Do You Want More Earned Income Revenue In 2020? Then Here’s What You Should Expect From Your Ticketing Providers

Regular readers have heard me complain over the years about artificial limitations ticketing and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms place on earned income potential.

One of the more popular posts on the topic was from 2015 where we examined how limitations in ticketing functionality were synthetically influencing discussions on earned income strategy.

To Subscribe, Or Not To Subscribe, That Is NOT The Question

Fast forward a few years and I’m sad to say very little has changed. But at least I’m seeing a growing number of voices.

There was a session at NAMPC 2019 led by Erik Gensler I was unable to attend (thanks to it being scheduled opposite my session!), but I understand from those who attended that he examined some ticketing sites in real time and pointed out the negative impact requirements such as mandatory account creation have on conversion.

I understand Americans for the Arts will be making presentation material available at some point soon and when they do, I’ll include a link to anything Gensler provides.

And just yesterday, Ceci Dadisman posted an article at Medium that lists what she defines as six basic upgrades ticketing/CRM platforms need in order to “not make ticketing/fundraising suck so much.”

Spoiler alert: eliminating mandatory account creation was #4 on that list.

Eliminate Mandatory Account Creation
Making people set up an account creates a barrier to the completion of the purchase. For most other retailers, creating an account is optional but there is that clever little prompt to do so after the transaction is complete where your information is pre-filled so you only have to choose a password. (Read: super easy!)

You should definitely set aside some time to read about the remaining five on her list. I agree with each and every one.

What makes me bang my head against the wall is just how long limitations like this have been around.

Just over a decade ago, I published an article on this issue that recommended doing away with mandatory registration and pointed out how organizations can continue to reap similar data benefits.

The Untapped Revenue Beyond Required Registration

What do you think? Do you feel this is even an issue? If so, what will it take to move things in a better direction?

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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