seen a demo. However, from that point on and the further along I went, it continually came out on top, not only on the tender scorecard but also in living up to and exceeding the high expectations on our wish list.After a thorough and smooth implementation we went live with Spektrix in April of this year. Online sales went from around 15% to nearly 50% almost immediately. A day a week spent sending out promoter figures was won back thanks to auto-scheduled reporting. And within a couple of months, we were out in a field with a dongle at our biggest outdoor event, taking cash and printing tickets, after years of turning people away.

We have been able to set up powerful, innovative and targeted offers that would not have been possible on our old system

Derby LIVE is a large-scale, local authority-run arts organisation, reaching audiences of over 400,000 each year. The indoor programme is made up of a range of received work, including comedy, music, drama, musicals, pantomime and a classical concert season. We also programme and produce outdoor events, including a free outdoor classical concert, an ice rink and Derby Festé. Our audience is therefore as diverse and voluminous as our programme, so customer relationship management is really important to us, but tricky to get right. We have been able to set up powerful, innovative and targeted offers that would not have been possible on our old system and channelled them through Spektrix’ integrated email solution. This has vastly reduced our direct mail costs. Previously, without a link to the database I had always used email conservatively, unable to confidently segment our audience and target them with offers. Now we are winning back lapsed customers and increasing the frequency of those already coming.

As well as the good range of standard reports, access to a powerful, on-demand report service is priceless. You can get hold of ‘that’ report you have always wanted, or on a whim request the reports to back up, analyse and monitor a new strategy. And you are not on your own − the support team has become an extension of our own team, happy to impart their knowledge and experience of best practice or to talk through and find solutions to ideas or bugbears. Regular user days offer a great opportunity to find out and discuss what fellow users are doing with the system. And cutting-edge keynotes from industry specialists add real value and insight.

Ed Green is Audience Engagement Manager at Derby LIVE.
www.derbylive.co.uk