Customer‑Centric Ticketing at the Heart of a Growing Orchestra and Opera Company
Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera
Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera brings together a full orchestral season and opera productions in a year‑round programme at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center in downtown Sacramento. With a new Principal Conductor, renewed support from key donors, and more capacity to produce ambitious work, the organisation was ready to grow artistically. At the same time, the systems behind ticketing and audience engagement were creating friction for both the team and patrons, making it harder to deliver the kind of customer‑centric ticketing they were aiming for.
Because the organisation performed in a City‑owned venue with an existing contract, it relied on Ticketmaster and an older, MS‑DOS style back‑office interface to process transactions. Each sale took longer than it needed to, subscription sales depended on manual workarounds, reporting was messy, and it was difficult to reach the Ticketmaster team when issues arose. Audiences began to associate that experience with the organisation itself, with some saying they would not buy tickets again after a frustrating purchase journey.
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~$450,000
in ticket income before switching systems
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$1,000,000
in anticipated ticket income within a few seasons of adopting Spektrix
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$250,000+
in revenue from some concert sets after the change
Making the change: Defining patron‑centric non‑negotiables
Before choosing a new platform, the team stepped back and defined what they wanted customer‑centric ticketing to feel like for their audiences. They described these requirements as their “non‑negotiables” and used them to guide decisions about technology, process, and partnership.
They agreed that customers should have a smooth, clearly branded buying experience, with a clear understanding that their money was going directly to their local orchestra and opera company, not just a marketplace. Internally, they wanted transactions that took minutes rather than lengthy calls, with access to clean, configurable reporting so they could make decisions quickly using real‑time data. Maintaining and growing a base of around 1,100 subscribers remained a priority, so any new system needed strong subscription tools and better integration with their website.
Because they perform in a City venue, the team also needed to bring the City of Sacramento into the conversation. Working collaboratively, they structured an approach that respected existing arrangements while giving Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera greater control over ticketing and audience data. That shared approach reflects the wider Spektrix positioning around one solution and one team working together over the long term.
“We're using the Spektrix pipeline tool to see where we are with each school district and making sure the relationship between the district and the school, and the teacher and the school, are all accurate.”– Charla Lawson, Operations & Engagement Manager, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera
Choosing Spektrix: One connected solution for ticketing and patron experience
With those non‑negotiables in place, the orchestra evaluated different platforms and selected Spektrix as the system most closely aligned with its goals for customer‑centric ticketing, audience engagement, operational efficiency, and long‑term growth.
Day-to-day, the change was immediate. The team found it faster and more intuitive to sell tickets and packages, reducing call times and freeing them to make more outbound calls to customers. Moving from older website forms to Spektrix Link gave ticket buyers a connected, branded purchase path. They could select tickets and subscriptions in one journey, which reduced abandoned baskets and reinforced the sense that they were supporting their local arts organization rather than a third‑party vendor.
Access to built‑in reporting tools meant that complex reports could be pulled or created in real time. Instead of wrestling with inconsistent exports, the team could see patterns in sales, campaign performance, and pricing, and adjust strategy accordingly.
“With Spektrix we’re able to come up with a report of people’s ticket buying history and whether it’s a subscriber, a lapsed donor, a multi or single ticket buyer – there are a lot more automatic things we can do which just make it more efficient.” said Giuliano Kornberg, Chief Development Officer.
At the same time, campaigns became easier to plan and deliver. The marketing team could build targeted lists and automate more of their day‑to‑day communication, saving time while staying close to audiences’ needs.
Giuliano said, “We can really easily copy and replicate campaigns, change the text, link everything, schedule things in Spektrix with that easily built and defined customer list, to create all of our emails within a short amount of time.”
When questions came up, they had a responsive Spektrix team to turn to, with guidance included as part of the relationship. Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera also invested in its own ticket stock and scanners. That gave the team more ownership of onsite operations and ensured that the experience from purchase through to admission felt coherent and under their control.
“We always get a really good response. Every step of the way there's somebody from Spektrix who's willing to help.”– Charla Lawson, Operations & Engagement Manager, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera
Extending the audience engagement layer
Once the team felt confident using the Spektrix system, they extended their audience engagement strategy with connected tools that work alongside the platform.
Dotdigital supports pre‑ and post‑concert email journeys, helping concertgoers feel prepared for performances and giving the organisation a structured way to follow up afterwards. Vatic enables dynamic pricing based on demand, helping to grow revenue while maintaining a positive experience for patrons. Feathr provides targeted digital marketing campaigns, powered by data flowing directly from Spektrix rather than from separate lists or systems.
Together, these tools build on the audience engagement layer at the core of the Spektrix solution. Information about attendance, subscriptions, donations, and communication stays connected rather than fragmented, supporting the wider positioning of Spektrix as powerful, practical technology designed around audience engagement and shared success.
“With Spektrix I can work from my apartment, folks can use it from their home or their office, you can have a desktop computer and a laptop computer and they can look at the same thing at the same time.”– Charla Lawson, Operations & Engagement Manager, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera
Revenue growth, loyal subscribers, and a better patron experience
Within a few seasons of moving away from Ticketmaster and embedding customer‑centric ticketing principles, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera has seen a clear shift in both revenue and sentiment. Ticket income has risen from around $450,000s to an anticipated $1m in the current season, with additional events still to come. Sets that once generated around $100,000 in ticket income now regularly exceed $250,000.
Throughout this period, the organisation has maintained and strengthened its base of around 1,100 subscribers, supported by smoother online journeys and more consistent communication. Audiences now associate their purchase experience directly with Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, and the team can spend more time on outreach and strategy rather than navigating manual workarounds.
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~1,100 subscribers
providing a stable base of loyal audiences and long‑term earned revenue
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Faster ticket sales
reducing call times from 10–15 minutes to just a few minutes, freeing the team to focus on outreach
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Remote workflows
with team members able to access the same information from home or the office on different devices
