We are liv­ing in unprece­dent­ed times. More like­ly than not, your busi­ness has been impact­ed by the unique events of the world­wide COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. How­ev­er, even in times of eco­nom­ic dis­rup­tion, con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion remains crit­i­cal­ly impor­tant. In an effort to con­tin­ue sup­port­ing our client part­ners dur­ing this dif­fi­cult time, we will con­tin­ue shar­ing insights and guid­ance to help you strength­en your busi­ness and serve your val­ued cus­tomers when the time comes to wel­come them back to your venue. Learn more about our post-COVID solutions here.

Whether you are a Box Office Man­ag­er for a per­form­ing arts cen­ter or the Gen­er­al Man­ag­er for a sports are­na, you like­ly share a com­mon goal with your reopening plans: to safely offer patrons the best expe­ri­ence pos­si­ble while max­i­miz­ing rev­enue for your orga­ni­za­tion. Our highly customizable, white-label accesso ShoWare box office ticketing solution gives you everything you need to welcome guests back to your venue. Dis­cov­er tips for reopening and new features to support social distancing in our accesso ShoWare solution with acces­so ShoWare Vice Pres­i­dent of Client Suc­cess Joseph Wettstead and Director of Client Success Alicia Chism!

Tips for Reopening Safely

At accesso we understand that safety is the top priority for venue operators as they navigate the complexities of reopening. Everyone who walks into your venue, staff or patron, wants to know that you have safety procedures in place to limit points of contact where possible without negatively effecting the guest experience. The accesso team has been working full steam ahead on getting COVID-19 Enhancements out to our accesso ShoWare ticketing clients. These features can help your venue facilitate a safe and smooth reopening process.

Creating Socially Distanced Seating
With this new feature, you can configure seating gaps to your desired distance and the system will do the rest. This functionality allows your venue to skip seats and rows in your seat map to make sure patrons are able to select safely distanced seats as they purchase tickets. The seat map itself includes physical distance skip icons on certain seats so patrons are aware that they should expect to see 6-10ft physical distancing measures inside of your venue.

Timed Ticketing
If applicable for your venue, this feature allows your operations to limit how many guests can enter your venue at once. By providing guests timed entry, your staff will be able to more easily enforce social distancing between groups. It also allows time for your staff to clean high traffic areas between each wave of guests to ensure the safety of everyone within your venue.

Patron Credit Improvements
Patron credits are now accessible to your guests online! If customers opted into a patron credit for a cancelled show, they can now access that credit to use online without having to redeem it once they arrive at the box office itself. This cuts down on the number of in-person interactions that have to take place at your venue – which is one of the best ways to keep your staff and guests safe. Not only are patron credits easy to apply online for guests, but your staff can also run reports on patron credits to keep track of what has been redeemed and when.

How to Avoid Patron Conflict in the Future

COVID-19 continues to take a toll on the entertainment industry, no matter your position in the industry supply chain. This pandemic has made it very apparent that many venues had return, cancelation and other policies which unfortunately did not serve the venues well. And of course, without the venue, the supply chain completely falls apart! Here are the most effective things we’ve seen venues doing to avoid patron conflict, and our recommendations:

  • Protect your venue with return policies that are specific and be upfront about your venue’s policy. Rescheduled events should have a different set of refund options than cancelled events.
  • Is your venue excluding ticketing fees, processing fees and credit card fees from any refunds? Protecting your venue also includes protecting fees that your venue has to cover such as credit card fees. Communicating to guests that a ticket refund will include the funds they paid for their ticket less the ticketing, processing and credit card fees is a huge help to your venue and a must for any effective refund policy.
  • The key here is making sure everything is communicated up front to your patrons. Thorough communication is the best preventative for conflict – include the policy in the confirmation email and throughout the purchase flow.
  • Consider outsourcing call center services so that if your venue needs to shut down or reduce box office contact, your customers still have somewhere to call. Venues who utilized the accesso ShoWare Call center during the pandemic have been appreciative of the fact that we remained open, continued to take calls and offered additional assistance by helping venues with refunds, customer credits, rebookings, outbound calls to help, etc.
  • Don’t forget about Ticket Insurance. If your venue is not using Ticket Insurance, you might want to take a second look! It’s a great way to protect both your patrons and the venue in the event that they are unable to attend a performance.

Adapting to a COVID-19 World

The Return of the Drive-In
Many of our clients have begun to utilize drive-in entertainment to safely entertain their patrons. From concerts to movie nights and even food trucks, drive-in shows and events are making a comeback in a major way. Patrons are looking for a safe way to get out of their houses, and the comfort of enjoying an afternoon out from their car is very appealing. Has your venue looked into whether a drive-in event might be a good option for you? Our accesso ShoWare team has helped many clients set up online stores to facilitate sales to kickstart driving revenue for your venue.

Communicating Social Distancing and Capacity Control
Utilize every chance you get to communicate with your guests to highlight your venue’s COVID policies: on their tickets, in confirmation emails, with stickers on the floor and even signs when they enter your venue – don’t miss an opportunity to clearly state your expectations and guidelines to keep guests and your staff safe during your reopening process. Take advantage of our accesso ShoWare solution’s Spaced Seating feature to show your guests in advance that your venue is spacing out seating as a safety measure. Create campaigns around the urgency of purchasing tickets early since your venue is operating at limited capacity.

Embrace Technology & Get Creative
Many of our clients are taking advantage of offering their guests digital options to enjoy shows. For example, recently a dance recital was offered to both in-person and virtual audiences. A limited number of guests were given in-person access to the dance recital. The remaining family who wanted to watch were invited to participate via a Zoom meeting link. This supported the capacity control measures of the venue, but also allowed families to still enjoy watching their dancers sashay across the stage. Don’t be afraid to try something new with your patrons. Get creative on how you offer them access to your venue and what kind of entertainment you can provide during this pandemic.

At acces­so, we believe tech­nol­o­gy should be the solu­tion, not the prob­lem. If you’re not an acces­so ShoWare client yet, con­tact us today to see how we can help you facilitate a safe reopening and increase tick­et­ing rev­enue at your venue. We’d love to help!