Better Customer Service for Music Festivals.

There can be a distinct contrast between large professionally run music festivals and smaller festivals that may be organised in a more chaotic way. Irrespective of size of event an often-overlooked aspect of any music festival is the customer service provided to event goers. The visitor experience can influence future attendance and social feedback.

The value in providing excellent customer service is huge but, in many ways, cannot be accurately measured. Too many music festival organisers can fall into a complacent state knowing that their festival will always sell out because they secure great line ups. This is really no excuse to avoid provision of good customer service. As more music festivals enter the market and the competition for visitors increases the organisers that have nailed their customer service will come out on top.

One of the biggest gripes made by festival goers is the lack of phone numbers available to make enquiries. Most organisers will have an FAQ section on their website and this resource will probably answer most questions that a ticket buyer has. If the answer can't be found customers are usually directed to a range of email addresses to ask their question directly. The reason this is done is usually cost and lack of resources. Most festivals are run by small events teams who are likely under resourced anyway. 

For the under resourced events teams the organiser could consider outsourcing customer support for phone calls and emails although this obviously comes at a cost. An alternative may be to consider how technology can help. Interactive Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven chat bots on websites can satisfy customers faster than trawling through pages of FAQs. Automated phone call handling and email responses can also assist in servicing customers. Although many customers may prefer to speak to a real human this automated technology is improving all the time and is certainly better than leaving phone calls and emails unanswered.

Utilising volunteers is always an option and many festival organisers get help from volunteers in their back office for several months and are not limited to on-site work over a week or so. With good training there is no reason why a small core group of volunteers cannot handle just about any customer enquiry in a timely manner.

Customer service will always extend to an on-site service with static information pitches and mobile volunteers available to help event goers with just about any query. The customer service does not end when the event does. There will always be event goers who have lost property during the festival and providing a service to these customers is key too. If a music festival can provide excellent customer service before during and after the event it enhances the visitor experience and this often gets shared on multiple social networks and in media reports and reviews. 

For any music festival organiser planning to get their event live this summer using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their customer service processes and procedures. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors guestlists and ticketing.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

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