Hello everyone! This is my first post on the forums despite being a Tessitura user for quite some time now :)
I wanted to put some feelers out to see what other organizations do with regard to will call. We're encountering much more significant will call lines, and we're trying to find a way to curb the issue. I've read several ideas on the matter ranging from charging an extra fee for will call vs. charging a smaller fee for PAH/mail.
Long story short - how do you handle will call? What's the best way to minimize wait and maximize efficiency? I'm open to any and all ideas and would love some feedback!
Thanks!
Molly Inglish
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Manager of Patron Technology
317.231.6766
minglish@indianapolissymphony.org
We always remind people to arrive no later than ½ hour prior to curtain to avoid waiting on line, even to pick up their tickets before going to dinner, but they still come by with minutes to spare. At a previous venue once we had PAH the lines just about evaporated. You might want to charge for HABO but not for PAH or mail, and explain why. Also not allowing late seating til a break or even intermission, and advertising it, is a cruel but effective way to train an audience.
Good luck!
Ellen Holt
Box Office Manager
Celebrity Series of Boston
20 Park Plaza, Suite 1032
Boston, MA 02116
617-598-3224 (p)
617-598-3291 (f)
www.celebrityseries.org
From: Tessitura Ticketing Forum [mailto:forums-ticketing@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Molly Inglish Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 9:43 AM To: Ellen Holt Subject: [Tessitura Ticketing Forum] Will Call Procedures?
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At the Science Museum, we require PAH for all online orders position this as a big part of the convenience in “convenience fee”. We also strongly recommend PAH for telephone orders, especially for bigger events. Case in point, we recently managed a sold out event with 1,700 reservations, with very small impact on the box office the night of the event.
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From: Tessitura Ticketing Forum [mailto:forums-ticketing@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Molly InglishSent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 8:45 AMTo: rbernard@smm.orgSubject: [Tessitura Ticketing Forum] Will Call Procedures?
Hello Molly:This is a bit of a micro view, but I'd ask how you store your will call. We have ours in custom will call with a header with a that shows the name, performance(s) number of tickets, and credit card indicator (Visa, etc.) through a see-through will call envelope. This enables our staff to ask for specifics of id/credit card before they even pull the tickets out of the file.
Also, we have found it worthwhile to have an usher (volunteer or paid) wandering up and down the will call line asking that patrons pull out their id and credit card before they hit the window.
Lastly, I might suggest you cut down your 'Habo days prior to performance'. Even if you have to reprint a few tickets that haven't arrived, it might be worth shortening it to help the big picture.
Wishing you all the best. Congratulations on your first post! Hope you found some help.
Kindly,
Mark Sackett
Thanks so much for everyone's input!! I really appreciate it. I have a lot ideas to bring back to our team.