AP asked arts organisations across the country for their top tips for using their box offices as effectively as possible. Here’s what they said. Liverpool Everyman – It’s all about the peopleYou may have the highest spec box office system available but nothing can replace having people in your team who are passionate and welcoming, greeting your audiences with a smile and a friendly word. Your people are the most important asset in your business. It is the personal experience audiences will remember you for. Colston Hall – Improve access for allWe’re using our box office system to improve customer service for our audience members with access issues. Instead of calling to book, customers sign up to our access register and use their unique customer login to book accessible tickets, as well as their free personal assistant ticket, online and before general sale. Derby Quad – Start a dialogue with the communityThink of your box office system as a way to create dialogue with customers in the broadest sense. Your data can help you make decisions about which short courses to run, which areas and which schools are best for your education work. Embrace your data and it will always be your friend! Birmingham Hippodrome – Think way beyond ticket-sellingThere’s a misconception that selling more and more tickets online will ultimately render a box office department redundant. Our ticket sales assistants are now upselling memberships, taking donations, restaurant reservations, subscriptions, group bookings and replying to web queries. They sit at the very heart of the business. We’ve never needed them more! Belgrade Theatre – Use the audience insightsWe’re changing our Members scheme, and are looking to our box office system to offer us insights into how best to integrate the scheme and what our customers will respond to best. It is also helping us to identify the best ways to communicate with them. Nuffield Theatre Southampton – Audience data is your most valuable currencyFor every show, we agree target audiences with the programming team and group them into segments. Using mapping tools, we then identify audience hot spots and match them with data from our box office for direct marketing. Our box office team is constantly working to keep our data as clean and relevant as possible. Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society – Be ready to respond to changeAs the industry – and customer – expectations continue to evolve at an unprecedented rate, innovation is key. Continue to learn, evolve and innovate. We regularly review our operation, with input from across the organisation. There is always new ground to break and explore, and we ensure we have great flexibility and versatility to respond to all our stakeholders. York Theatre Royal – Try more joined-up sellingCombining all of your front of house selling points with your box office software enables full use of the system throughout the organisation. The use of touch screen tills and tablets in our bistro and café allows a fast and efficient service with excellent reporting at the touch of a button. The Firestation – Break down the ticketing siloI’m tempted to say ‘ditch the box office’ – we did and never looked back. But I realise that won’t work for everybody, so instead ask who in your organisation sells what to your customers, where and how? Why not someone else? Why not somewhere else? Unify, streamline and de-silo. Pleasance Theatre – good communication is the keyUsing insights from your database to inform your customer communications is obviously important. But don’t overlook the internal relationships between box office staff and other departments. This is what ultimately shines through, with great staff and customer satisfaction across all sales channels. Read more about the latest box office developments in ArtsProfessional's Making the most of the box office special feature. FeatureAudience developmentTicketingIncome Published: 04-07-2016 Log in or register to post comments