Zoos & Gardens

Customer Relationship Management: What You Need To Know

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

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.

Gateway Ticketing Attends Euro Attractions Show

Successful First Euro Attractions Show in Scandinavia

Approximately 7,000 visitors attend Europe’s leading conference and trade show for the attractions industry. Held in Gothenburg over three days (6 – 8 October) the European attractions industry was in Sweden to discover the latest developments in the amusement park and leisure industry. This conference and trade show is organised in a different European location each year.

In 2015 Euro Attractions Show (EAS) moved to the Scandinavian region (Gothenburg) for the first time. Karen Staley, Sr. Vice-President for IAAPA EMEA, stated:

“Going north was a good idea; EAS 2015 performed above expectations. The location of Liseberg right next to the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre provided attendees with a fully integrated park and Expo experience. This made the entire event inspiring, hands-on, and very enjoyable for all attendees.”

 

Trade show floor features variety of innovations

According to the initial reports, approximately 7,000 visitors attended the Expo in the second largest city in Sweden. They came from 96 countries with 30 percent from Scandinavia. Remarkable was the amount of visitors from Eastern Europe. In addition to visitors from the attractions sector, many attendees also represented campsites, shopping centres, water parks and family entertainment centres. No fewer than 408 companies exhibited their newest products for rides, attractions, ticketing and entry systems, 3D films, games, and much more on the 10,500 m2 trade show floor, making it the second largest show in the history of the event. There was a striking trend to interactivity and attractions combining several technologies. Examples of the latest technologies and products are slides combined with games and virtual reality glasses for roller coasters.

 

First fully park-integrated EAS trade show

EAS 2015 took place in the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre. Liseberg, one of the most well-known amusement parks in Europe with 3.1 million visitors per year, located directly across the street, was fully integrated in this years’ trade show. Not only the education sessions took place here, but also a backstage tour, special events, and evening events. Christian von Elverfeldt (Mack Rides, Germany):

“Gothenburg as host for the EAS 2015 was a great choice. The proximity to Liseberg extended the show floor and formed a great venue for the IAAPA events. We are honoured with great interest for our products during the show.”

 

Some social media reactions from visitors to this years’ event: “Lots of new connections”, “Liseberg was a perfect host”, “amazing Swedish hospitality”, “interesting and inspiring presentations”.

 

Inspiring seminars

Parallel to the Expo there was also an extensive educational programme with more than 30 hours of seminars. The interest in this programme was also overwhelming. Leading speakers from the industry shared their visions on topics including attractions management, revenue operations and profit generation, customer satisfaction, marketing, and leadership and developments in emerging markets . There were specialty day-long programmes for specific groups such as the IAAPA Institute for Attractions Managers, the IAAPA Safety Institute, the Young Professionals Forum, a forum for water park managers, and a symposium for family entertainment centres (FEC) and indoor arcades. Attendees also took part in excursions to a few parks in Sweden and Denmark where they had a look behind the scenes. Special events at Liseberg The Leadership Breakfast, featured a keynote address by Björn Ulvaeus, former member of the famous pop group ABBA, on intellectual property, had a capacity audience. The Opening Reception at Liseberg was also a huge success where attendees took the opportunity, besides riding the attractions and enjoying typical Swedish food, to network with colleagues.

EAS moves to Barcelona in 2016

Euro Attractions Show 2016 will take place at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via Convention Center, 20 to 22 September 2016. Industry professionals will gather here to discover the newest developments in the attractions industry. Many exhibitors have already booked their exhibit space to participate in this trade show. Additional information on EAS 2016 will available shortly at www.IAAPA.org/EAS

Gateway Ticketing Systems UK Integrates Contactless Payment

Gateway Ticketing Systems has announced its ability to perform integrated card transactions using contactless payments including Apple Pay.

The on-site implementation is set to reduce queuing times and improve the customer experience at a number of Gateway’s iconic customers including The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Houses of Parliament and The V&A Museum.

