Basic Spektrix Concepts

Dave Carr
Dave Carr
  • Updated

This article will guide you through the basic concepts in Spektrix. These concepts are the building blocks of your system. By understanding them you’ll be able to set up and use your system in the best way for your requirements.

VIDEO: If you're new to Spektrix, take a look at our Concept Videos.

 

User Accounts

To use Spektrix, you’ll need a User Account. Each User Account consists of a unique username and password. Your User Account contains permissions to let you access different parts of the system.

TIP: When setting up a User Account, the email address for the User Account must be unique.

Read Adding and Editing Users for more information.

 

Events and Event Instances

Events

An Event is often a production, for example King Lear but can also be things such as a post-show talk or members’ reception. An Event contains one or more Event Instances.

 

Event Instances

An Event Instance is a single occurrence of the Event. For example, an Instance of King Lear might be the performance on 23rd June at 7.30pm.

Events can have a single or multiple Instances. For example, an Event such as King Lear may have multiple Instances, whereas a concert may only have a single Instance.

If your Event is something like a meal in your restaurant, the Instances might be the different seating times.

Read Introduction to Events and Instances for more information

 

Supplementary Events

Supplementary Events are Events you can link to other Events to upsell extra products and services to your Customers. For example, car parking, or pre-show dining. Read Upselling Using Supplementary Events for more information.

 

Seating Plans

When you create an Event in Spektrix, you’ll need to assign a Seating Plan to the Event. A Seating plan shows where seats are located and their price band. You can also see which seats are sold, available or Locked.

Seating plans fall into the following categories:

  • Reserved: Seats are selected from a Seating Plan that shows their position relative to the stage or performing space.
  • Unreserved: The number of Tickets required are selected, this is normally used for unreserved seating or standing spaces.

 

Lock Types

Locks can be applied to seats on a seating plan to prevent their sale. This is often to allocate a seat for a particular purpose. For example, you may want to Lock seats so that they can only be purchased by customers with access requirements.

Read Introduction to Locks for more information.

 

Pricing

Ticket Types

A Ticket Type lets you define different sorts of tickets. Normally this is based on demographics, for example Adult, Child, Student, Over 60s.

Read Introduction to Ticket Types for more information.

 

Price Bands

Price Bands are used to group seats by price in your venue. Each Price Band has an associated colour which is used on the Seating Plan to indicate into which Price Band a seat falls.  

For Example, Band A (rows A-E), Band B (rows F-J) etc.

 

seating_plan_bands.png

TIP: You can only have one Price Band when using an Unreserved Seating Plan. If you want to have more than one Price Band, you’ll need to request a Multi-Area Unreserved plan.

You can request this by completing the Seating Plan Request Form.

 

Price Lists

A Price List is used to set the prices for each Ticket Type within each Price Band.

For example, in one Price List, you could set Adult Tickets at £35 and Student Tickets at £20:

 

 

In another Price List you may set the price at £50 for Adults and £35 for Students:

 

 

Read Introduction to Tickets and Pricing for more information.

 

Offers

An Offer enables you to give discounts to Customers. You could give discounts when purchasing tickets across multiple events or create package offers containing Tickets and Merchandise.

In Spektrix, Offers are powered separately to Price Lists and Ticket Types. By using Offers you keep your Ticket Types and Price Lists to a minimum. You can report on Offers to help you understand which demographic groups (e.g. Students, over 60s etc) have taken up a particular Offer.

Read Introduction to Offers for more information.

 

Ticket Commissions

Ticket Commissions are charges you can apply to individual tickets using a Ticket Commission Structure, for example a handling fee or service charge. You can build multiple Ticket Commission Structures and apply these to different Events and Instances.

Read How to set up Ticket Commissions for more information.

 

Transaction Commissions

Transaction Commissions are charges you can apply at a transaction level. Transactions Commissions apply to your whole system. For example, you may apply a Transaction Commission which you can waive for your Members. You can also apply Transaction Commissions to each Sales Channel.

Read How to set up Transaction Commissions for more information

 

Customers

A Customer is an Individual or Organisation who interacts with your venue. Each Customer will have a Customer Record which is unique. The data it contains lets you keep track of Orders, attendance and purchases, as well as holding contact information for that Customer.

Read Introduction to the Customer Record for more information.

 

Tags

A Tag is a label that sits in the Customer Record. A Tag can be used to group Customers together. For example, you could create a tag named Local Residents and apply this to any Customers who live within a Postcode/Zip code/Postal Code local to your organisation.

Read Normal Tags and Auto Tags for more information.

 

Contact Preferences

Contact Preferences determine whether a Customer wants to receive marketing information from your organisation. You can create different Contact Preferences for the methods of communication you use, for example Email, Post.

Read Contact Preferences for more information.

 

Relationships

A Relationship is a way of identifying when two or more Customer Records are connected. A Relationship could apply to members of the same family or employees within an organisation.

Read Customers and Relationships in Spektrix for more information.

 

Households

A Household is a term for one or more people who interact with your organisation. A household could be a single person or a group of individuals. You can use Households to personalise your relationships with your Customers based on these connections. 

Read Setting Up and Using Households for more information.

 

Sales and Transactions

Sales Channels

The Sales Channel is a mode you select when performing a Sale:

  • Phone: Used when carrying out transactions with Customers over the phone.
  • Counter: Used when carrying out transactions with Customers face to face
  • Counter Quick: Used for transactions where you need to sell tickets as quickly as possible. For example, when a performance is about to begin.
  • Web: Used when simulating an Order placed online. For example, refunding an online Order.

