The importance of a well-organized box office team during performance week cannot be understated. After all, your box office, whether brick and mortar or digital, is often the first impression your patrons get of your theatre. That said, the impact of smooth operations on audience experience and total revenue, is major.
So, how can you manage and run an effective box office during performance week? In truth, it comes down to just how great your staff and volunteers are. And just how great they are, in turn, depends on you. On The Stage offers a few ways to manage your box office staff and volunteers during performance week for truly smooth sailing.
Equipping your team with the tools they need to succeed is the key to an organized, efficient box office. Here are some ways to get your staff and volunteers ready for opening night.
No matter how great your performance is, the front-of-house staff can easily make or break the patron experience. That said, you should focus a good amount of time and attention on training these folks to succeed during the pre-show chaos.
Firstly, ensure your team is familiar with how your theatre operates, how your ticketing technology works (more on that later), and how the general pre-show experience will go. The fewer surprises your team encounters, the better.
Next, it’s time to sit with your team and set goals, no matter how big or small. Ticket sales are, of course, the main driver of theatre revenue, so make sure you’re creating achievable sales volume goals. By keeping things realistic but challenging, you keep up morale. Aside from general sales, talk with your box office team and volunteers about other objectives you want them to reach – including how many upsells they can manage, subscriptions they can sell, or donations they can garner during a transaction.
Volunteers and staff both want the same thing: to know exactly what they should be doing during a chaotic opening night – and all nights afterwards. To ensure smooth sailing, make sure every person knows their role during these experiences. A few assignments to dole out and explain include:
With goals communicated, roles assigned, and everyone locked in and ready to go, it’s time to equip your team with a comprehensive understanding of the box office process and any new ticketing software they need to know about.
When teaching your staff and volunteers about new box office and ticketing implementations, make sure your language is consistent across the board and that everyone involved is fully prepared for any situation—from ticket exchanges and refunds to subscription renewals, merchandising upsells, digital ticketing scanning, and more.
By training your team before the first rush of patrons, you’re creating confident employees and volunteers and also streamlining the box office experience for patrons. A smoother ride at the box office means a higher percentage of return customers for your next show.
Pro tip: Along with offering tiered ticketing to create more accessibility within your theatre, consider bulk discounts for those buying many tickets or tickets to more than one performance. Additionally, implement VIP experiences or bonus goodies for those willing to pay the extra few bucks. All that said, ensure your staff knows how to offer and enact these perks before putting them on the menu!
You’ve trained your team, set goals, and assigned roles – and now it’s time to open those doors. But not quite! Remember to set ground rules and establish behavioral expectations and protocols with your team before opening night.
The types of protocols set in place will differ from theatre to theatre but can include de-escalation techniques with frustrated patrons, what to do if your ticketing system crashes, or how to decongest your theatre in the event of an unsafe number of folks queuing in the lobby. In short, have a plan of attack and a back-up plan for every situation.
Your team may be prepped as can be regarding efficiency, sales goals, and software knowledge, but they might be missing one thing: the human touch. In short, your staff needs to be friendly and passionate about your theatre during each box office interaction. Customer service – or lack thereof – can truly make or break a business. So, make sure your team is ready to serve customers efficiently and kindly.
Remember that as a box office staffer, your main job is to enhance the customer experience. Offer your team members ways to do just that – with ticket comps, upgrades, VIP experiences, and more.
As we’ve mentioned, there’s a high likelihood that during a chaotic opening night, there will be some conflict between patrons and staff/volunteers. It’s natural! Because of this, make sure your team is educated on how to best manage these conflicts and come to a satisfying resolution.
Consider running a few practice scenarios with your team where a ‘customer’ is unhappy with their tickets, needs a refund, or has another problem. Work with your box office staffers and volunteers on how to troubleshoot problems without getting overwhelmed, short, or frustrated. This patience and kindness will go a long way and leave a major impression.
Pro Tip: Manage expectations through clear signposting, as patrons are much more likely to put up with a frustrating change or situation if they are informed before the problem occurs. Through clear signposting, you can also give an audience member answers to common questions, like the run time of your production or the WiFi password. This will make them more amenable and confident in their experience at your theatre.
While you can train your staff to the best of your ability, some elements are outside your control. Here are a few that you should prepare for:
People get sick, forget their commitments, or just bail – it’s human nature. Make sure you have ample staff members and volunteers at the ready to help in case you’re experiencing no-shows. At the end of the day, you want to make your patrons happy, but you also want to value your staff and volunteers. This means not allowing for major staffing gaps, which leads to overworked and underappreciated staffers. If anything, make sure you are ready to jump in and help at any station should someone no-show!
The last thing you want is for your ticket scanning technology or box office technology to crash on you right before the show starts or in the middle of a transaction. But it could happen! Instead of letting your theatre descend into chaos, consider the following:
There will be moments before the show begins where your theatre’s lobby feels extra crowded, your lines are too long, and you’re in the midst of “the rush.” High-traffic moments can be make or break for your theatre’s bottom line – as a lot of people would rather abandon the concession stand or box office rather than wait another 10 minutes. That means money lost for you, and an unhappy patron.
A great way to rectify this issue is by having staff floaters who can hop in to whichever sector they need to during high-traffic situations – opening another lane at the box office, the merch table, or the concession stand. This all comes back to ensuring you have another staff on hand to run a smooth ship.
After the show is over and volunteers and staffers are taking a much-needed break, you just have a couple more items to tackle before letting everyone head home.
Talk with your team about how the evening went, any major problems that arose, how those were handled, and the overall takeaways from the evening. If you saw certain volunteers and staffers excel, ensure you point that out. Additionally, if you need to dole out some constructive criticism, make sure it’s given with care. Many of these folks, after all, are not getting paid to be here.
Front-of-house employees are invaluable members of a theatre staff – so make sure you are showcasing your gratitude for them at every turn.
Words of affirmation are great, but also consider offering them merchandise, some free concessions, or other goodies for helping out on a busy night. If you want to see a high return rate of volunteers – and trust us, you do – you need to ensure they feel valued at the end of the evening.
Elevating the patron experience, properly equipping your staff and volunteers, and offering a smooth experience for everyone involved in your theatre can seem almost impossible – but you really just need a little help to get you there! That’s where On The Stage comes in.
On The Stage’s Box Office Portal is an excellent tool to help theatres reach their goals. With On The Stage’s Box Office Portal, you can:
If you’re ready to help your team succeed and grow your patron base, book a personalized demo today to learn more.