This article walks you through -
- How to sell tickets to your patron over-the-phone or in-person using the Box Office Sales screen.
- Basic data entry to ensure the order is complete and accurate.
Before you read on -
For an article on how to reserve tickets - meaning how to set aside a patron's order for later payment - check out Box Office - Reserve Tickets.
For a summary without details, check the quick version here.
Selling Tickets from the Box office
1. From the main menu select Box office, then Box Office Sales
2. Look up the patron you're selling tickets to.
- Enter the name of the patron.
- Click Lookup Existing Patron.
3. If no patron record is found, enter the customer's info and click Save New Patron.
(This patron is now entered in your database. Going forward you can click Lookup Existing Patron to go to their record after entering their name.)
4. If a patron already existed, their record will be pulled up or you'll be presented with a selection of possible patrons to choose from (select the appropriate one).
5. Once on the patron's record, check to see if they have an email address on file.
- If they don't yet, they may want one. (If you use Print at Home tickets, this is the way the patron gets their tickets and receipt).
- Enter an email address and click Update Patron Record.
6. Address entry
The page displays the patron's mailing address by default with an option to enter the billing address separately if the addresses are different.
a. Is their billing address for the card the same as their mailing address? Enter it in the address field displayed.
b. If the billing and mailing are different un-check the Same Billing Address box and enter the billing address. Click Update Patron Record to save the update.
c. If the addresses are the same enter the billing/mailing address and click Update Patron Record.
d. By default the mailing address entered is opted-out of paper mailings.
7. Note to the House Manager.
Notes entered here will appear on the door list report for tickets sold to this patron. Click Update Patron Record to save your notes to the patron's record.
8. Select the show, performance, and seats.
a. Focus on the right of the page.
b. Select the show
c. Pick the performance (the date and time).
d. Enter the quantity of each person type attending.
e. If this is an assigned seating show, click Select seats and click on the seats the patron would like on the seating map, then click Continue.
f. Or, if this is a general admission show, click Add to order.
9. Once tickets have been added they appear in the lower right of the page. Scroll down to view them.
10. 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. Select the Payment method - how the patron will pay.
a. Standard payment methods are CC (credit card), Cash, and Check. Optional payment method options may also appear if you've selected them for your account: CCE and Other.
b. All payment methods except Reserve will process payment for the order. Reserve doesn't process payment - instead it places the tickets on reserve for the patron for later payment. For a review of how to place tickets on Reserve please see the Box Office Sales - Reserve Tickets article.
12. Other fields.
a. Other fields may be applicable to your order. Purchase comments can be entered or selected if they're displaying.
b. You may want to enter a code, or add a donation.
c. If the patron is a pass holder and wants to apply a pass to their order, you'll click Apply next to the pass name, then OK.
d. Make your selections and entries as needed.
13. Before you process payment review the order - take a 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 if a pricing override is needed.
It's not recommended to use pricing override 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 they'll setup codes for you to use.
14. Click Complete Order to finalize the sale.
This is the final step, even if no money is owed for the purchase, the order isn't completed until Complete Order is clicked.
15. Purchase confirmation page.
a. On the Purchase confirmation page you can print tickets and receipts if needed. Select either Ticket-sized or Letter-sized.
b. This page also gives the option to send the confirmation email to an additional email address.
16. Continue with same patron or Continue.
a. To continue with the same patron and process another order for them, or view the Order Details for the sale 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.
Order Details page: for after the sale.
1. On the Box Office Sales screen after you've looked up a patron you'll see a Ticketing History table on the left.
2. Click View on the order you'd like to see the details of.
3. The Order Details page displays buttons to process both a refund and a release of tickets.
4. Refunding an order gives payment back to the patron.
5. Releasing clears the patron's selection of those seats so they can be sold again. If you want to delete the order completely, both release and refund the tickets.
6. Many other actions can be completed on the Order Details page.
7. You can resend the confirmation email from the Order Details page, release and/or refund items, and tickets and receipts can be re-printed.
8. Exchanges can be processed (if you allow them) as well as editing the Delivery Method, purchase comments, and custom question answers.
Basic steps for processing ticket sales in the Box Office Sales screen were covered in this article. Related links are below to learn more.
Did you have trouble completing any of these steps? Please submit a request so your client services rep can help out.
Related reading
Box Office - Box Office Sales - Reserve Tickets
Box office - Box office Sales - Sell Ticket Add-ons
Database - Release items or process a refund
Box Office - Patron Check-in Screen