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Tickets to Success
By Shevon McBride
The pros and cons of ticketing options for school
performances
If you're like most studio owners, you are always looking
for ways to make your business operations more efficient.
One area that often consumes more than its share of time and
effort is ticketing for performances, including printing,
sales options, and distribution. To set up a system that is
right for your school, it's a good idea to explore the
following questions:
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What are the pros and cons of using a ticket service
versus printing options?
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Should I offer reserved or open seating?
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Should I include tickets in a recital fee package instead
of charging for individual tickets?
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Should I do ticket sales by lottery or on a first-come
basis?
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When is the best time of year for tickets to go on sale?
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Should I not sell tickets at all?
Because ticket sales contribute to the overall success of a
recital or other production and therefore
impact the following year's enrollment, it's important to
review all the options, giving much thought to your
geographic area and the venue where the performances will be
held.
Ticketing services
Ticketing can be done by a ticket service, such as Ticketron,
or by your staff. Using a service eliminates the need to
invest time and manpower in managing and distributing orders
and dealing with customers. (In many cases, you will need to
supply the service with a seating chart of the performance
facility.) Inquire about setting up a link to the service on
your studio's website to make it user friendly for your
clients. Using a ticketing service cuts down on added studio
payroll obligations during the months before a performance.
But before making a decision, weigh the costs of paying your
staff against the cost of the service. Also, check with the
manager of the facility you are renting. Ticket services
could be included in your rental package or for an
additional cost. Despite their convenience, ticketing
services come with a major downside in terms of overall cost
to your clients: Prices could be twice what you usually
charge, and customers may be hit with service and postage
fees. In pricing your tickets, carefully consider your area,
the economy, your clientele, and the fact that you are
presenting young amateur dancers, not professionals.
Overpriced tickets could prevent people from coming to your
school's most important
event of the year. Estimating the production expenses and
the number of audience members you expect
will help you set a fair price. For convenience, consider
charging the same price for advance and at-the door tickets.
Also consider allowing free admission for small children or
infants who will be sitting on a parent's lap.
Reserved seating
An
end-of-year performance is a school owner's best selling
point of the year because the audiences are
full of
potential clients. For many viewers, the performance will be
the first impression they get of your
school. One
advantage to offering reserved seating is that it conveys
the message that your performance will be professional and
organized. The reserved seating option has enough advantages
to make it worth serious consideration. Besides adding to
the professionalism of the performance, it minimizes
conflict; when people know where they are sitting, there is
no fighting over seats or complaints
about people who save entire rows of seats for latecomers.
Reserved seating also eliminates that mad rush when the
doors open and the people who are desperate for front-row
seats start trampling others to get there. Also, many
audience members will appreciate not having to arrive an
hour early in order to be guaranteed a good seat. Another
advantage of using reserved seating is that if the
auditorium is large but your audience is small, you have
control over where people sit. For example, you can sell
only the orchestra seats rather than allowing the audience
to scatter throughout the house. Grouping people together
gives the feeling of a full house and increases the overall
energy in the
auditorium, which in turn influences the performers' energy.
Open seating
Open seating has its advantages too. Using this process
eliminates long lines of people waiting to
purchase tickets who
are anxious to get the best seats. If clients are to receive
a designated number of tickets, they can pick up their
tickets on a specified day or have them mailed to them with
their monthly statement. As a convenience to parents who
want additional tickets, you can allow them to order tickets
through your school's website. Again, they can be mailed or
picked up at the studio. To sell tickets online you need to
set up a PayPal account. The funds go directly into your
account and the tickets may then be picked up by the
customers or mailed to them. With open seating, be prepared
to handle audience members who arrive very early, then dash
into the auditorium as soon as the doors open. Stationing
security guards at the doors and in the lobby helps to
maintain order when large crowds accumulate. To entertain
the ticket holders and keep enthusiasm high during long
waits, consider showing a video of the previous year's
performance, or selling or handing out programs.
