From Ness Blackbird, Ticket Turtle President:

A great video on life / work balance, I really liked this guy.

Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work

If you’ve got a case of the Mondays, here’s a charming, folky tune to remind you of the simple joys that might be overlooked towards the beginning of the week. Recommended by our newsletter’s Featured Turtle, Jennie Shaver remarks, “I like me some cute boys playing banjos!” Who doesn’t?

Enjoy!

Customer service supports loyalty development at every step of the way. TRG’s counsel on patron-centric management and customer service is built around the concept of patron loyalty. Think of patron loyalty as a ladder. Patrons start at the bottom rung as a “tryer” when they have their first interaction or transaction with the organization. Patrons who come back again as a repeat buyer, multi-buyer, subscriber or member-based frequent attendee are what we call “buyers”. With good customer care, an organization can retain buyers and cultivate them into an ongoing, engaged investor—an “advocate.”

A patron’s experience, then, is a set of related interactions that, together, determine future buying and donating behavior. Viewing customer service the way a patron sees the experience is the very definition of patron-centric customer service. The experience arts patrons have unfolds in a variety of ways–the marketing materials they see advertising an event, the interactions they have with box office staff or online ticketing, the ease or difficulty of parking, the way they pick up tickets at the venue, the manner in which they are seated by the ushers, and, of course, the artistic experience.

But it’s not over yet–they’ll also remember how crowded the bathrooms were at intermission, the interactions they had with staff or other patrons in the lobby, and how the traffic was on the way home, when—or whether—the organization thanks or even acknowledges them for coming. They remember these aspects of the experience time after time, for every event they attend.

Customer service is everyone’s job. Good experiences and connection with the organization at every stage of the game helps cultivate patron loyalty, and that loyalty sustains organizations. Each department – not just the box office or front of house staff—has a role in fulfilling patrons’ needs. Departments working together provide the kind of service and experience that move patrons up the ladder.

What customer service means in the digital age. Since ticketing technology allows patrons to order online, fewer patrons are choosing an interaction with a live person. As TRG consultant and resident customer service expert Todd Scarce says, “Why would you call the box office when you can order online at 3 a.m. in your boxer shorts?” Those who call nowadays have a reason to pick up the phone—they are looking for someone to listen and help. That’s why arts organizations’ staff—the box office in particular needs to be more customer service saavy than ever before. Best practice customer service requires the ability to offer service that’s tailored to the patron’s expressed needs and past experience with the organization.

TRG research consistently corroborates one fact: It’s critical to keep arts patrons coming back for more. A big contributing factor is patron-centric service. Customer service can no longer be about meeting expectations, but, as Todd Scarce counsels, we must exceed them.

———————-

Perviously published in our Jan and Feb 2012 newsletter – Article reprinted from http://trgarts.blogspot.com/2011/11/patron-experience-and-new-customer.html