When you organize a ticketed event, it’s critical that you have a good phone system in place to answer calls from ticket buyers. You can either staff up to answer incoming calls yourself, or you can work with a ticketing company that handles ticket buyer calls for you. Either way, you should use an interactive voice response (IVR) phone system to reduce your costs while ensuring all calls are answered quickly and questions are answered accurately.
An IVR phone system can make your life much easier by streamlining the process of handling calls from ticket buyers, and depending on the type of event you’re holding and the number of tickets you plan to sell, the number of calls can climb into the hundreds, thousands, or more in the days leading up to the event.
What is an IVR?
An interactive voice response (IVR) system is an automated telephone answering service that allows customers to interact with a computerized voice verbally or by pressing numbers on their telephone keypad.
IVRs are fast and convenient, allowing customers to access information quickly without having to wait for a live person to answer their calls. Ticket buyers can get answers to questions like, “What time do the gates open?” as well as more complex requests such as “What payment methods will be accepted at concession stands?”
Of course, an IVR gives callers the option to connect directly with a customer service representative if they need further help, but most calls can be answered through the automated system. Therefore, IVRs provide an efficient way of answering ticket buyer questions without having to hire and train a large staff of employees to answer every question manually.
Top 5 Benefits of an IVR Phone System for Event Managers and Ticket Buyers
There are many advantages that come from working with a ticketing company that offers a robust IVR phone system for your ticket buyers. Following are some of the ways an IVR system can make your life and the lives of your ticket buyers easier and less stressful.
1. IVR Phone Systems Reduce Costs and Increase Efficiency
Event managers are continually looking for new ways to improve both the bottom line and ticket buyer satisfaction so their events are profitable and they can hold their events again in the future. Interactive voice response phone systems can help you reach those goals for your events.
By automating common tasks related to event coordination and ticket sales, IVR phone systems allow you to streamline operations at a fraction of the cost of a traditional phone support team.
AttendStar is one of very few (if not the only) ticketing providers that offer IVR phone systems for ticket buyer support can customize your IVR’s automated options and responses to keep buyers informed if there are any changes or updates related to the event, their tickets, weather, traffic, and so on.
2. IVR Phone Systems are Flexible
IVR phone systems can scale as needed to meet call volume fluctuations – even on the busy days leading up to your event when the number of calls from ticket buyers can increase exponentially. That means you can be certain that the right resources are available to answer inquiries and requests around the clock.
For example, the IVR system provided by AttendStar to answer your ticket buyer calls makes scaling up during peak call days and times easy. You don’t have to worry about hiring additional staff or managing an increase in capacity. Instead, routine responses can be automated, and callers can use self-service options to get the answers they need quickly.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a team of people helping you manage your event, then an IVR phone system can free up your team for more complicated and revenue-generating tasks. Any way you look at it, an IVR allows ticket buyers to get answers quickly and efficiently, saving everyone time and headaches. In other words, it’s a win-win – fewer calls for you to answer manually and faster service for ticket buyers.
3. IVR Phone Systems are Always Available
Having an IVR phone system in place for event managers and ticket buyers is a great way to ensure that access to vital help and information is available 24/7. The convenience of an IVR phone system means customers can easily get the help they need, no matter what time it is or where they’re located.
Whether they want information about your upcoming event, have problems with tickets they’re trying to purchases, or need help with an existing order, they can get answers from your IVR anytime and anywhere. Having this type of availability improves ticket buyer satisfaction and can even boost positive word of mouth marketing, which leads to more ticket sales.
4. IVR Systems Can Change as Needed to Address Problems and Answer Questions
IVR systems can be programmed to offer automated responses to common ticket buyer inquiries or problems, but they can also be changed on the fly to provide the most current and accurate information. The system can be tailored to your event’s specific needs through custom programming, so your ticket buyers get the right information for your event when they call, not generic recorded messages.
For example, imagine you’re organizing a large outdoor concert and there is a dangerous weather event or traffic incident that causes road closures just hours before the gates are scheduled to open. The problem will significantly affect how people can get to your event, so it’s likely people will start calling to ask what they should do. With an IVR phone system, you can quickly change your messages, prompts, and so on to make sure every caller gets the information they need so they arrive on time and safely.
At AttendStar, we manage IVR phone systems for the events we ticket all the time, and we’re used to making changes to messages and prompts as needed – from weeks to minutes before an event. We can even make changes during your event!
5. IVR Systems Can Use Artificial Intelligence to Improve Caller Experiences
An IVR phone system can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automate customer interactions. These systems are programmed using algorithms that understand spoken commands and provide appropriate responses. When conversational AI is incorporated into IVR communications, it opens infinite possibilities for adaptive conversations that improve customer service experiences while saving you time and resources.
With AI technologies like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, event organizers can further optimize the customer service process and maximize ticket buyer satisfaction. It’s all about providing automated solutions tailor-made for callers’ exact needs and preferences, and the technology gets better every day!
Key Takeaways about IVR Systems for Event Managers and Ticket Buyers
IVR phone systems are an essential tool for event managers looking to reduce costs, increase efficiency, boost ticket sales, and improve ticket buyer satisfaction. If you’re interested in learning more about how AttendStar’s IVR phone system and ticketing platform can help your event be as successful as possible, contact us today.
