Theme Parks

Customer Relationship Management: What You Need To Know

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Q&A with Dave Langran, Technical Director, Gateway Ticketing Systems

Dave LangranFor more than 15 years, Dave Langran has been helping attraction venues nurture deeper relationships with their members through powerful technologies. Recently, Dave developed a seamless integration between Galaxy® point-of-sale software and Microsoft Dynamics to create CRM Plus, an invaluable customer relationship tool for museums, zoos and aquariums, and other attractions to gain a stronger understanding of their visitors and take informed actions to nurture them.

At its core, what is Customer Relationship Management or CRM?

Dave: It’s knowing who your customers are. It can start out as gathering simple demographics such as age, gender, income and marital status. But the magic really happens when you gather more in-depth information such as transactional history, interests and engagement patterns.

How does having this detail benefit an attraction?

Dave: Armed with this information, they can develop marketing programs that provide mutual benefit for their customers and ultimately, their venue. Let’s imagine that you can run a report and see all your past visitors who have young children but haven’t visited your museum in the past 12 months. If you have a new exhibit on dinosaurs, you might want to do a targeted email campaign to these parents or grandparents touting the interactive features of this exhibit.

Are there other benefits of CRM?

Dave: Absolutely. In addition to being a marketing tool, CRM can maximise fundraising and donation opportunities for nonprofits. It can also give insight into the viability of commercial opportunities such as sponsorships, or events and conferences. Plus, with an integrated approach like Gateway’s CRM Plus, it can reduce administrative burden by providing that crucial 360° view of the customer through one solution.

Tell me about CRM Plus | Powered by Galaxy, what makes it unique over other CRM software?

Dave: A lot. It’s next-generation customer relationship management. The secret is in the seamless integration with Galaxy® point-of-sale software. Galaxy is where all the purchase and usage history lives for customers, members and donors – from ticket or retail purchases on-site at your venue to online ordering of tickets, meal packages and more. This information is fed back real-time into CRM Plus, allowing an invaluable snapshot of your customers at any moment.

CRM Plus also enables you to develop powerful, configurable workflows that automate customer touchpoints such as pre- and post-visit emails. To ensure the right message is getting to the right people at the right time, CRM Plus has insightful segmentation capabilities that allow you to group similar customers together to deliver highly personalised marketing messages. Finally, CRM Plus integrates with commonly used platforms including email providers, social media and other web applications providing a continuous feedback loop.

How would you summarise customer relationship management and CRM Plus?

Dave: CRM is a strategy supported by technology. And CRM Plus | Powered by Galaxy is the only technology that provides a real-time 360° customer view through one solution.

 

For more information, download CRM Plus Product Sheet

Cloud-Based Platform Galaxy Connect™ Receives IAAPA Brass Ring Best New Product Award

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Recognising the innovation of one of Gateway Ticketing Systems’ newest technological solutions, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) awarded Galaxy Connect an IAAPA Brass Ring Best New Product Award. The second-place award is for Technology Applied to Amusements: Facilities and presented to Gateway at the IAAPA Attractions Expo, recently held in Orlando.

Galaxy Connect is a cloud-based platform that enables attractions the ability to integrate with any number of online travel agencies with one integration to sell live tickets. In addition to providing guests with direct-to-gate admission, Galaxy Connect also helps venues increase ticket sales while saving money on costly one-off IT integrations and eliminating the time-consuming voucher reconciliation process.

“We innovate every day to help make our customers successful through technology,” says Michael Andre, President and Chief Executive Officer, Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc. “It’s a tremendous honour to be recognised with the prestigious IAAPA Brass Ring Award.”

Gateway previously won an IAAPA Brass Ring Best New Product Award for its eGalaxy Reseller Web Store that automates the process of consignment ticket sales.

Drayton Manor Theme Park Selects Gateway UK to Supply Ticketing and CRM Integration

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Gateway Ticketing Systems UK has been chosen to partner with Drayton Manor Theme Park.

Recently implementing the Galaxy® Product Suite at its venue, Drayton Manor Theme Park can now sell tickets, season passes and other products at the front gate, over the phone and online with direct integration into its existing CRM solution. This will play an integral role in growing the attraction’s business and building stronger relationships with guests in the future.

 

“Gateway has a proven track record with some of the biggest theme parks and resorts in the world so the decision to appoint them as our ticketing supplier was an easy one. We look forward to combining our operational experience with their industry expertise to ensure the user experience for our customers is the best it can possibly be and I have no doubt that visitors will really benefit from this,” said William Bryan, Managing Director at Drayton Manor Theme Park.

 
Gateway Ticketing Systems’ Galaxy® Product Suite will allow Drayton Manor Theme Park to focus on increasing advanced sales and ensuring data collection is maximized at every touchpoint.

Drayton Manor Theme Park is home to many rides and attractions including Europe’s only Thomas Land™ as well as a 15-acre zoo, campsite, the Drayton Manor Hotel and conference facilities. The Galaxy® Product Suite with CRM solution will now enable these teams to work together seamlessly. The ticketing system will be instrumental in allowing tickets to cover individual elements across the park and hotel then give operations personnel a full view of all sales.

CRM integration will allow Drayton Manor Theme Park to improve the customer experience and build stronger relationships with its guests. Combined data and ticketing offers can also be used to help increase season passes and retention rates.

 

“Being the chosen supplier for Drayton Manor Theme Park is fantastic news for Gateway Ticketing UK. We have spent much time and effort in recent years working with nonprofit organisations to support revenue generation and improve customer relationships and we look forward to sharing this expertise with a commercial business,” said Andy Povey, Business Development Director at Gateway Ticketing Systems UK.

 

About Gateway Ticketing Systems UK
Gateway Ticketing Systems UK was established in 2012 and provides admissions solutions to museums and galleries, heritage attractions and historic houses, zoos and gardens, and theme parks and events. Some of its clients include the Roman Baths & Fashion Museum, Bath, Kew Gardens, London and V&A Museum, London. For more information go to www.gatewayticketing.co.uk
 
About Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc.
Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc. is the world leader in ticketing software, access control and revenue generation for industries including attractions, theme parks, waterparks, tours, zoos, aquariums, museums and historic sites. Located in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, Gateway Ticketing Systems provides strategic consultation, sales, service and support for point-of-sale and ticketing systems throughout North America and worldwide. Gateway’s robust Galaxy® Product Suite integrates ticketing, access control, resource management, group sales, online ticketing sales, retail, food and beverage, and membership management.

About Drayton Manor Theme Park
Drayton Manor Theme Park Ltd, opened to the public in 1950 by the Bryan family, is one of the UK’s most popular family attractions with over one million visitors a year. George and Vera Bryan OBE, converted 80 acres of derelict land, which once belonged to Sir Robert Peel; MP & PM to Queen Victoria and her family, into today’s wonderful multi award-winning family attraction, combining thrill rides with a conservation zoo plus catering and conference facilities.

Today, Drayton Manor Theme Park, still family owned and run by second and third generation family members, covers 286 acres of beautiful woodland and countryside and features some of the wildest and scariest rides around. Rides include: Roller-Coasters – Shockwave, Ben 10: Ultimate Mission and G-force. Major rides: Maelstrom, Apocalypse and Storm Force 10, the wettest ride. It is home to the hugely popular Thomas Land™ featuring many named Thomas & Friends™ character rides for the children and adults alike. Thomas Land™ at Drayton Manor is the only one of its kind in Europe. The park’s 152 seat 4D Cinema, over 50 rides and attractions makes for a truly unforgettable day.