Read Choosing a Sales Channel for more information.

 

Orders

An Order contains transactions processed as part of a Sale. An Order can contain more than one transaction, for example a Sale and Return or Reservation and Sale. In the Order you’ll also see details of the Customer who placed the order, along with the items purchased or refunded as part of the Order History.

 

Transactions

A Transaction is a record of every Sale or Return that takes place within your system. Transactions are displayed within an Order. When you view a transaction you’ll see:

  • Items: Tickets, Memberships, Merchandise or Donations
  • Payments: Card, Cash or Custom Payment
  • Commissions: Ticket Commissions, for example delivery costs or a booking fee
  • Transaction Date: The date the transaction was processed
  • User: The User who processed the transaction
  • Sales Channel: You’ll see whether the ticket was bought online, over the phone or over the counter

Read Transactions and Orders for more information.

 

Register

If you take cash payments, open a Register to keep track of cash payments. You should set up a Register for every individual till or cash box that you have. 

In order to take cash payments, you must first open a Register. A register can only be open by one User at any one time. At the end of a shift a User should close their Register

 

Funds

A Fund is a pot of money into which donations can be made. You can set up multiple funds in Spektrix and each Fund can represent a different fundraising reason. For example you could create a Fund for building improvements and another fund to sponsor a community programme.

 

Donations

A Donation is when a Customer chooses to gift money to your organisation.

There are two types of Donations in Spektrix:

  • Ticket Donation: An amount of money added to a Ticket at the time of purchase
  • Donation: A standalone amount of money which can be donated independently or alongside other purchases

Read Introduction to Funds and Donations for more information.

 

Merchandise

Merchandise can be considered as additional items, such as a programme, t-shirt or memorabilia purchased alongside tickets. You can set Merchandise items to be automatically recommended when a Customer is at checkout based on the Event they’re purchasing Tickets for.

Read Setting Up Merchandise for more information.

 

Fixed Series Subscriptions

Fixed Series Subscriptions enable you to create bundles of tickets or season ticket passes where Customers can book the same seats for a selected number of different Instances. Fixed Series subscriptions can be renewed within a specified period and usually run yearly or seasonally.

Read Introduction to Fixed Series for more information.

 

Ticket Subscriptions

Ticket Subscriptions, often known as flexible subscriptions or flex passes, are a prepaid set of ticket vouchers that a customer can use to purchase a range of Events across a season. A Customer can select Events at the point of purchase or after having bought the subscription. 

With Ticket Subscriptions you can create “fully flexible” set of tickets that can be used to see any show in a season in any combination, to a seasonal pass that contains exactly one ticket to each Event in a season.

Read Introduction to Ticket Subscriptions for more information.

 

Memberships

A Membership is an item which a Customer can purchase and can be used to make a donation to your organisation. Memberships can connect your Customers to your organisation as well as providing access to benefits such as Offers and Priority Booking.

Read Setting Up Memberships for more information.

 

Gift Vouchers

A Gift Voucher is an item which can be sold through Spektrix and sent to a recipient, for example as a birthday gift.

The Gift Voucher can be redeemed during a sale, or added to a Customer’s Record as a credit balance to be used against a future purchase.

Read Setting Up and Managing Gift Vouchers for more information

 

Account Credit

Account Credit is used to add a monetary value as credit to a Customer’s Record. For example you may wish to refund an Order to Account Credit rather than back to the original payment method.

Read How does Spektrix deal with Credit for more information.

 

Reports

Reports are a method of extracting data stored within your Spektrix system. You can run reports to find out total ticket sales for an Event, understand your Customers and much more.

Read Introduction to Reporting for further information

 

Attributes

Attributes are custom fields that allow you to store additional information on your system.

Some examples of Attributes:

  • Order Attribute: Used to capture a Customer’s dietary requirements
  • Event Attribute: Used to capture the genre of an Event
  • Instance Attribute: Used to indicate that a particular performance is audio described or captioned

Read Attributes for more information.

 

Email Communication

Integrated Emails

Spektrix integrates with the Dotdigital email platform enabling you to send targeted campaigns directly from Spektrix.

By using Integrated emails, you can save time as the process is automatic. All customer activity is written back to Customer Records in Spektrix, including click throughs and unsubscribes. You can then segment on this information to send future campaigns.

Read Setting Up Dotdigital for more information.

 

Pre-Show and Post-Show Emails

You can use Pre-Show and Post-Show Emails to send information before and after an event. A Pre-Show email could contain information such as directions to your venue and information on car parks nearby. A Post-Show email could contain a survey to gain feedback from your Customers about their visit. 

Read Pre- and Post-Show Emails for more information.

 

Customer Lists

A Customer List contains a group of customers who have been selected based on specific criteria. These can then be used to target email campaigns at specific customer segments.

You can run Customer Lists through Reports, or output as a csv file. You can also use Customer Lists to bulk apply or remove Tags, Attributes or Contact Preferences

 

Segments

You can use Segments to group Customers together based on information they have in common. You can then use these Segments to build Customer Lists.

Read Understanding Segments and Customer Lists for more information.

 

Customer List Schedules

A Customer List Schedule is a way of automating one or more Customer Lists. Through the Customer List Schedule you can either send Customer Lists to be used in Integrated emails, or send to a set of users at any time.

Read Customer List Schedules for more information.

 

This article should give you an understanding of the basic concepts used in Spektrix. To learn more about Spektrix, visit our Support Centre.