Gateway was able to add this latest service to an existing platform of ticketing and CRM solutions following successful implementation at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. The reduced time needed to process contactless payments is a big factor in reducing wait times and increasing service levels.

During the trial with Kew the contactless limit was set as £20 and Kew processed 8% of card transactions using contactless technology. This resulted in reducing transaction times at their tills by 1 working day per month. When the contactless payment limit is increased to £30, it is expected this percentage will increase to around 20% of all none cash transactions saving around 3 days per month of queue time. Contactless can also save money for businesses, as the transaction fees are usually lower than traditional chip and pin payments.

Contactless payments have taken off since their introduction in 2012 and are becoming increasingly popular with customers and businesses alike. With 58 million contactless cards in circulation in the UK, there is a substantial market for the tourism industry to tap into.

Implementing contactless payments was a smooth process with benefits to venue and visitor alike, according to Lisa Woodward, Head of Operations at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew:

“We were very happy to see how easy it was to upgrade to contactless, and we are delighted to give our customers greater flexibility with their payments. This in turn has helped reduce transaction time, and so everyone wins!”

Gateway’s newest delivery reflects the expectations of the modern visitor; and the recent announcement of an increased payment limit of £30 means the service is now relevant to even more visitor attractions. Gateway is keen to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to providing effective ticketing systems for the museum and heritage sector by facilitating this service. The new technology is set to go live for all Gateway customers in time for the contactless increase in 2015.

Andy Povey, Operations Director at Gateway Ticketing Systems UK:

“We’re excited to have been chosen to introduce the first contactless payment system to these iconic attractions. We are confident the positive effects of this added capability will benefit both revenue generation, and customer experience.”

 

Kew Gardens selects Gateway’s Integrated CRM System

Gateway Ticketing Systems UK has provided a new ticketing and customer relationship management (Gateway Insight CRM) system for Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Gateway Insight CRM system went live at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in April 2014 and has also been installed at Kew’s Wakehurst site in East Sussex. The improved CRM system gives a single view of the customer across its entire organisation. This enables Kew Gardens to easily keep track of its customers and ultimately to convert more day visitors into members.

In addition, Gateway Insight is also providing time and capacity controlled ticketing for Kew’s Pagoda. The Pagoda creates a new revenue stream for Kew and will increase visitor secondary spend.

Commenting on the announcement, Andy Povey, Operations Director at Gateway Ticketing Systems UK, said, “Kew is an iconic attraction that draws visitors from across the globe and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them on this exciting project. Gateway has many years’ experience in helping businesses improve their ticketing and CRM systems and we look forward to helping Kew increase their revenue and improve visitor satisfaction and loyalty.”

The selection of Gateway Insight by Kew for its integrated CRM underlines the company’s strong presence in the Museums and Heritage sector.

Gateway Insight CRM provides:

  • Seamless integration to the Gateway Ticketing System ensuring that all related purchase and usage information is available for action within CRM
  • A powerful, configurable workflow engine that allows for automation of visitor engagement tasks such as pre and post visit email generation and delivery
  • A powerful segmentation capability that allows for visitor groupings to be identified and addressed (e.g. An email to all people who have bought tickets last year but haven’t done so this year)
  • Seamless integration to Microsoft Outlook allowing for easy tracking of incoming and outgoing email conversations, and the conversion of emails into customer service cases
  • Seamless integration to online marketing solutions allowing for powerful, trackable email and social media campaigns to be planned, launched and tracked within CRM
  • Powerful data visualisation and list generation tools allowing authorised staff to display relevant metrics in real time; and
  • A highly configurable platform upon which to base all visitor and stakeholder management capabilities that an attraction may require to meet their specific needs

Gateway Insight CRM is hosted in the Microsoft Cloud (in the EU for European customers) and, hence, requires no IT resources from customers in order to use the service. The user interface is available within an internet browser, on mobile devices and directly from within a Microsoft Outlook client.