Gateway Ticketing Systems UK, the leading provider of ticketing, revenue management, and admission control solutions for visitor attractions in the UK and Ireland, has provided the V&A, the world’s leading museum of art and design, with a replacement CRM and Revenue Management system, Gateway Insight.

The new system, which went live on 27 November 2014, will enable the V&A to bring all its ticketing in-house.  By streamlining its systems, the V&A will be able to:

• provide improved customer service
• achieve more effective data capture
• improve monitoring of cash flow and income
• maximise revenue

Commenting on the announcement, Tim Reeve, Chief Operating Officer at the V&A, said, “The implementation of a comprehensive CRM system will enable the V&A, for the first time, to have a single customer view. This brings benefits for our visitors – who will ultimately be able to purchase tickets, renew their membership and buy an exhibition catalogue, in one easy transaction – and for the Museum in terms of operational efficiencies and revenue generation. The new system is a key component of our strategy to further engage with our visitors, by sending them more timely and relevant communications which will really add value to their experience of the V&A.”

The first phase of the project included the implementation of new ticketing, booking and CRM systems, replacing all in-house ticketing and booking systems for V&A events and exhibitions.   In total over 12,000 live event dates from legacy systems has to be migrated into Gateway Insight. The second phase of the project includes a comprehensive CRM solution suite which can create a single, detailed profile of each customer.   Using this data, the V&A will be able to enhance its marketing and revenue building strategy, with an improved conversion from one-off to repeat visits and better customer experience. Established in 2012 as a joint venture between software and services specialist Metafour and Gateway Ticketing Systems Inc, Gateway Ticketing Systems UK has secured ten clients in its first 30 months of operation.  The selection of Gateway by the V&A underlines the company’s strong presence in the Museums and Heritage sector. Gateway Insight shows Gateway’s commitment to providing world class solutions to the Museums and Heritage sector.

Andy Povey, Business Development Director at Gateway Ticketing Systems UK, explains, “We’re proud to announce the successful installation of this first phase of Gateway’s integrated ticketing and CRM solutions at the V&A. This successful project helps to cement Gateway’s position in the cultural and heritage market and further demonstrates our commitment to providing the most effective ticketing, booking and CRM solutions in the arts 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.