Gaining the benefits of a configurable ticketing system
Meeting the needs of the UK's sports clubs is a complex business. Requirements vary greatly and can be influenced by myriad factors including the specific sport being played, the club’s size and, even more crucially, their commercial strategy.
In reviewing the growth tactics of a number of clubs, we’ve found that they usually focus on several of the following activities:
- Creating extra revenue through selling additional products such as sports camps and concerts
- Driving revenue from existing events and matches, maximising attendance and ancillary spend
- Creating cost-savings through empowering fans to self-service
- Offering integrated digital real-estate for fans
- Providing a top-notch buying journey to maximise clicks and conversion
- Maximising data collection and marketable contacts via customer interactions to generate more long-term revenue and interest
Most clubs will use a number of these tactics, prioritising those most relevant to their own needs and experience. It is therefore important to determine the individual elements that will deliver the most value to your club – and to select a ticketing system that will enable you to employ these tactics to maximum effect
When choosing a ticketing system that will drive future success, there are a number of pre-purchase criteria to consider:
Choose experience
As you plan for growth, it is critical that you choose a provider who has worked with large clubs so your club can benefit from their experience and support. As you succeed and expand, so too will your ticket system requirements and a good provider will be able to guide you through the maze of system options.
Pay only for what you need
While it is important to have a multi-functional system, it's equally important that you don't pay for features you will not use. For example, if your scanners or turnstiles don’t accept contactless mobile tickets, you won’t need the functionality to produce, distribute and curate contactless tokens. Unless required, basket abandonment functionality, the ability to create bespoke hospitality packages or an integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution will only add cost to your system without delivering any real value.
Understand what you need
Ticket resales are hugely important for clubs that sell out every game. It helps maximise revenue per seat, but it's not something that smaller clubs even consider at the start of their growth journey. A module that allows season ticket holders to sell their seat back for onwards resale is a cornerstone of the commercial strategy of all larger clubs.
Other questions you should ask yourself when choosing a new system include:
- How can we support a fully mobile match day experience?
- How do we create and maintain a single record of all customer interactions with the club?
- How will we allocate precious away tickets to a fan base when demand far exceeds supply?
A unique shop window
Sports ticketing is quickly evolving from phone and window sales toward website-only transactions. As ticket office managers focus their attentions on securing commercial success [https://www.oneadvanced.com/news-and-opinion/five-things-your-ticket-office-can-do-to-help-secure-commercial-success/] this is an area that is too often neglected in the growth strategies of sports clubs. A good ticketing partner will provide all of the expertise and guidance you need to deliver an excellent digital buying experience for your supporters. This ensures your site strongly reflects your brand and values and offers an intuitive, smooth user experience.
Your website should be configured so that it melds smoothly with the rest of your digital real estate.
It’s smart to tie sites together and to allow a single sign-on. Visit the Worcester Warriors website and click on the ‘Tickets’ button to see how smooth the transition from one site to another can be. Additional features like ‘other’ ticket suggestions, discounted match bundles or flexible payment facilities can drive your club’s success.
The best choice for your club
Ultimately, no two clubs will have the exact same ticketing needs. Nor will requirements always stay the same. To meet your objectives, choose a supportive, experienced provider who can supply a configurable, modular system that will meet all of your needs today and be capable of growing with your club into the future.
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