On the positive side, a Platinum client set numerous ticket revenue records today with their ticket launch. On the not so positive side, there were costly issues that arose with the ticketing company and internal checks.
One particular "oops!" cost the client serious ticket revenue. The "oops!" happened by not raising the ticket price of a VIP ticket, after the limited quantity of VIP tickets were purchased.
To further complicate matters, the ticketing company doesn't have a system that supports automatic price increases. Pricing changes require an inefficient and manual process on the client's part. (I've tried to have the client fire the ticketing company several times - but the client insists on keeping them around.)
Long story short, the "oops" above cost the client ~$5,000 USD of ticket revenue in 90 minutes. The client oversold 200 VIP tickets that should have cost an additional $25 USD. People were purchasing VIP tickets like hotcakes! The entire situation was preventable. Which leads to an important question ...
Do you and your event team have checklists in place for revenue critical event functions? Especially for your ticket sales!
If not, start to build your own internal checklist. Try to keep your checklists manageable. You're better off with a list of 40 critical items, than 100-200 items to be check.
Another lesson from today, print your checklists and have them with you at revenue critical times! e.g. During a BIG ticket launch. A printed checklist would have avoided the client and ticketing company not raising ticket prices.
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