Handling ticket sales at the studio
If you use reserved seating, on the first day of ticket
sales you should anticipate long lines of eager family
members. If you expect many people to show up on the first
day, hand out numbers as customers arrive so that there are
no disputes about whose turn it is. Handle each order as
quickly as possible while still being courteous and polite.
Consider having students or staff members serve coffee and
cookies to your customers while they wait.
Ticket design
If you are handling your own tickets, a professional and
organized appearance is of utmost importance. One way to do
that is to design the tickets with your show's theme in
mind. Have the designer of your program book design the
tickets to match. Make sure to include all the vital
information "who, what, when, and where" and consider printing
a map or directions to the venue on the back of the tickets
as a courtesy to out-of-town guests. Making the tickets the
size of a dollar bill or a little smaller allows customers
to keep them in their wallets, minimizing the risk of losing
them. At this size, printing the tickets is fast and easy
since six of them will fit on one 8 1⁄2 x 11 sheet of card
stock. Ticket printing services can be found online, and
many offer the option of pre-printed or customized tickets.
Also check with local printers, especially if one will be
printing your program book. They may be able to offer you a
package deal.
Package deals
If dealing with high-volume first-day ticket sales isn't for
you, consider including a designated number of tickets in
the recital fee. By charging a flat recital fee, some school
owners avoid the hassle of ticket sales entirely. You may
opt to include a costume along with the tickets or limit the
package to tickets and a program. If you choose to go with a
recital package fee, be sure to specify the number of
tickets included. Allowing each family an unlimited number
of tickets could result in a lot of empty seats if they take
more than they need--and unhappy people who were unable to
buy tickets at the door because none were left. Let's say
you include four tickets per family with the recital fee.
You could charge for any additional tickets above four or
allow those who want more to wait until all tickets have
been distributed, then make the remaining ones available on
a first come basis. Be sure to print only as many tickets as
there are seats in the auditorium, and hold some out for
emergencies (such as replacing lost
tickets or accommodating unexpected guests) and to sell at
the door.
Lottery systems
Another option that eliminates the first-day rush is a
lottery. There are several ways to do this. One method is to
tie the lottery to the registration process. When families
pre-register their children for the following year's
classes, assign them a number based on the order in which
their registration was received. Then, a couple of months
before the recital, send out a letter reminding parents of
their numbers and asking them to return a form that
indicates the number of tickets they want for the recital.
You then process the order and mail or distribute the
tickets from the studio office. This system encourages
pre-registration, which gives you a good idea of which
students will return in the fall. Another method is to let
those clients whose accounts are paid in full purchase
tickets before anyone else. The first person to pay in full
receives number one, and so on. This encourages people to
pay the season's final bill in a timely manner. Again, you
could do the processing by mail, through online sales, or by
having a ticket-sale day. A third option is a totally
randomized lottery in which the students
draw numbers that designate their ticket-purchasing order.
To ticket or not to ticket
Ticket sales can be an important source of income, helping
to defray the cost of the auditorium and other recital
expenses. However, some facilities do ask for a percentage
of the sales, which cuts into your school's profit margin.
Also worth considering is the fact that some venues may
reduce their fees if funds are not collected for tickets.
When plenty of seating is available in the auditorium of
choice,
and if the venue will lower its fees, it might prove
tempting not to bother with tickets at all. On the plus
side, you will save yourself the expense of printing the
tickets and paying someone to manage and sell them (not to
mention the time you'd save). On the downside, tickets serve
as a reminder of the details about the performance, possibly
saving the school from fielding many phone calls asking for
information.
Time lines
Tickets should be ordered early so that you can make them
available for purchase and distribute them two months before
the show. All of the advertisements for the performance
should include the date that tickets go on sale and how
customers can buy them. With ticket sales, as with all of
the elements that go into planning and producing a show,
remember that your school's recital or other major
performance is the most important selling point of the year.
Pay attention to every detail and make it
the best experience possible for your customers. Although
you should approach ticketing in the way that best suits you
and your business, keep in mind that convenience for your
clients usually translates into a plus for your business.
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