How Schools Can Handle Fan Questions During Playoffs

Schools are great at customer service, whether they realize it or not. School administrators innately want to do the best job for their communities. However, customer service demands during the postseason can create additional work for school staff members who are already extremely busy.

The good news is that supporting your community and fans with digital ticketing does not need to be time-consuming with proper planning. Most, if not all, customer service questions can be answered with standardized responses and online communication.

GoFan had a chance to catch up with Mitch Carty this month on customer service for schools and associations, amongst other topics. Carty serves as the Chief Financial Officer at the CIF Southern Section (CIFSS), and he knows a lot about what schools hear in the trenches dealing with fans. Carty has supported tens of thousands of events during his 15-year tenure at the CIFSS, which governs more than 550 schools in Southern California.

The result of our conversation was a guide to customer service for schools. Bookmark this page so you can save time when you use digital ticketing in the playoffs.

How to Handle Fan Questions

Step 1 - Customer Service Plan

Create a customer service plan to address your fans’ questions about ticket sales. The plan should include three elements. The first element is a ticketing procedure web page. The second element is a frequently asked questions (FAQs) list that event hosts can expect to answer, along with answers to those questions. Third, your plan should include day-of procedures to follow when questions arise at the gate.

Here’s an example plan that works. You can customize it to fit your school's needs.

Objective: answer all customer service questions and limit person-to-person interaction

Strategies:

• Point fans to your ticketing procedure site
• Limit one-off refund scenarios
• Define special circumstances upfront

Tasks:

• Define FAQ for your school and venues
• Post FAQ online
• Draft email messaging to promote ticket sales and point customers to your ticketing procedure page
• List procedures for in-person questions at the event
  

Step 2 - Ticketing Procedure Page

The ticketing procedure page should be available on the school’s website. Other sites operated by school groups, such as a booster club page or team-specific web page, can also link directly to the ticketing procedure page.

Consider using GoFan’s landing page as the ticketing procedure page for your school.

Schools need a ticketing procedure page to set expectations for their fans and community. Schools must maintain this page and direct customer service inquiries to this page. Hosting frequently asked questions in one place is helpful because it limits where and what information is out for the public to consume. Using this method makes it so there is only one place to edit the information if times, dates, or guidelines change.

The ticketing procedure page should include frequently asked questions and answers and a link to your GoFan page.

Elements on your ticketing procedure page:

• Link to ticket sales - most schools use a ‘Buy Tickets’ button and link directly to your GoFan sales page. This button will improve your ticket sales.
  
  
• Frequently asked questions and answers - you can include specific questions that you hear and also link to the Fan Support page that GoFan has created for this purpose. The majority of fans can easily find the answers they need with a simple search.
  
  
• Guidelines - use the guidelines section to outline any unique circumstances addressed with digital ticketing, including health and safety protocols, weather advisories, and more.
  
  
• Overview - use the overview to set expectations with your fans and community. Include brief information about what to expect when ordering online and in a walk-up scenario.
  

Click here to access the Fan Support page created by GoFan

Click here to find your schools' GoFan page by searching for your school name

Step 3 - Communications

School communication has shifted online, just like ticket sales. Whenever you send your fans and community a message, include a link to your ticket sales page and ticketing procedure page.

Fans and the community are looking for information online. Be sure to include your digital ticketing information in your email and social media communications. When you do this consistently, you’ll dramatically reduce the time you need to dedicate to answering fan questions.

Elements to include in ticket sales messaging:

• Clear subject line - something personal
• Warm introduction - excitement creates sales
• Clear call to action - Buy Tickets message
• Link to details - this is your ticket sales procedure page
  
  

Common Questions That Schools Get About Digital Ticketing

1. How do I purchase tickets? Answer
2. How do I find my tickets? Answer
3. Can I get a refund? Answer
4. Why didn't my purchase go through? Answer
5. How do I purchase a ticket? Answer
6. What is a mobile-only event? Answer
   
   

Conclusion

Digital ticketing has ultimately saved schools hundreds of hours, increased revenue, and improved safety and security. With the introduction of any new processes, schools need to be prepared to answer new questions from fans. By providing resources online, you can easily equip your fans with the information they need to have an exceptional event experience.

To learn more about best practices for digital ticketing in the postseason, check out our Digital Ticketing Checklist for Schools in the Winter Playoffs.