Building group bookings by adding value
'As a venue offering a variety of activity, The Lowry faces the issue of a potential split in its groups market - one for the daytime offer of the gallery, building, cafe etc and the other for the theatres.
Whilst acknowledging this, we have tried to create crossover by creating 'added value' packages that encourage the broadest experience of our offer.
Groups Day Pass - this product combines the elements of a group visit which were the most popular as individual elements in our first year, ie building tour, gallery entry, tea and coffee. We combined these elements with an offer in the bookshop and a theatre visit. The copy in our groups print is worded as follows:
- want to know the secrets of our award-winning building? Our guided tour will tell you all you need to know
- enjoy a walk through our galleries and allow our dedicated team to talk you through the current exhibitions in a language you can really understand!
- relax with delicious hot drinks and a cake or pastry, or upgrade to a sumptuous sandwich lunch
- take away a memory of your visit and receive a special discount on our delightful souvenir guidebook
- book for a matinee or early evening performance when you purchase a Day Pass and pay just [gpb]10 per seat!
- cost per person [gpb]6 with Group Organiser free!
The Groups Day Pass was seen as a way of getting money out of, and recording the visits of the many coach groups of pensioners etc who arrive at The Lowry without notice and go to the free gallery or just have a snack.
In conjunction with this, we established Coach Driver Loyalty Scheme. According to the National Group Travel Report 02/03, coach drivers can influence repeat visits. They often have influence over the quality of the visit for the customers and can be key in influencing future visits. If a driver feels a tour/visit has gone particularly well, they will often recommend the destination to other drivers. This is an important factor for the 'wee and tea' stops made at venues on the way to a further destination.
With this in mind, the loyalty scheme encourages drivers to register their visit. They receive a welcome pack containing a sandwich and drink voucher, a Lowry pen plus a discount voucher for the designer outlet opposite. They also receive a membership card. Six stamps of the card is rewarded with either a pair of tickets for a show or [gpb]20 worth of vouchers for the designer outlet. Tickets are made available only for shows which are underperforming or on special deal nights. The driver has to book the customers in if they have not done so themselves.
The welcome packs are 'sold' through the box office system as a way of monitoring which company visits us most frequently, whilst the membership is for the driver.
Much of the daytime groups offer is combined with a message to visit the designer outlet opposite. For a substantial financial contribution, the shopping centre is included in our groups messages and print. Group travel organisers favour activity which allows choice with a combination of free and paid for activity, and in marketing the area as a destination worthy of an all day visit, we intend to increase spend in both organisations.
A dedicated piece of groups print offering 'the perfect combination for a great day out' is sent out three times annually to our combined groups and travel trade database and bought lists. It includes details of selected theatre performances and the exhibition programme, the Day Pass, and news of new shops etc in the designer outlet.
The added value to the customer here is in the variety of the overall offer.
For our theatre visitors, we offer a consistent group discount of 1 ticket in every 10 free of charge, or a discount off each ticket, depending upon the make up of the group. Here, we offer added value in the form of services offered. Anyone registering themselves on our database as a group receives a bi-monthly newsletter on top of our seasonal print. This offers advance notice of performances and encourages a sense of being part of The Lowry.
We also offer to set up accounts for regular group bookers making their payments easier, provide forms with which groups can pre-book drinks and food and therefore avoid queues, advance programme ordering and collection points on the night.
In addition, all groups are encouraged to register on our website so that they can be emailed as each new show is put on the box office system.
The Lowry is also part of a consortium of businesses called The Quays which is marketed as a destination, including attractions such as Manchester United Museum and Tour, The Designer Outlet, a number of hotels and the Imperial War Museum North. Again, the added value to the customer is the variety of product on offer. We share a common database of all our groups and travel trade contacts and there are separate mail outs from The Quays benefiting all members.
Does it work? For us it's still early days. The theatre offer is easy to monitor and we can judge the percentage of groups that visit the theatres and annual targets, as well as specific show targets, are set to increase them. As for the day market, we have been aware from early on of the number of visitors arriving and not registering their visit. So far, the coach driver scheme has proven to be popular and will provide us with some guidance of where our marketing activity is working.
Since we introduced these schemes, our groups and travel trade database has trebled in a relatively brief period, although not all of these are bookers. I now intend to introduce a reward scheme for our top group bookers where the added value of repeat visits will be in the form of a free visit or annual party.'