I like to read about business. In fact "business" has been kind of like a hobby for me since we started our own "personal theatre ticket service", Applause Theatre and Entertainment Service Inc. http://www.applause-tickets.com/ over 21 years ago with my friend and partner Bill Stolting. Bill and I have shared lots of great times together over the years, both personal and business.
We were sitting around Bill's office several times over the past few months or so, just talking about how the "ticket business" has changed. Indeed it has. We used to sit and take phone orders never really imagining there would be an Internet one day that could "send us the business". We used to "hand write" our customer ticket requests on an index size work order and then manually carry out all the business functions we needed to make sure the customer received their tickets and then finally bill out a credit card so we could get paid. It seemed like the phone call was easy and fast and the process took much longer. This sort of reminds me of my mom saying "it seems to take quite a while to make dinner yet a much shorter time to consume the meal".
Although Bill and I were fortunate enough to have our small ticket company automated a few years back we have been thinking about some things that we could tell consumers that separates us from the hundreds of other ticket companies. Can you believe there are hundreds of mostly small mom and pop like companies that provide a theater ticket service to companies and consumers alike?
So what's the biggest difference when contacting Applause Theatre Service in New York City? It's not really just the "ticket" right? Everyone sells tickets, everyone provides a service. Some services are really good and some are not right?
At Applause Theatre Service, one of the things we think we do "the best" and that no one other service can in our expert opinion, is really quite simple when you think about it. We would agree that we have tickets and many others do also, some dates and shows are little better seating or maybe not quite as good as the seating that we have. More or less, we can get tickets to Broadway Shows www.applause-tickets.com/broadway.asp and "the competition" can as well.
The three things we kept thinking about when Bill and I chatted these last few months about "the Applause difference", have nothing to do with tickets. It has to do with:
1. Amazing People-we feel our staff is truly the best, thinking all about what it is the customer is looking for, their needs and feelings. Have a peek at our team http://www.applause-tickets.com/ . Our friendly group of Broadway Experts wants to fulfill customer needs, not just "make a sale". We feel the greatest compliment you could possibly give us after we provide our service is a "referral" of a family member, friend or maybe even a co-worker.
2. Great Service-sure I would say our service is "the best", so would everyone else right? Still if you contact us by phone, email, chat line, whichever method one is comfortable with, we have confidence that people will be able to "see the difference" between Applause and "the other guys".
3. Trust-this little word "trust" is what I keep reading in all those business books I mentioned I have read in the past year or two. Of course the only way consumers and corporate ticket buyers would really know if they can "trust" Applause or any other ticket company is quite simple. Just pickup the phone and give us a call in New York on our toll free line at 800-451-9930 or locally at 212-307-7050. Experience our brand of customer service first hand and you'll see what I mean.
Bill and I don't have visions of becoming the biggest ticket company in the world, we simply want to keep moving forward in our work lives and keep our small company http://www.applause-tickets.com/ running smoothly for the long term. Since tickets are really just a commodity, the consumer today can simply click on dozens of web sites and shop around for the best price right? And even after doing all this "clicking and price shopping", will they get the best deal, service and advice when making a purchase? The customer should know during the phone conversation if they can "trust" the company they are doing business with.
Did you ever walk into a store that was a mom and pop business and wonder how they still exist with all the large big box discount retailers out there? My guess is that maybe they offer the same 3 items above to their customers, AMAZING PEOPLE, GREAT SERVICE and TRUST.
Why take a chance? Talk with our people. Let us help you find the best tickets for any Broadway Show. And let us give you the service you should expect when making a Broadway Show purchase.
We were sitting around Bill's office several times over the past few months or so, just talking about how the "ticket business" has changed. Indeed it has. We used to sit and take phone orders never really imagining there would be an Internet one day that could "send us the business". We used to "hand write" our customer ticket requests on an index size work order and then manually carry out all the business functions we needed to make sure the customer received their tickets and then finally bill out a credit card so we could get paid. It seemed like the phone call was easy and fast and the process took much longer. This sort of reminds me of my mom saying "it seems to take quite a while to make dinner yet a much shorter time to consume the meal".
Although Bill and I were fortunate enough to have our small ticket company automated a few years back we have been thinking about some things that we could tell consumers that separates us from the hundreds of other ticket companies. Can you believe there are hundreds of mostly small mom and pop like companies that provide a theater ticket service to companies and consumers alike?
So what's the biggest difference when contacting Applause Theatre Service in New York City? It's not really just the "ticket" right? Everyone sells tickets, everyone provides a service. Some services are really good and some are not right?
At Applause Theatre Service, one of the things we think we do "the best" and that no one other service can in our expert opinion, is really quite simple when you think about it. We would agree that we have tickets and many others do also, some dates and shows are little better seating or maybe not quite as good as the seating that we have. More or less, we can get tickets to Broadway Shows www.applause-tickets.com/broadway.asp and "the competition" can as well.
The three things we kept thinking about when Bill and I chatted these last few months about "the Applause difference", have nothing to do with tickets. It has to do with:
1. Amazing People-we feel our staff is truly the best, thinking all about what it is the customer is looking for, their needs and feelings. Have a peek at our team http://www.applause-tickets.com/ . Our friendly group of Broadway Experts wants to fulfill customer needs, not just "make a sale". We feel the greatest compliment you could possibly give us after we provide our service is a "referral" of a family member, friend or maybe even a co-worker.
2. Great Service-sure I would say our service is "the best", so would everyone else right? Still if you contact us by phone, email, chat line, whichever method one is comfortable with, we have confidence that people will be able to "see the difference" between Applause and "the other guys".
3. Trust-this little word "trust" is what I keep reading in all those business books I mentioned I have read in the past year or two. Of course the only way consumers and corporate ticket buyers would really know if they can "trust" Applause or any other ticket company is quite simple. Just pickup the phone and give us a call in New York on our toll free line at 800-451-9930 or locally at 212-307-7050. Experience our brand of customer service first hand and you'll see what I mean.
Bill and I don't have visions of becoming the biggest ticket company in the world, we simply want to keep moving forward in our work lives and keep our small company http://www.applause-tickets.com/ running smoothly for the long term. Since tickets are really just a commodity, the consumer today can simply click on dozens of web sites and shop around for the best price right? And even after doing all this "clicking and price shopping", will they get the best deal, service and advice when making a purchase? The customer should know during the phone conversation if they can "trust" the company they are doing business with.
Did you ever walk into a store that was a mom and pop business and wonder how they still exist with all the large big box discount retailers out there? My guess is that maybe they offer the same 3 items above to their customers, AMAZING PEOPLE, GREAT SERVICE and TRUST.
Why take a chance? Talk with our people. Let us help you find the best tickets for any Broadway Show. And let us give you the service you should expect when making a Broadway Show purchase.
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