Tickets. They’re kind of important. They’re the barrier that stands between an efficiently run attraction and complete chaos. Tickets for entry into the venue or individual attractions are a component of your business that cannot be overlooked.
Due to their importance, the software that powers your attraction’s ticketing is just as critical. Gone are the traditional cash register days and till, with manual buttons and static prices. The technology that powers ticketing can do so much more than sell tickets, and you need to be at the forefront of new developments.
It’s time to take inventory of the capabilities of your ticketing software. As you look at the following list, how many of these functions are you benefiting from?
Ticketing
At its core, how well is your attendance being managed? Selling tickets is fundamental to your business, so it needs to do more than just work: it needs to be seamless and intuitive for both your guests and employees.
POS: Point of sale
POS is more than a cash register. It’s the software that powers your tickets, both online and in-person, and continues to serve your guests throughout their visit when they visit your food & beverage and retail out.
Self-Service Kiosks
Have trouble finding staff, or trying to do more with less? Offering self-service kiosks as an option for guests to buy tickets onsite puts your guests in the driver seat of their transaction, and allows your staff to serve more guests at once, compared to the traditional admissions counter and box office.
Reservations / Timed Entry
Need to manage your capacity or limit the number of guests in your venue at once? Control the influx of guests by requiring ticket purchases to include a date and time for their reservation to manage guest flow and staffing allocations.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management
Your guest experience begins before your guests step foot onsite and continues long after they leave. With a CRM tied to your ticketing system, you can send the right messages to the right guests to keep them coming back and spreading the word about their experience.
Memberships
How are you turning satisfied guests into repeat visitors? By selling memberships, you can reap the benefits of recurred billing while rewarding your guests for their loyalty and growing your attendance.
Gift Cards
Can guests gift an experience to loved ones? By offering gift cards for sale, you can gain revenue from new guests before they even visit, and encourage your fans to introduce new guests to your attraction.
Cashless wallets
Can you allow guests to load credit onto RFID cards or wristbands? When people can spend money through RFID, it substantially reduces the amount of friction involved in the process, which makes spending money more seamless and convenient.
Parties & Group Bookings
How easy is it for guests to book a birthday party or a group booking? Can they do it online or do they need to call and speak with a sales agent? Better yet, can they do it from their phone and while on the go, so it doesn’t take too much time out of their busy lives?
Waivers
If your venue requires waivers, can they be done online, in advance, and attached to their ticket, or do they need to do it upon arrival and fill out a form by hand that’s attached to a clipboard? If your waiver process hasn’t gone digital, then there is more friction than necessary in the guest experience.
Guest experience measurement
How are you collecting and aggregating guest feedback? With a survey tool that’s linked back to your point of sale, then you can now juxtapose guest sentiment with passive data, such as the date and time that they visited, along with metrics such as revenue and attendance.
Backend Analytics
Having access to guests’ data and financial metrics is critical to running an attraction. Are you able to access all of your data in a convenient dashboard, whether it’s on desktop, tablet, or mobile?
As you review this list, how many of these functions are you gaining value, and where are you falling short in maximizing the capabilities you need?
