Monad Ticketing wants to make life as easy for box office staff as it does for customers
It is probably fair to say that, in recent years, the speed of development of technology has outpaced the rate at which the ‘average’ human being is willing to interact with it, which can be a problem when it comes to online ticketing: if customers can’t easily buy their tickets online, then they will give up, so most arts managers view an investment in a good web interface as crucial. But what about box office staff? Should they merit the same level of investment? From a management point of view, the answer is undoubtedly yes. There are four key issues:
1. Time spent per transaction – the longer this is, the more staff time is needed – and must be paid for (or alternatively, the longer the queues and the poorer the customer service)
2. Time (and money) spent training staff – a good investment, but potentially a hefty one unless you can keep staff turnover to a minimum (which is less likely if they are frustrated by an overly complex ticketing process)
3. Recruiting good staff – the more complex the ticketing system interface, the more highly qualified, technologically competent and experienced the sales staff need to be (and that is expensive)
4. Staff flexibility – the easier a system is to operate, the easier it is to employ temporary staff (or even call centres) to cover occasional peaks in demand or ticketing in remote locations.
So when a ticketing supplier takes the unusual step of giving box office staff exactly the same web interface as their customers, this sounds like a triumph of logic. But does it work in practice? AP asked its subscriptions manager, Kate Norden, to be a mystery shopper for some online tickets through Monad Ticketing’s new system. Her reaction? “Wow. Very quick and easy: intuitive, with plenty of information at each stage so you know where you’re at. Setting up an account was super-quick, as was order confirmation. My first impression is ‘Slick!’.” So far so good, but maybe a tougher test is to impress experienced ticketing system user Ifty Finn, who has been involved in system implementation at a number of venues. She said: “This system really could be used by any customer-facing member of staff to sell a ticket – it’s that easy and intuitive. Everything has been done to ensure that a high proportion of those who embark on an online transaction actually get to the end of it without support; but if support is required, the box office would know the web interface inside out and be able to help. The search function is brilliant. Provided events have been set up with full details (which in itself is a very easy step-by-step process), then every detail of those events is searchable – great for being able to answer ‘left field’ enquiries at the box office. The marketing module and the reporting functions are equally flexible and easy to use.” Her verdict? “I really like this system – and I can’t say that about them all!”