Recital season can be so overwhelming for studio owners especially for those that have a small staff or teach several hours a week.
There is so much to organize, communicate and prepare before your ticket sales go live. Selling tickets manually creates a lot of extra work for tracking and inventory management. With online ticket sales, you can still offer an in-studio online sales option as well as allowing family and friends to purchase online with a static link on your studio website, emailing the ticket link out and sharing on social media. This can greatly increase your sales and even draw attention to any recital merchandise you want to offer like t-shirts or studio yearbooks.
Here are 5 things you must do before having your tickets go on sale:
- DO check your seat map. You should be familiar with your theater, have you walked through the space? Sometimes theaters can change handicap seats or remove seats without updating their seat map image.
- DO review your pricing. Make sure you have charged your tickets appropriately to cover theater rental costs and staffing. You may want to consider offer several price points this season or have tickets increase in price as you get closer to your event date.
- DO check tuition balances. Patrons should not be eligible to purchase tickets if they have outstanding balances. Studio Director clients that opt to integrate ticketing with shOvation.com can set up purchase blocking for clients with outstanding balances.
- DO confirm theater availability. This will ensure your rental paperwork was received and your event is listed on the theater calendar to avoid any over-bookings.
- DO lock in parent helpers to make sure your event will run smoothly. If you plan this ahead of time, you can offer incentives or special ticketing options for these helpers as a thank you for participating.
DON’T forget to communicate how people can purchase tickets. Provide clear directions and steps to order.
DON’T make it complicated. Make it easy for people to purchase and this will increase your ticket sales.
DON’T wait until the last minute to start your ticket sales. You want to give family and friends plenty of time to purchase tickets or share your event with others.