Marketing departments and box offices often have antagonistic and unproductive relationships. Anne Roberts explores the reasons for this and makes some proposals for helping the relationship to work more smoothly.
Marketing and box office staff are horses of completely different colours; they have different reasons for working in the arts, different strengths, weaknesses, educational backgrounds and aspirations. Here come the stereotypes: marketers might come into the arts straight from university (via Edinburgh Fringe) with a burning ambition to proselytise about their love of theatre/ music/dance/art. Often they will be creative, spontaneous, inspirational; but they may struggle with completing and finishing tasks.
Working in a box office, on the other hand, is often not a career choice. Some choose the job for a quiet life at the end of another career; others in search of flexible, part-time work to fit around children, studying or other jobs. They tend to stay in their jobs for a long time, which can make them appear to be stuck in their ways: they really have seen it all before. And they are incredibly good at detail, at keeping their cool, at dealing with black and white rather than shades of taupe. Shift-working, the relentless demand of the ringing telephone and the box office?s geographical position in the building often isolate them from other staff, and their own, hermetically sealed world is one in which they eat together, rarely make it to the Green Room, and never go outside.
Marketers form crack squads when it comes to spinning plates (never mind if a few get broken on the way). They shoulder the huge burden of earned income and have to put up with someone always knowing their jobs better than they do. They?re able to get out of the building, and they get the fun bits too: poster displays, photo calls, print design, etc.
Perception of value
The way the two functions are seen within the organisation can be a source of tension. Box offices are the main repository for audience information and the first-contact point for the public. But organisational culture normally undervalues box office members as unskilled and peripheral sales staff: they are paid poorly, denied time-off for training and are left out of the information loop. Marketers have struggled to be seen as professionals ? with some success ? and these days are respected as an integral part of the management structure.
Sources of conflict
Marketing and box office staff clash when:
- marketers introduce offers without telling box office staff, who only find out when a customer shows them the letter offering a £5 discount
- box offices refuse to make a note of how people found out about the show
- marketers overrule decisions regarding venue policy, such as offering a refund to someone who has already been refused by the box office manager
- box office staff refuse to get involved in telephone marketing, selling-up or selling-on
- marketers, without consultation, offer discounts which are complicated to set up on the computer, leave odd pennies in the price, insufficient change options in the till and the box office under-staffed when the rush comes in
- the marketing manager decides that the box office will act as an agency for all the other promoters in the city.
The keys to building more productive relationships between the two functions are the same as they would be for two individuals: empathy and communication. Here are some things I would like to say to each department:
To the box office:
Marketing staff are creative and resourceful, but are under pressure to generate a large proportion of the organisation?s income. They may go their own sweet way without telling you what?s going on but they don?t mean to walk all over you. The following may help to make your lives easier:
- walk around inside their shoes (can you spare a bit of time to shadow a member of the marketing team?) to see the world as they see it and understand their concerns, objectives and preoccupations
- be specific about your own needs and how their decisions affect you
- instigate regular meetings, and prepare a list of questions about their plans so that you can pre-empt them
- offer to brainstorm promotional ideas so that you can head off any awkward discounts or staffing log-jams
- if they want to introduce something unworkable for you, don?t just say ?no?, but tell them why, find out what the goals are, and offer alternative solutions
- keep arguments objective and businesslike. Avoid emotional language and never, ever whinge. It?s unproductive, unattractive and immature; and nothing is more certain to set people against you.
To the marketing department:
The box office is your most valuable resource. If you want to know about your audience, their behaviour, how well your brochure works or what the targets should be, you need go no further than the box office. They speak to and observe audiences every minute of their working lives, and if you ask them, they will tell you the right answers. So:
- spend time getting to know how they spend their time (if the box office manager agrees, learn to sell tickets)
- never make decisions that will affect the flow of box office traffic without consulting with them in advance. This includes discounts, concessions, audience development schemes such as Test Drives and Family Friendly promotions, and sending out direct mail letters. They might like to prepare for the deluge!
- don?t spend money on research without first asking your research questions (such as ?why are people coming to this event and not to this one??, or ?what is our most effective promotional activity??) of the box office. They may obviate the need for spending the money at all.
- always explain the ultimate objective of what you are doing so that they can see how they will be helping achieve the goal. They may even have a better or quicker way of getting there.
We all have a default way of behaving which it is difficult to change without a lot of practice. However, practice can make perfect, productive relationships which put organisational goals within reach.
Anne Roberts is a coach, trainer and consultant who works with arts clients
e: anne.roberts@easynet.co.uk. She will be speaking at the Tickets.com conference in Nottingham, on May 13-14.
For further details, contact Nathalie Peacock,
t: 01908 232404 e: npeacock@tickets.com