This article walks you through -
- How to reserve tickets (set aside tickets for later payment) over-the-phone or in-person in the Box Office Sales screen
- Taking a reservation off reserve and processing payment for the order
- Basic data entry in the Box Office Sales screen
Reserving Tickets from the Box office
1. Login to your Arts People account via the Admin Login screen at https://app.arts-people.com/login.php
2. Select Box office and Box Office Sales from the navigation menu.
3. Lookup the patron you're selling tickets to.
Once on the Box Office Sales page you'll focus on the left of the page making entries and checking that all the data for the patron is correct and ready for the reservation.
a. Enter the name of the patron.
b. Click Lookup Existing Patron.
c. Did the page message you with an alert saying "No customers found"? If it didn't continue to step 4 below.
d. If it did - check your spelling - correct if needed - click Lookup existing patron again - if you still receive the alert saying No customers found, click Save New Patron. This record is now saved to your database.
e. Most patrons pay with a credit card. Payment will be quicker if the billing address is already on file for the patron. Enter the billing address and click Update Patron Record.
4. Once on the patron's record, check to see if they have an email address.
a. If they don't yet, they may want one so they can receive an email confirmation of their reservation. The email confirmation allows the patron to cancel or pay for their order themselves online if they'd like.
b. Ask for the patron's email address and enter it, save it to their record by clicking Update Patron Record.
5. Select the show, performance, and seats.
a. Focus on the right of the page.
b. Select the show the patron wants to attend in the upper right.
c. Pick the performance (the date and time).
d. Enter the quantity of each person type attending
e. If the show is assigned seating, click Select seats and select seats for the patron, then click Continue.
f. Or click Add to order if the show is General Admission.
8. Once the seats have been selected the tickets in the order appear in the lower right of the page. Scroll down to view them.
9. Select the Delivery Method - how the patron will get their tickets.
a. If you select Walk up, this means you'll be printing the tickets out for the patron right after the sale.
b. Will Call means you'll wait and print the tickets out in a batch with other Will Call orders and the patron will pick them up just before the performance.
c. Print at Home means they'll be printing them at home via their email confirmation.
11. Other fields may be applicable.
a. Is there a coupon, gift certificate or pass code the patron wants to use for this order?
b. Are there comment selections that need to be completed?
c. Would the patron like to add a donation?
d. Would you like to make any notes about this order - the Notes for the House Manager can be used for this. Answers appear on the Door List report and on the Order Details page. (Click Update Patron Record to save the notes to the patron's record.)
e. Make your selections and entries as needed.
10. Select the Payment method.
a. Click on Reserve.
b. Don't click Reserve Order quite yet.
c. Note the reminder date field. This is the date of the performance by default, it's the date that appears to your patron as the date that they should pay for their order by in the reservation confirmation email they receive (if they have an email address on their record). If you want that date to be earlier, modify it in the Reminder date field.
12. Before you reserve the order look at the seats selected and the total due. Is the order correct?
a. If you'd like to Release tickets from the order you can do that on the far right by clicking the release links on each ticket to be released. If you need to release the whole order, click the Release All button.
b. Do you need to comp any of the tickets? The Comp all button can be used if all tickets will be free. If only a single or some tickets are to be comped, click the comp link on each ticket.
c. Notice the edit links displayed to the right of each ticket. When edit is clicked you're able to edit the price of the ticket once you edit the price, click Lock price.
(It's not recommended to use pricing overrides often because the reason for the price change isn't clear when reports are viewed.
Reach out to your client support rep. if you have an ongoing need to give certain discounts and your rep. can setup codes for you to use).
13. Click Reserve Order to finalize the reservation.
This is the final step, even if no money is owed for the reservation, the order isn't completed until Reserve Order is clicked.
14. Tickets aren't usually printed for reserved orders.
a. Printing reserved tickets isn't recommended as it can lead to confusion - the order isn't yet paid for and the tickets may lead the patron to think they are
b. This page also gives the option to send the confirmation email to an additional email address.
15. Continue with same patron or Continue.
a. To continue with the same patron and process another order for them, or view the Order Details page for the reservation you just completed, click Continue with same patron.
b. If you're ready to move on to the next sale for another patron click Continue. Review the steps for looking up the patron you're selling to above in step 3 to get the next sale started.
16. After the reservation - click View to pay for, cancel, or modify the reservation.
a. On the Box Office Sales screen after you've looked up a patron you'll see a Ticketing History table on the left.
b. Click View to enter the Order Details page. This page allows you to see the seats selected, and the amount due.
c. On the Order Details page click the Cancel Reserve button to delete the reservation.
d. Click Open Reserve to pay for the order. If you want to modify the order, skip down to step 17.
e. Ready to pay for the order? Check if the order is correct first. Scroll down and check the order's Delivery method, Total Due, and the seats selected.
f. Select the payment method.
g. Would the patron like to pay with a credit card? Check you have the billing address entered for the card they want to use. If needed enter it and click Update Patron Record to save the update.
h. Click Sell Tickets once you've selected the payment method. This finalizes the order. Print the tickets if needed from the purchase confirmation page.
17. Modify the order before payment?
a. Click View from the Ticketing History area on the Box Office Sales screen, then from the Order Details page, click Open Reserve.
b. Add or release tickets as needed, or make other updates (discount codes, donations, etc.).
c. After updating the order if you're now ready to pay for the order, select the payment method and click Sell Tickets.
d. If you're not ready to process payment click Reserve in the payment method area and click Reserve Order to re-reserve.
18. Open Reservation - also opens the order for processing.
a. Clicking Open Reservation from the Ticketing History on the Box Office Sales screen opens the reserved order and gets it ready for payment, and/or updates and re-reserving.
b. When you're ready to process payment, select the payment method and click Sell Tickets.
c. If you're not ready to process payment, select Reserve in the payment method area and click Reserve Order.
This article covered the basic steps in reserving a ticket order, opening the order, and processing payment for it in the Box Office Sales screen.
Thanks for reading!
Did you have trouble with any of these steps? Please reach out anytime by submitting a request through the Help Center.
Related reading
Box Office - Box Office Sales - Sell Tickets
Box Office - Orders on Reserve
Box Office - Patron Check-In Screen