Hi all,
We’re looking into doing a refer-a-friend offer:
- a first-time single ticket buyer orders tickets and receives a code that they pass on to a non-ticket buyer friend
- if that friend buys tickets for the first time, using the code, they get a fixed dollar amount off their order AND the friend who referred also gets a fixed amount off their next purchase.
I’m wondering if any of you have implemented anything even remotely similar? I see a number of stumbling blocks, especially around making sure everyone’s a first time buyer and ensuring the person who referred gets credit when their friend orders for the first time. (I’m sure I can get the powers that be to do a % amount instead, and that pricing rules/offers would come into play). Ultimately, this should work online, which adds another layer…
If anyone has any success (or stories of what *didn’t* work), I’d like to hear them. There seemed to be a few questions like this floating around on the forums, but not too many answers!
Thanks everyone,
Kathleen
Hi Kathleen,
We have had a couple of different refer a friend promotions. We did not find an elegant online solution to making sure that everyone who uses the promotion is a first time buyer and I would love to hear how other groups have approached this as well.
Our promotion was different than yours in a few ways. For our promotion, we mailed refer a friend “coupons” with our annual subscription mailout for a fixed dollar amount off tickets to one show or one package. Each coupon had the subscriber’s constituent ID on it so that we knew who gave it out, and the offer was only redeemable by phone or in person so box office could only give out the promo to new ticket buyers. The promotion was successful in that we did get some new patrons. While I would have liked to find a way to do the promotion online, the volume of calls and walk-ins turned out to be manageable for us. Also, a portion of our patron base is not very internet savvy, likely due to age. They liked this “analogue” promotion because they had a physical coupon to pass along to their friends.
Not sure if this is helpful! I’d be interested in knowing what other groups have done as well!
Joanne
From: Tessitura Ticketing Forum [mailto:forums-ticketing@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Kathleen Smith Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 9:28 AM To: Joanne Madeley Subject: [Tessitura Ticketing Forum] refer-a-friend offers
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This is a great idea! Joanne, did you have issues with the same patron giving out their refer a friend to multiple people? And did you ask the new to file patron to turn in the coupon?
Hi Jennifer,
No, we didn't have a problem with patrons trying to give the coupon to multiple people. We did have a number of patrons want to use the coupon on their friend's behalf as a gift, to get the friend in through the door to the auditorium.
Yes, we asked the patrons to bring us the coupon since it had a monetary value and they all happily did. I'm not sure if we will do the promo again this year, but ideally we would like to find a way to do a refer-a-friend promo online.
Overall it seemed like the patrons wanted to coupon to be very flexible so their friend had a lot of options as to what they could purchase. Ours was not valid for our entire show inventory but we will take the patron feedback into account if we launch it again this year.
From: Joanne Madeley <bounce-joannemadeley8475@tessituranetwork.com> Sent: 7/26/2016 3:49:53 PM