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Pricing and Bundling: A New Paradigm?

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If you’re an Amazon Prime member (and given the numbers Amazon reports, you probably are), you’ve got a bundle of benefits that go far beyond the basic free two-day shipping that was the original premise and promise.

The Amazon strategy that has played out over the past few years reflects an intriguing approach to pricing — bundling a suite of benefits that each on its own has substantial value — to justify the overall annual Prime service fee. Aside from the free two-day shipping, there’s a wide array of music, data storage, and free movies — as well as pricing and delivery benefits at some Whole Foods locations. These are not just trifles — they are substantial benefits. As a Prime member myself, after my first year I did the math to see if I saved money — but I don’t bother any longer because of all these other benefits. Read the Article

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Introducing Our New Public Ticketing Site

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Here at PatronManager, we’ve set out on a mission to help arts, culture, and live entertainment organizations build stronger (and more profitable) relationships with their patrons. And in this day and age, we understand that a huge part of that relationship happens online. An organization’s website is the place patrons go to learn about event offerings, and more importantly where they go to purchase tickets and make donations. We get it. Your patrons’ experience on your website can make or break your relationship with them, which can make or break your organization.

With this in mind, we’re thrilled to announce our new Public Ticketing Site (PTS) as part of our February 2019 release. With this upgrade, you’ll be able to manage the look and feel of your patron-facing ticketing site all from a brand new “do it yourself” admin portal. Lovingly dubbed “baby Squarespace” by our team, you can now create a beautifully designed modern ticketing experience whether you are a designer or not. The online ticketing experience has never looked better on the patrons’ end or been easier to manage on the administrative end. Read the Article

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Online Line Creates Lines

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Recently I went to a modern dance event at a large venue in New York City that had around 3,000 seats. I was lucky I had bought tickets online and didn’t have to print them out — they were right there on my phone. But that wasn’t the case for the line of what looked like hundreds who were forced to stand in the 27-degree cold outside the theatre, queuing for 10 minutes (at least) to pick up their tickets from the box office at 7:45 PM. Here’s a perfect example of how old-world thinking is still applied to today’s reality.

The venue had three will-call windows, only two of which were staffed. Pushing 200 people through a line with two box office staffers, with a serve time of, say, 20 seconds, is going to take a while. And the experience will not be good for anyone — not the patrons, and certainly not the box office staff. And of course, the number-one cause of anxiety for your patrons will be “Will the performance start before I can get through this line?”

So why let this happen? You know this situation will occur — in fact, you have precise information about how many people are going to expect to pick their tickets up. Come up with your “Plan B,” which can include any (and all) of the following: Read the Article

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Infusing Your Customer Service With a Little Empathy

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Today’s blog post is written by Dustin Morris, Client Administrator, PatronManager. 

As many who manage patron relationships know, customer service can be a tenuous balancing act. A job with many, and occasionally contradictory, rules can place customer service representatives in tricky situations. Individuals in these roles need to be personable and accessible while acting as ambassadors for their respective organizations. This can be especially challenging in instances where for any number of reasons emotions start to run high.

Research shows that 51% of customers will terminate their relationship and business with a company after one negative experience. There is the old adage that “the customer is always right,” but realistically speaking, that is not always the case. Keeping this in mind, what can be done to prevent one tense interaction from escalating to a patron walking out your door never to return again? How can you preserve a valuable patron relationship without compromising the integrity of your arts organization’s policies? To ensure positive patron experiences and to navigate the occasional tumultuous situation, consider the idea that empathy is key.Read the Article

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MoviePass & the Rise of Subscription Culture

MoviePass Subscriber Models

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Today’s blog post is written by Allison Klein, Senior Platform Specialist, PatronManager. 

In the past, I’ve written for this blog about my experiences as a theater subscriber and museum member, but over the last few years, I’ve realized how much the subscription model has taken over the way I (and many others!) consume media and participate in consumer culture. I subscribe to multiple media streaming services, a book of the month club, a meal kit delivery service, and have tried several different beauty box subscriptions. I’ve also given ‘snack of the month’ and ‘craft of the month’ subscriptions to my friends as gifts.

One of the reasons I tend to favor these subscription services over (or in supplement to) their more a la carte alternatives is that it takes some of the pressure off of the decision-making process, in an over-saturated world. There’s a certain amount of guesswork that gets removed from my daily routine because I don’t have to make a choice about what to make for dinner or what new product to try. There’s also a freedom that comes from subscribing — paying a flat rate for a product means that the stakes are lowered. If I don’t like one item, it doesn’t feel like a waste of time or money, and it’s easier to try something else without incurring an additional cost.

So it might not come as a surprise to learn that a few months ago I succumbed to the peer pressure that my more movie-obsessed friends had been exerting, and signed up for MoviePass. In addition to appealing to my subscription-loving self, I also saw it as an opportunity to explore a new idea being implemented in the ticketing industry. Read the Article

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Membership Benefits 101

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As our economy moves towards a more subscription-based model, member benefits are becoming the norm. As an example, Amazon has done an incredible job layering on perks for being an Amazon Prime member, extending all the way to shopping at Whole Foods (which they acquired this past year). The notion of member benefits has been around for a long time. For decades American Express has based the entire value chain of card membership on benefits offered at a variety of levels: basic, gold, and platinum.

The arts can take advantage of this trend as well (and do more), without impacting their bottom line.Read the Article

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